NHL Midseason Awards: Igor Shesterkin leads PHT Vezina Trophy voting

After looking at who’s in the Hart Trophy race, it’s time to turn our focus to the goaltenders. It’s a wide-open race and there are several names who have a real good chance at taken home the Vezina Trophy come NHL Awards time in June.

The Vezina is given to the “goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at this position.” This award is voted on annually by the league’s 32 general managers.

TOTAL BALLOTS (Points allocation: 10-7-5 for 1st-2nd-3rd)

1. Igor Shesterkin, Rangers – 47 (40-7-0)2. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning – 17 (10-7-0)3. Frederik Andersen, Hurricanes – 12 (0-7-5)Jack Campbell, Maple Leafs – 12 (0-7-5)Juuse Saros, Predators – 12 (0-7-5)———————————————Thatcher Demko, Canucks – 5 (0-0-5)Sergei Bobrovsky, Panthers – 5 (0-0-5)

There are a lot of really great choices here this season, and Frederik Andersen and Tristan Jarry both deserve some attention just outside of the top-three right now (along with Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is always here). But Shesterkin has been so dominant this season and such a game-changer for the Rangers I am not sure how it is anybody other than him right now.

1. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning2. Igor Shesterkin, Rangers3. Jack Campbell, Maple Leafs

No offense to Ranger fans or anyone else who believes Shesterkin has had the best season by a goalie thus far. You are not necessarily wrong. I just think that Vasilevskiy is a tier above every other goaltender in the NHL, and as long as his stats are in the same ballpark as the league leaders, he deserves the award. While Tampa does have a fantastic team in front of him, it is not the same juggernaut roster as the past couple seasons, and Vasilevskiy is in the mix to lead the league in wins for a 5th straight season.

If there’s any goalie that a