2024-25 Vezina Trophy odds: 3 long shots for NHL’s top goalie award

You’ll often hear people in hockey circles refer to goaltending as “voodoo” and lament how hard it is to project the position in this era. Gone are the days when you had an elite class of netminders like Martin Brodeur, Dominik Hasek or Patrick Roy playing 70-plus games and posting gaudy numbers.

In the modern NHL, you can basically count on one hand the goalies that you feel confident will put up Vezina-caliber numbers. And even then it’s a bit dicey.

Consider the case of Ilya Sorokin. The Russian netminder was the favorite to win the Vezina Trophy before the start of last season but had an ordinary campaign and was outplayed by his backup, Semyon Varlamov, down the stretch. 

And while the award went to another one of the favorites, Connor Hellebuyck, it was more evidence of how difficult it is to predict how goaltenders will play season to season.

That’s why we’ll skirt the top of the board, where Igor Shesterkin, Jeremy Swayman (who is still in a contract dispute) and Connor Hellebuyck sit as essentially co-favorites, and look for some bigger prices to get behind in this market. 

2024-25 Vezina Trophy odds

2024-25 Vezina Trophy best bets

Darcy Kuemper, Kings (+15000, FanDuel)

Things didn’t go well for Kuemper in Washington last season, but it wasn’t that long ago that the former Stanley Cup champion was thought of as a top-10 starting goaltender in the league.

In his two previous campaigns, Kuemper posted a +29.1 Goals Saved Above Expected and started 114 games with the Avalanche and Capitals.

If he reverts back to that form — and he has every chance to do so behind a great defensive team — he’s got a shot to outrun these odds. 

Joonas Korpisalo, Bruins (+30000, FanDuel)

This would be a real shocker, but there is a slight path to success here and that’s all you’re looking for when you’re dipping into these prices.

After a disastrous season in Ottawa, Korpisalo was brought in to serve as Swayman’s backup when the Bruins traded Linus Ullmark.

But Swayman is still not at training camp and reports around his contract negotiations suggest it could be some time before the restricted free agent reports to the team. That opens the door for Korpisalo to be the No. 1 goalie out of the gates and grab hold of the crease.

And while Korpisalo’s numbers last year were abject, he played well enough in the previous season to earn a big contract from Ottawa. He has some upside and the Bruins are one of the best teams in the NHL at protecting their goaltenders. Just ask Ullmark, who won the Vezina as a massive longshot two seasons ago.

Justus Annunen, Avalanche (+30000, DraftKings)

Like Korpisalo, Annunen is an enormous longshot to win, but there is a door open for the Avs goaltender to make things interesting.

Alexandar Georgiev is the No. 1 goaltender in Colorado, but he’s as mercurial as any netminder in the league and the team isn’t committed to him beyond 2024-25, so if Annunen outplays the Bulgarian, there will be no issue with changing the guard.

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And it’s not like that’s out of the question. Annunen doesn’t have an NHL track record — he’s played 18 games in his career — but he was terrific in his 14-game swing in 2023-24, posting a .928 save percentage and a +13.4 Goals Saved Above Expected. 

Colorado is one of the best teams in the NHL, so if Annunen plays well enough to take over the gig, he can pile up wins pretty quickly and that will start to get some attention.

Why Trust New York Post Betting

Michael Leboff handicaps the EPL, NHL, golf and anything else that isn’t the NFL and NBA for the NY Post. He’s up 49.73 units betting EPL with a 7.17% ROI.