Trophy Tracker: Shesterkin, Markstrom top Vezina picks as best NHL goalie

To mark the end of the 2021-22 season, NHL.com is running its fifth installment of the Trophy Tracker series. Today, we look at the race for the Vezina Trophy, awarded annually to the goalie voted to be the best in the League by NHL general managers.

One could make a strong argument Igor Shesterkin is the biggest reason why the New York Rangers are not only in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time since 2017, but also having home ice for the Eastern Conference First Round, which begins next week.
The 26-year-old goalie leads the NHL (minimum 22 games played) in goals-against average (2.07) and save percentage (.935), is third in shutouts (six) and sixth in wins (36) for the Rangers (51-24-6), who have reached 50 wins for the fifth time in their history.
"Obviously, I really love playing, I love winning," Shesterkin said April 19.
Shesterkin is the favorite among 17 NHL.com writers to win the Vezina Trophy this season, receiving 84 voting points, including 16 first-place votes. Jacob Markstrom of the Calgary Flames finished second with 55 points (one first-place vote), and Frederik Andersen of the Carolina Hurricanes was third with 36 points. Markstrom leads the NHL with nine shutouts; Andersen, who has missed five games because of a lower-body injury, is tied for third with a .922 save percentage.

Ten years have passed since a Rangers goalie won the Vezina; Henrik Lundqvist had a 1.97 GAA, .930 save percentage and eight shutouts in 2011-12. Lundqvist was still with New York when it last reached the postseason in 2020, so Shesterkin, who never played more than 39 games in a season during his six in the Kontinental Hockey League, is about to really get his first taste of life as a starting goalie in the NHL playoffs.
"I went on to the stats site to see how many games I've played this season and I'm still shocked, to be honest," Shesterkin said.
He clearly has not been fazed by the heaviest workload of his career; Shesterkin has allowed two goals or fewer in 33 of his 51 starts. Three of his six shutouts this season have come in April, helping the Rangers secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
"I can definitely say there are less shots being let up," Shesterkin said. "The guys have been playing a lot harder defensively and really trying to clean up the zone so I can see what's going on."
Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1- basis): Igor Shesterkin, New York Rangers, 84 points (16 first-place votes); Jacob Markstrom, Calgary Flames, 55 (1); Frederik Andersen, Carolina Hurricanes, 36; Darcy Kuemper, Colorado Avalanche, 31; Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators, 25; Ilya Sorokin, New York Islanders, 9; Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning, 8; Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida Panthers, 4; Ville Husso, St. Louis Blues, 1; Tristan Jarry, Pittsburgh Penguins, 1.