TAMPA — Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is drawing fresh Vezina Trophy attention after what the franchise called a “landmark year” during the 2025-26 NHL season.
The Lightning organization published a feature highlighting what it described as Vasilevskiy’s top five Vezina-worthy moments from the season, underscoring the netminder’s continued dominance between the pipes. Vasilevskiy, a previous Stanley Cup champion and Vezina Trophy winner, has long been regarded as one of the NHL’s elite goaltenders.
The feature, published on the team’s official website, leaned into Vasilevskiy’s larger-than-life persona off the ice as well, describing an encounter with the goaltender cruising down Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa in a black Porsche 911 GT3 RS. The team noted that the vehicle “recently played a critical, starring role in the NHL’s most recent episode of Punk’d,” though details of the episode were not disclosed.
Vasilevskiy, known by the nickname “The Big Cat,” has been a cornerstone of the Lightning franchise through multiple deep playoff runs. The 2025-26 campaign added to a résumé that already includes some of the most decorated goaltending seasons in recent NHL history.
The NHL’s Vezina Trophy, awarded annually to the league’s top goaltender as voted by general managers, is expected to be announced during the league’s awards ceremony later this month.