The Vezina Trophy race lost one of its top competitors earlier this week when Igor Shesterkin suffered a season-ending injury. While that isn't how you'd like to see Jeremy Swayman win his first top goaltender award, it was starting to look like Shesterkin might be the Boston Bruins netminder's biggest rival for the award.
Jesper Wallstedt and Jake Oettinger are currently in rare form, backstopping their respective Central Division teams to great starts, but history would suggest they might not be able to make it last. While Oettinger was a fellow Team USA gold medalist with Swayman last season, he hasn't always been able to sustain it for a full 82-game season, now 84.
Wallstedt could be the league's top young goaltender, but we'll also need to see him sustain it over a full schedule. This leaves a fellow Swede and former Vezina winner, Linus Ullmark, as the best candidate to steal the award from Swayman.
Of course, that Vezina award came when Ullmark led the Bruins to the best regular season in NHL history, with Swayman as his trusty 1B option in the crease. The old tandem formed a memorable friendship that is one of the best memories for fans from the early 2020s, but eventually the torch was passed, and the Bruins took the opportunity to trade Ullmark for a draft pick to land top prospect Dean Letourneau and fan favorite Mark Kastelic.
Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark leading their respective teams
The Swayman-Ullmark Vezina race will be an intriguing one all season, because it could potentially depend on which of their teams makes it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If the Bruins or Senators do make the postseason, it will be on the backs of their goalies, as they both already sit in the top five in goals saved above expected.
With the Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, Florida Panthers, and potentially the Toronto Maple Leafs all looking like teams that could be in a playoff spot by the end of the season, there may only be room for one of the Bruins or Senators. A goalie isn't going to win the Vezina Trophy in a season where his team misses the playoffs, but if Swayman or Ullmark miraculously gets their team there, it could certainly tip the scale in their favor.
It's still a long way to go this season, and Ullmark is a rival now, but it would create a feel-good moment for Bruins fans if he and Swayman are standing together as Vezina finalists at the end of this season.
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