Boston Bruins
Jeremy Swayman ranked second among qualified NHL goalies this season with 28.8 goals saved above expected.
Jeremy Swayman has bounced back from a lackluster 2024-25 season. . (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
April 29, 2026 | 1:55 PM
1 minute to read
Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman is getting some recognition for the best season of his career.
The 27-year-old netminder was named one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy — awarded annually to the best goalie in the NHL.
The other two finalists for the 2026 Vezina Trophy are the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and the New York Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin.
This marks the first time in Swayman’s career that he has been named a finalist for a Vezina Trophy, which is voted on by the NHL’s 32 general managers.
Swayman closed out the 2025-26 regular season with a career-best 31 wins — sporting a 31-18-4 record with a .908 save percentage, 2.71 goals-against average, and two shutouts over 55 games.
Even if Swayman’s save percentage is not a career high, a peek under the hood at Swayman’s underlying stats paints the picture of a netminder who has routinely bailed out a leaky defensive structure in front of him.
According to MoneyPuck, Swayman ranked second among all qualified NHL goalies during the regular season in goals saved above expected with a rate of 28.8.
That metric — which accounts for shot quality, quantity, and the amount of Grade-A looks that a goalie is turning aside — might be the best case that Swayman has for taking home some hardware, especially when factoring in the defense in front of him.
Sorokin finished third among qualified goalies in goals saved above expected at 25.3, while Vasilevskiy placed fourth in the same category at 24.7.
Vasilevskiy figures to be the current favorite for the award, given both his established pedigree (one Vezina Trophy, six total finalist nods) and stronger baseline stats.
The 31-year-old goalie posted a 39-15-4 record with a 2.31 GAA and a .912 save percentage — leading the league in wins while ranking second in GAA and third in save percentage.
Swayman’s bounce-back from a lackluster 2024-25 campaign has been the key conduit behind Boston’s resurgent, 100-point season. His strong play has continued so far this postseason, with the University of Maine product sporting a .910 save percentage through five playoff games against Buffalo.
In his last 17 playoff appearances, Swayman holds a .926 save percentage.
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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