The Vezina Award is given to the league’s best goaltender. It is voted on by the 31 general managers of the NHL. However, as always, there are different ways to interpret the award. What if this was looked at from a fantasy hockey perspective? Let us begin.
The Vezina Award — Season Long
This method has been used before but think from a fantasy perspective. Rotisserie leagues are the most difficult to win because of the amount of categories. Think of an awards process done the same way.
Here are the three nominees.
- Andrei Vasilevskiy — Tampa Bay Lightning
- Connor Hellebuyck — Winnipeg Jets
- Pekka Rinne — Nashville Predators
All award processes are based on just the finalists only. Let’s begin with the basic categories first (ties are a half point deducted). Going by a simple 3-2-1 point structure, here are the following results (numbers from Yahoo Fantasy):
- Rinne — 9.5
- Hellebuyck — 7.5
- Vasilevskiy — 7
When one looks at wins, goals against average, save percentage, and shutouts; Rinne is the winner. Rinne was the best or tied for the tops in three of the four major categories. Hellebuyck narrowly edged out Vasilevskiy for second. Also, saves is one of the only categories Rinne is third in but that is because of the 59 games played. His saves per game were comparable to the other two nominees. If Goals Saved Above Average was used, Rinne would still be first. He led the NHL in the category. Hellebuyck was fourth and Vasilevskiy was ninth.
Deeper Dive Time
Goalie point share turns the tables a little bit. Goalie point share is points above what the team would execute normally. Consider that Hellebuyck led the league in games played with 67. He leads in goalie point share with 14. Vasilevskiy and Rinne tied for second with 13.2. If one examines deeper, Rinne had more points per game played (+0.22). Hellebuyck was second (+.21). There is debate as far as why Hellebuyck had to carry the load as much as he did or Vasilevskiy. However, the games played only allows us to focus on the numbers in this case. Goalie WAR showed Hellebuyck edging Rinne by a third of a point — a negligible number.
Special teams save percentage saw Rinne lead with a .938 even strength save percentage. Hellebuyck was a wall on the penalty kill with a .901 penalty kill save percentage. The latter is a bit more fickle but the difference was noticeable. Rinne’s .833 high danger save percentage also led among the other two candidates.
It is why Pekka Rinne is the likely winner of the Vezina from a season-long standpoint.
Daily Fantasy Vezina
Daily fantasy cuts at a more clear cut outcome. With the numbers we have, point scoring categories for DraftKings are as follows:
- Win = 3 Points
- Saves = 0.2 Points
- Goal Allowed = -1 Point
- Shutout Bonus = 2 Points
This translates to produce the following results.
- Connor Hellebuyck — 366.4 points (67 gms)
- Pekka Rinne — 349.2 points (59 gms)
- Andrei Vasilevskiy — 362.6 points (65 gms)
Unfortunately, points is not the end all here. Points per game is, however. Rinne leads the way again at 5.9 points per game. Vasilevskiy places second at 5.6 points per contest while Hellebuyck comes in third at 5.5 points per tilt. While the Winnipeg goalie tops the list with points, he was not the most desirable start. That honor belonged to Vasilevskiy in the first half and Rinne during the second.
The ends justify the means. Against all odds, Pekka Rinne is the Vezina winner from a fantasy standpoint both in daily fantasy and season long. Some races appear closer than others but this one is a sweep across the board. As the dive begins into the other awards, the races get murkier.