It’s his second consecutive Vezina and third overall, but it’s just the fourth time that a goaltender has won the Hart Trophy during the league’s post-1967 expansion era.
Hellebuyck, the top U.S. goalie at the 4 Nations Face-Off, led the NHL with 47 victories, tied for second most in league history, as the Jets captured the first Presidents’ Trophy (top regular-season record) in franchise history. He gave up two or fewer goals in 40 of 63 appearances and led the league (minimum 25 games played) in goals-against average (2.00) and shutouts (eight). He finished second in save percentage (.925).
The most recent goalies to win the Hart Trophy were Carey Price (2014-15), Jose Theodore (2001-02) and Dominik Hasek (1996-97 and 1997-98).
Hellebuyck is the first repeat Vezina winner since Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur in 2006-07 and 2007-08.
Hellebuyck received 81 first-place votes and 1,346 total points in voting by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl was runner-up with 53 first-place votes and 1,209 points. Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (973 points) was the other finalist.
Hellebuyck received 31 of 32 first-place Vezina votes from general managers. With 158 points, he topped Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy (80) and Los Angeles’ Darcy Kuemper (33).
Earlier in the day, Kings captain Anze Kopitar won the Lady Byng Trophy (sportsmanship) for the third time. He had 67 points in 81 games while having only four penalty minutes.
Other NHL awards winners
Mark Messier Leadership Award: Alex Ovechkin, Capitals
First All-Star team
C Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado; LW Kyle Connor, Winnipeg; RW Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay; D Cale Makar, Colorado; D Zach Werenski, Columbus; G Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg
Second All-Star team
C Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton; LW Brandon Hagel, Tampa Bay; RW David Pastrnak, Boston; D Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay; D Quinn Hughes, Vancouver; G Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay
All-rookie team
G Dustin Wolf, Calgary; Ds Lane Hutson, Montreal and Denton Mateychuk, Columbus; Fs Macklin Celebrini, San Jose and Cutter Gauthier, Anaheim and Matvei Michkov, Philadelphia
Defensemen and forwards are listed alphabetically