The Colorado Avalanche have the NHL’s best goalie right now.
He just isn’t going to win the Vezina Trophy.
Scott Wedgewood leads the league with a .921 save percentage and a sparkling 2.06 goals-against average. Yet those elite numbers probably won’t be enough to overcome the one
thing working against him: he hasn’t started as many games as the typical Vezina frontrunner.
It’s a shame, because even with roughly 10 missed starts, Wedgewood is tied for fourth in wins among goalies and ranks third in shutouts.
The good news? It doesn’t seem to bother him.
Back in his Dallas days, Wedgewood told Taylor Baird of NHL.com: “I’d rather take wins all day. Numbers and stats, it’s obviously nice, but the guys in there—they deserve a win.”
That team-first mindset showed up the moment he arrived in Colorado. After his first victory in an Avalanche uniform, he delivered the line that’s now legendary in Denver: “That was fun. Four lines, six Ds, two tendies… all year, let’s go.”
In the room, Wedgewood comes across as a clear communicator—confident, self-aware, and more open than most pros. He doesn’t seem wired to chase individual validation or get rattled by a lack of recognition. Even in what’s shaping up as a career Renaissance year, his focus isn’t on personal hardware.
It’s on his process and on winning the Stanley Cup.
In an NHLPA article in 2025, Wedgewood had this to say regarding his process changing as he gets older: “As I’ve gotten older, it’s more about the process and being consistent. It’s not about making the spectacular save every night. It’s about being in the right position, being square, being patient. That’s been the biggest thing for me this year, just trying to be consistent.”
Consistent is exactly what Wedgie was in the first round of the playoffs; in fact, he posted exactly 24 saves in each of the four contests and only gave up two goals in one of those games.
Following Colorado’s series win over the LA Kings, he said it plainly: “I couldn’t be prouder of my group and the people that I work with. Just to play with these guys and get a chance to win, it’s been awesome.”
When asked about earning the playoff starting job, he pointed to the unseen work: “I worked for it. It’s not like it just came. I could write three books on all the off days that I trained…”
Has that work earned him individual awards? In my opinion, absolutely. But that’s not always how it goes in this league, and Scott seems completely at peace with it.
Right now, Wedgewood is the starting goalie for the odds-on favorite to win the Stanley Cup. He hasn’t earned the hardware yet — but he has the best chance of any goalie in the league to finally lift it.
That’s the award Scott Wedgewood and his teammates are chasing.
Let us know what you think of the Vezina finalists in the comments!
