Andrei Vasilevskiy’s latest hardware now comes with a video game crown to match.
Fresh off winning his second Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender, the Tampa Bay Lightning star has been revealed as the highest-rated goalie in EA Sports NHL 27, checking in at a 94 overall. EA Sports continued rolling out ratings for the upcoming game, and Vasilevskiy came out on top in the goalie rankings.
The numbers behind his season explain why. Vasilevskiy backstopped Tampa Bay to its ninth straight trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and won the Vezina after going 39-15-4 with a .911 save percentage and a 2.31 goals-against average. It was also the ninth consecutive season in which he reached at least 30 wins, underscoring just how steady he’s been for the Lightning.
Tampa Bay finished second in the Atlantic Division last season, then saw its postseason end with a fourth straight first-round loss, this one in a seven-game series against the Montreal Canadiens.
Vasilevskiy is the top-rated goalie in the game, but he’s not the highest-rated player on his own roster. That distinction belongs to Nikita Kucherov, who was unveiled as the top-rated right winger at 97 overall.
The rest of the goalie list is packed tightly behind Vasilevskiy. Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders sits second at 93, followed by Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets at 92 and Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers at 91. Logan Thompson of the Washington Capitals rounds out the top five at 90.
The full top 10 also includes Jeremy Swayman of Boston at 89, Jake Oettinger of Dallas at 88, and a trio tied at 87: Jesper Wallstedt of Minnesota, Lukas Dostal of Anaheim and Dustin Wolf of Calgary.
NHL 27’s deluxe edition will include a week of early access beginning Sept. 4, while the standard edition goes on sale Sept. 11.
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