It may seem hard to believe, but the NHL season is upon us.
Training camps are about to open, and the regular season is less than a month away. Thus, it’s the perfect time to start placing Futures bets, like picking the winner of the Vezina Trophy, which is annually given the NHL’s best goalie in a single season.
Here’s a look at the 2024 Vezina Trophy odds.
2024 NHL Vezina Trophy Odds
Here are the betting favorites to win the 2024 Vezina Trophy as of Wednesday, Sept. 13, at DraftKings Sportsbook.
- Ilya Sorokin, New York Islanders (+400)
- Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators (+600)
- Igor Shesterkin, New York Rangers (+600)
- Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets (+700)
- Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning (+800)
- Jake Oettinger, Dallas Stars (+1200)
- Linus Ullmark, Boston Bruins (+1800)
- Filip Gustavsson, Minnesota Wild (+2000)
- Alexandar Georgiev, Colorado Avalanche (+2500)
We’ll keep you updated on NHL futures with our hockey odds comparison tool.
Boston Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark may have won the Vezina, but New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin is the best in class, which is why he’s the favorite. Sorokin actually finished ahead of Ullmark in Hart Trophy voting, for league MVP, since he is clearly the Islanders’ most important player.
- Check out all of our NHL best bets.
Still, Sorokin has yet to win the Vezina Trophy and could fall short again if he’s unable to lug his team to respectability or the playoffs. Juuse Saros should have a similar plight, and the award winner may come down to whichever of the two carries his club to the postseason.
Igor Shesterkin, who won the award in 2022, should have no such troubles since his Rangers have reached the postseason each of the past two seasons. Connor Hellebuyck, the 2020 winner, could still be traded out of Winnipeg, which would only give his profile a boost.
The latest NHL odds are constantly evolving, but those are the favorites at the moment.
2024 Vezina Trophy Prediction
Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators (+600)
The Predators are trying to reload since Saros continues to annually drag them to or near the playoffs. Nashville missed the Western Conference playoffs by three points but finished with the same number of points as the Florida Panthers, who represented the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final.
Saros has led the NHL in games and minutes in each of the past two seasons and made the most saves while facing the most shots in 2023. He may get a lighter workload under new coach Andrew Brunette, and if Saros plays less it could lead to a career year like the one he had in 2020-21 when he started 36 of Nashville’s 56 games.
Perception is that Sorokin and Saros are in a 1/1A situation. I think Nashville is in a better position to reach the playoffs this season, and if it does Saros would stand to be the Vezina winner.
2023 Vezina Trophy Candidates
Ilya Sorokin, New York Islanders (+400)
If not for Ullmark’s stunning season, Sorokin would’ve run away with the award. Still, he’s the clear favorite as the consensus top goalie in the sport, leading the NHL in shutouts (6) while finishing second in all-situation goals-saved above average (36.1), third in save percentage (.924), and seventh in GAA (2.34) among qualifying goalies.
- Read The Game Day’s 2024 Stanley Cup Picks
Sorokin could be in Saros’ position in 2023-24, where his team is over-reliant on his talent to remain competitive. That could be a good situation for him to win the Vezina, as long as he remains up for the challenge.
Igor Shesterkin, New York Rangers (+600)
Shesterkin, who won the award and finished third in Hart Trophy voting in 2022, had a tough start to the season and finished eighth in 2023. The Rangers may not be as talented this season after losing star forward Vladimir Tarasenko among others in free agency.
But Shesterkin has shown he can put the Rangers on his back for a full season. If he does so in 2024, he could very easily run away with the Vezina again.
Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets (+700)
Hellebuyck is perceived as one of the league’s best since he won the Vezina in 2020 and has been a three-time finalist. But he’s also likely to be traded, which could give the league a broader look at his capabilities since Winnipeg is the NHL’s smallest market.
If Hellebuyck has a Vezina-caliber season in a new location and carries his team to regular-season dominance, he could very easily become a shoo-in for the award.
Vezina Trophy Sleepers
Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins (+3000)
Ullmark won the award but wasn’t necessarily supposed to be the primary starter for Boston in 2022-23. Swayman started the Bruins’ home opener, one of his 37 starts despite losing two-plus weeks to a knee injury, and finished with a .920 save percentage and 2.27 GAA.
There have been rumblings of an Ullmark trade since the Bruins are up against the salary cap and could decide to max out the 29-year-old’s value. But it’s also because Swayman, who will turn 25 in November, proved capable of being the starter.
If Ullmark is traded, and Swayman has another exceptional year while making 50-55 starts, he’ll surely get in the Vezina conversation if Boston remains in the playoff race.
Thatcher Demko, Vancouver Canucks (+3000)
That the Canucks fell out of playoff contention in October was largely due to Demko’s early-season struggles and injury. By the time he returned, despite the fact Demko was great, it was too late to salvage the season.
But all that is history now, and his mediocre-at-best season distracts from the fact Demko was seventh in Vezina voting in 2022. I’d expect the Canucks, who still have a superb roster, to contend for a playoff spot, and Demko is one of the few play-every-game goalies in the league.
If the Canucks get back to the playoffs, Demko will almost certainly get Vezina votes.
Akira Schmid, New Jersey Devils (+5000)
Schmid was one of the Stanley Cup playoffs’ breakout stars as he helped New Jersey reach the second round. But the Devils are loaded and eyeing the Eastern Conference crown and a Stanley Cup championship.
It remains to be seen if Schmid or 2022-23 starter Vítek Vaněček will be the primary starter for Lindy Ruff‘s team. But if it’s Schmid, and he posts great numbers as he did during the regular season (9-5-2, 2.13 GAA, .922 save% in 18 starts) in 50-plus outings, he’ll get in the conversation.
