Connor McDavid is leading the league in points. No surprise there. Alex Ovechkin has more goals than any of his peers. Again, not surprising.
The combined record of last season’s three Vezina finalists is a subpar 7-9-2 this season. Yes, that is a bit surprising.
The start to the 2021-22 NHL campaign already has some unforeseen results – the Sabres and Red Wings are a combined 9-3-2, for example – and the collective early-season struggles of Marc-Andre Fleury, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Philipp Grubauer is among them.
Let’s take a closer look at the three Vezina Trophy finalists from 2020-21 and figure out if fans of their respective teams should be worried.
Marc-Andre Fleury
2020-21 record: 26-10-0
2020-21 stats: 1.98 GAA, .928 SP%, 6 SO
2020-21 accomplishments: Won first career Vezina Trophy as league’s top netminder, posting career-low goals-against average and save percentage; moved into third place on NHL’s all-time wins list (492) and fourth place on all-time playoff wins list (92); shared the William M. Jennings Trophy with Robin Lehner
It’s no secret the start of the 2021-22 season has been an unmitigated disaster for the Chicago Blackhawks, on and off the ice.
In addition to all the distractions stemming from the franchise’s ongoing sexual abuse scandal, many players in the room have either been dealing with various injuries or have been in COVID protocol.
The team simply hasn’t played well and the analytics crowd that panned the acquisition of Seth Jones has been stuffing their faces with a huge plate of schadenfreude since Jones has posted mostly unimpressive underlying numbers, even though he is leading his team in assists, points and time on ice.
Underwhelming team defence plus injuries and all the distractions have resulted in a terrible start, and the reigning Vezina Trophy winner’s numbers have both suffered for it and contributed to it after an off-season trade.
Fleury went 9-7 with a 2.04 goals-against average, .918 save percentage and one shutout in the playoffs earlier this calendar year while with the Vegas Golden Knights. In fact, he didn’t allow more than three goals in any post-season appearance.
So far this season? He has allowed at least four goals in each of his first four starts in a Blackhawks uniform despite facing fewer than 30 shots per game on average.
He hadn’t lost consecutive starts to kick off a season since 2015-16, and then compare this year to last year when Fleury only allowed nine goals during his 5-0-0 start? Yikes. That seems like a lifetime ago.
Chicago fell to 0-5-2 after blowing a 2-0 lead to the Maple Leafs Wednesday. Fleury wasn’t in net for that loss but is expected to start Friday on the road against the Hurricanes. The Blackhawks need a spark and Fleury standing on his head might be what it takes. Unfortunately, until we see more from his new teammates, it could continue being a grim scene in Chicago for the foreseeable future.
Andrei Vasilevskiy
2020-21 record: 31-10-1
2020-21 stats: .925 GAA, 2.21 SP%, 5 SO
2020-21 accomplishments: Led NHL in wins for fourth consecutive season; finished second in Vezina voting and seventh in Hart voting; tied career-low GAA and posted career-low save percentage; won second consecutive Stanley Cup championship and first career Conn Smythe Trophy
There doesn’t seem to be much indication we need to worry about Vasilevskiy’s start, even though his .893 save percentage and his 3.20 GAA over his first five starts wasn’t what we’re used to seeing from him.
Tampa’s roster underwent significant alterations in the summer and even though the defence remained mostly intact, the off-season losses of forwards Tyler Johnson, Yanni Gourde, Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow – not to mention Nikita Kucherov’s latest long-term injury – have significantly impacted the team’s overall defensive performance.
The perennial Vezina contender is putting his slow start behind him, winning his past two games and stopping all but two shots.
Philipp Grubauer
2020-21 record: 30-9-1
2020-21 stats: .922 GAA, 1.95 SP%, 7 SO
2020-21 accomplishments: Led NHL with seven shutouts; first-time Vezina finalist, finishing third in votes; set career-low GAA
The Avs were white-hot to close out the regular season and Grubauer went 18-2-1 in his final 21 appearances before beginning the post-season with six consecutive wins. Grubauer, however, lost four in a row to close out his tenure with Colorado.
A career year earned him a lucrative contract from the NHL’s newest franchise, yet his first five appearances with the Seattle Kraken saw him go 1-3-1 with an ugly .869 save percentage.
The German bounced back nicely earlier this week with a win over Montreal in which he stopped 23 of 24 shots and was named second star. Was it a sign Grubauer was about to get on track, or did that performance have more to do with Montreal’s dearth of scoring to start the season? He followed that up with a 30-save win over Minnesota on Thursday.
Similar to Fleury adjusting to a change in scenery, some of Grubauer’s early struggles can straightforwardly be attributed to going from the Presidents’ Trophy winner to an expansion team.
The Seattle blue-line he’s playing behind, speckled with talent as it may be, is not a cohesive defensive unit yet. Grubauer’s numbers should improve as the rookie roster continues to develop its on-ice chemistry.
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