On Wednesday, the NHL announced the three finalists for the Vezina Trophy. The fine folks at JFresh shared some fascinating lists from different models that rank the top goaltenders in the NHL from this past season in Goals Saved Above Expected. SportLogiq had Blackhawks netminder Spencer Knight ranked fifth in the entire league this past season.
The 2025-26 Vézina Finalists have been announced: Vasilevskiy, Sorokin, Swayman.
Disagree? You’re not alone.
Here’s who four analytical models – including the https://t.co/OwludacxZb model and three proprietary ones used by NHL teams – have as their top 5 by goals saved: pic.twitter.com/GwpNrA8EXo— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) April 29, 2026
Earlier this week I shared a piece that detailed some of the ways NHL teams are utilizing AI to better weaponize data. SportLogiq has data tools that are being used all over the league; that’s why their top five were included in the graphic.
Certainly some high praise for Knight, who appeared in a career-high 55 games this past season. In fact, Knight had never appeared in more than 45 in a season at any professional level.
Knight, 25, faced 1,583 total shots on net this year — the fourth-highest total in the NHL. Only ten goaltenders in the league faced at least 1,500 shots this past season. From that list, only five had a save percentage over .900 during the 2025-26 season:
Logan Thompson, Washington — 1,587 shots against, .912 save percentage
Jet Greaves, Columbus — 1,539 SA, .908 save pct.
Jeremy Swayman, Boston* — 1,571 SA, .908 save pct.
Ilya Sorokin, NY Islanders* — 1,530 SA, .906 save pct.
Spencer Knight, Blackhawks — 1,583 SA, .902 save pct.
From that list, Swayman and Sorokin are among the three Vezina Trophy finalists (with Tampa’s Andrei Vasilevskiy).