Connor Hellebuyck, Darcy Kuemper and Andrei Vasilevskiy were named finalists for the Vezina Trophy on Monday.
The winner of the award, which is given annually to the goalie voted the best at his position by NHL general managers, will be announced at a later date.
Hellebuyck went 47-12-3 in 63 games, which was tied for the NHL lead with Vasilevskiy, for the Winnipeg Jets this season. He led the position in wins, GAA (2.00) and shutouts (eight) and was second in save percentage (.925) among goalies to play at least 25 games. He allowed two or fewer goals 40 times, and one or fewer 27 times.
The 31-year-old also won the William M. Jennings Trophy for helping the Jets allow an NHL-low 191 goals (including shootout-deciding goals) during the regular season. Winnipeg averaged 2.32 goals against per game and won the Presidents' Trophy as the team with the best-regular season record, going 56-22-4.
Hellebuyck, who won the Vezina last season and is a finalist for the third straight season, is a five-time finalist. He also won it in 2019-20, finished second in 2017-18 and third in 2022-23.
Kuemper was 31-11-7 in 50 games for the Los Angeles Kings and finished second in GAA (2.02) and third in save percentage (.922). His five shutouts tied for fourth.
The 34-year-old helped the Kings (48-25-9) finish second in the Pacific Division and allow the second-fewest goals this season (206). He is a first-time Vezina finalist.
“It’s pretty cool,” Kuemper said. “Obviously, I owe a lot of thanks to my teammates and Mike Buckley, my goalie coach, for how much they’ve helped me throughout the year, and obviously, I wouldn’t have been named without those guys.”
Vasilevskiy (38-20-5) was second in the NHL in wins, fourth in GAA (2.18) and save percentage (.921) and tied for second in shutouts (six). He faced the second-most shots (1,716) and made the second-most saves (1,581) and played more minutes than anyone at the position (3,743:05).
The 30-year-old helped the Tampa Bay Lightning (47-27-8) finish second in the Atlantic Division and qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the eighth straight season.
A five-time Vezina finalist, Vasilevskiy finished third in 2017-18 and 2019-20, second in 2020-21, and won the award in 2018-19.
"When you look at the candidates, it's always tough,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “There's only three announced and usually there's a pool of six to eight guys, whether it's goaltenders, defensemen, forwards, for all the major awards. But there was no question he earned this right to be in that group. This was a no-brainer. Good for him."
The remainder of the NHL Awards Finalists will be announced over the next few weeks, beginning with the finalists for the Norris Trophy, which is awarded to the best defenseman, on Tuesday.
NHL.com staff writer Derek Van Diest and senior writer Amalie Benjamin contributed to this report
