There really is no other way to say this: New Jersey Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom was blatantly disrespected in the Vezina Trophy voting this year.
Former Devils trade target Connor Hellebuyck deservedly claimed the prestigious award in a runaway victory, earning 31 first-place votes and only one second-place vote, which prevented his win from being unanimous. The last first-place vote went to Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
So, where did Markstrom finish in the Vezina Trophy voting? Well, he didn't finish at all. Markstrom did not receive a single vote for the Vezina this year.
The Devils were surprisingly well represented in other award votes this year, with three Devils players reeling in some votes on MVP ballots across the league. Goaltending, which was largely a position of strength for the Devils this season, was ignored entirely.
Vezina Trophy voting results
With Markstrom out of the picture and Hellebuyck laughing to the bank with his latest Vezina, here's how the rest of the voting played out:
Vasilevskiy picked up a first-place vote, 23 second-place votes, and six third-place votes. Los Angeles goalie Darcy Kuemper received six second-place votes and 15 third-place votes, and behind him was Washington netminder Logan Thompson, who once played in the Devils organization, with a second-place vote and four third-place votes.
Toronto goalie and New Jersey native Anthony Stolarz received one second-place vote, while Minnesota and New York goalies Filip Gustavsson and Ilya Sorokin each pulled in two third-place votes.
To round out the group, Sam Montembeault, Jake Oettinger, and Dustin Wolf each held a third-place vote. But not Markstrom.
In his first season with the Devils, Markstrom was 26-16-6 with a 2.50 GAA, a .900 save percentage, and four shutouts. The numbers are not impressive, no, but the 35-year-old was on fire before the Devils fell apart in the winter, then he was felled by a knee injury and struggled to return to form in the weeks that followed.
By the time the playoffs rolled around, though, Markstrom was back to his best, posting a 2.78 GAA and a .911 save percentage despite being completely overmatched by the Carolina Hurricanes in four games of the five-game series.
Nobody will sit here and argue in earnest that Markstrom should have won the Vezina, but even one vote would have sufficed. If it makes anyone feel better, Igor Shesterkin didn't receive a vote either.