By profitable the MVP, he turns into simply the eighth totally different goalie to ever win the award, becoming a member of a listing that features solely Roy Worters, Chuck Rayner, Al Rollins, Jacques Plante, Dominik Hasek (who received it twice), Jose Theodore and Carey Worth.
He’s the primary goalie to win it since Worth did so in the course of the 2014-15 season and solely the fourth goalie to win it for the reason that league expanded past six groups in 1967 (Hasek, Theodore and Worth are the opposite three).
The one draw back to all of those honors for Hellebuyck is that he’s nonetheless going to face criticism for one more disappointing playoff displaying that resulted in him getting benched thrice within the first spherical, earlier than settling in and enjoying higher within the second spherical. Whereas his general numbers, together with his save share and goals-against common, have been among the many greatest within the common season over the previous three seasons, his playoff numbers have taken a big drop over that very same time interval. It is an issue that each he and the Jets have to resolve if they’ll grow to be a severe Stanley Cup contender.
Truthful or not, elite gamers are finally judged by what they do within the playoffs, and in in the present day’s “ring tradition,” regular-season efficiency would not all the time get the identical respect it ought to if there’s not a championship in that trophy case to validate all of it.
However even with that being the case, Hellebuyck’s regular-season efficiency is among the single greatest causes the Jets have received as many video games as they’ve over the previous three years — and one of many greatest the reason why they completed this season with the very best report within the NHL. Whereas the Jets have a superb roster, it was additionally a flawed roster that at instances could possibly be depending on Hellebuyck to win them video games.
They don’t have the season they did with out him.
He completed with a .925 save share, a league-best 2.00 goals-against common and a league-leading eight shutouts.
Nice goalies can flip dangerous groups into playoff groups, playoff groups into contenders, and contenders into championship-caliber groups.
Unhealthy goalies do the precise reverse.
That kind of influence is why they need to win the MVP extra typically than they do, particularly if the award actually relies on the thought of “worth.”
The voters bought it proper on this case with Hellebuyck. No person did extra to raise their group within the common season than he did.
