Winnipeg Jets 2021 Season Awards: Top Goaltender

Coming into the 2021 regular season for the Winnipeg Jets, there was a question of whether Connor Hellebuyck could pick up right where he left off from his 2019-2020 Vezina Trophy-winning season.

Right before this season began, the NHL Network rated Hellbuyck as the third-best goaltender in the league behind Tuukka Rask and Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Although Hellebuyck did not take home the Vezina this year, as the award went to Marc-André Fleury, he played absolutely outstanding for the Jets and is our pick as Winnipeg’s top goaltender of this season.

Connor Hellebuyck was the top goaltender for the Winnipeg Jets during the 2021 Season

This award should come as no surprise to anyone, but on this site, we wanted to name the best player at each position for the Jets.

Hellebuyck played the most of any goaltender in the NHL during this season (2602:49 time on ice), he faced the most shots (1,335) and made the most saves (1,223).

Even with this heavy workload, Hellebuyck posted some outstanding stats and was one of the main reasons the Jets made it to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

In 45 games played, Hellebuyck had a 24-17-3 record with a 2.58 goals against average and a .916 save percentage.

Some of Hellebuyck’s best performances came during the playoffs. During the first round against the Edmonton Oilers, and the top two point scorers in the NHL, Hellebuyck played outstanding. Hellebuyck’s arguably best game of the postseason came in game two. During that pivotal game, the Jets number thirty-seven stopped all 38 shots he faced and picked up the 1-0 shutout victory.

Although the Jets got swept in the second round by the Montreal Canadiens, Hellebuyck showed why he is one of the best goaltenders in the league. In game four, the Commerce, Michigan native made 39 saves on 42 shots and kept the Jets in the game. Unfortunately for him and the Jets, they had their season ended as they lost 3-2 in overtime.

Hellebuyck was without a doubt the Jets goaltender of the year and it will be interesting to see how he performs next season in what will most likely be a full 82-game season.

Check back to our site tomorrow as we name our winners for our final two awards of 2021: Top Forward and Team MVP!

Winnipeg Jets Fans: Do you agree with our selection of Connor Hellebuyck as the Winnipeg Jets’ top goaltender of the most recent season? Leave your comments below!

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