2. Jacob Markstrom could win the Vezina Trophy
Jacob Markstrom has been a Vezina Trophy finalist before, but he’s never won. If you were worried that Markstrom was fairly average early on in the season, you were not alone in that. In December, he went into beast mode and pushed himself into the conversation. The 34-year-old is second in wins and third in GAA in the NHL. He has three shutouts this season and a .911 SV%.
Markstrom had the performance of a lifetime against the Seattle Kraken earlier this week. It was a West Coast game, meaning a lot of Devils fans on the East Coast woke up to insane highlights the next morning. But it’s not just one game where Markstrom has looked like a Vezina Trophy candidate. Although he's playing behind a good team, he’s kept the Devils in a lot of games when the defense has been sloppy and the offense has been lacking. Markstrom is providing the goaltending the Devils have dreamed about for years.
Will it be enough to beat the two-time winner and favorite, Connor Hellebuyck, and last season’s runner-up, Filip Gustavsson, for goaltender of the year? Maybe if Markstrom plays out of his mind and Hellebuyck falls apart in the second half of the season. But if Markstrom continues his level of play, he should at least be a finalist for the second time in his career.