Who Are the Best Goalies in the Atlantic Division?

In the Atlantic Division, there’s a clear-cut top tier of goalies who are vital to their team’s success. Consequently, there are also goalies in the division who will probably end up contending for the Vezina Trophy at the end of the 2025-26 season. 

While the Atlantic may not be the home of the top-tier goalie talent in the league, the Central Division probably takes that title. There are still some goalies who have an interesting season ahead of them in the division. 

With that in mind, here’s a look at the three goalies with the shortest odds at winning the Vezina Trophy in the Atlantic Division as of September 15. 

1. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning (+750)

Before it became clear that reigning Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck was going to steamroll the competition once again, it looked like Andrei Vasilevskiy could have a shot at the award. 

Vasilevskiy posted a 2.18 GAA and a .921 save percentage last season after starting 63 games for Tampa Bay. He also had a 38-20 win-loss record. 

That performance was good enough to earn him second place in the 2024-25 Vezina Trophy voting. He did manage to secure one first-place vote from the 32 NHL general managers, denying Hellebuyck a unanimous win. 

The 31-year-old two-time Stanley Cup champion only has one Vezina Trophy in his career despite being one of the league’s best throughout his 11-year career. 

While there’s a chance that Vasilevskiy can unseat Hellebuyck, I don’t think it’s a big one. Taking into account that the Lightning are on the other side of contention at this point, it’s unlikely that his team can be relevant enough to propel him to victory unless his numbers are undeniably superior to Hellebuyck’s. 

Beyond contending for the Vezina Trophy, Vasilevskiy remains a, or maybe even the, crucial piece on a Tampa team that’s trying to hold on in a division that may have passed them by. 

If they’re going to prolong that window of contention for another year — they currently have +1400 to win the Stanley Cup — it’ll come down to how good Vasilevskiy is. 

2. Sergei Bobrovsky, Panthers (+3000)

I’ve written before about Sergei Bobrovsky’s evolution from playoff choker and top bad-contract-guy to a beloved legend of the game and a potential Hall of Famer. 

Last year was another season spent cementing his legacy within the NHL. He posted a 2.44 GAA and a .905 save percentage through 54 games started in an age-35 season. 

While he has a chance to win the Vezina Trophy for the third time in his career this season, what Bobrovsky is more likely to accomplish has more to do with the record books. 

He’s currently 24th on the All-Time leaderboard for most games played as a goalie. Assuming we see another 50-start season for Bobrovsky, he could jump up closer to another active all-timer, Jonathan Quick, who currently has 804 games played and is 16th on the list. 

Bobrovsky currently ranks 10th on the list of goalies with the most career wins, with 429. Assuming he maintains his pace of the last few seasons in Florida, where he’s had roughly 30 wins each year, he could move up to 7th place behind Henrik Lundqvist, who has 459 career wins. 

There’s plenty of intrigue already surrounding Bobrovsky, given his place on a Panthers team that’s vying for a third-straight Stanley Cup victory. Still, he could make things even more interesting over the next few years by chasing after the top five in career wins and most games started. 

3. Jeremy Swayman, Bruins (+3500)

The Bruins desperately need a good season out of Jeremy Swayman this year after he may have single-handedly broken up their core last year. 

Swayman began last season in a dispute with ownership over his contract while he vied to become the highest-paid goaltender in the league. That fight carried over into the regular season, causing him to miss training camp, the preseason, and Boston’s first game of the year. 

He struggled for the remainder of the year, posting a 3.11 GAA and a .892 save percentage, the worst of his career in both categories, and earning a 22-29 record on the season. 

Twenty games into the season, the Bruins fired their head coach and then, at the trade deadline, dealt their captain to a division rival. If Boston’s front office and Swayman had come to a contract resolution more quickly last year, one could argue that the goalie would have had a stronger start, and neither of those two things would have happened. 

N, coming off a stellar performance at this summer’s World Cup of Hockey as the starting goalie for the gold-medal-winning Team USA, Swayman has an opportunity to build on that performance with a bounce-back year with the Bruins. 

If he can return to his career averages from seasons prior, which have been a 2.58 GAA and a .910 save percentage, he’ll certainly be in the Vezina conversations. 

There is, also, a fear that Swayman may be traded to a more contending team at some point this year. Boston probably won’t do the unthinkable after another poor season and trade David Pastrnak or Charlie McAvoy, so Swayman may be the most obvious trade piece on the roster. 

Hopefully, for Swayman’s sake, his play can give the Bruins a reason to keep him out of trade discussions.