2019-20 NHL Vezina Trophy Odds

• Bovada has issued new NHL prop bets for the 2019/20 Vezina Trophy
  
• Frederik Andersen (+550) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (+600) are the favorites to be named the league’s top netminder
• Ben Bishop (+750) and Jordan Binnington (+2000) are two goalies with great value   

Vezina Trophy winners usually fall into one of two categories. You have the goalies who backstop dominant teams, like last year’s winner Andrei Vasilevskiy and Washington’s Braden Holtby in 2015/16.

And then you have the netminders who are given full credit for pushing their mediocre squads into the postseason, such as Sergei Bobrovsky with the Blue Jackets in both 2012/13 and 2016/17.

With that in mind, let’s analyze the Bovada odds to find a backstop who we can trust to protect his team’s goal and our gambling dollars.

NHL 2019-20 VEZINA TROPHY ODDS

THE FAVORITES: ANDERSEN AND VASILEVSKIY

Frederik Andersen is favored to become the first Maple Leaf to win a Vezina since Johnny Bower way back in 1960-61. The Danish netminder has been remarkably consistent since landing in Toronto, putting up save percentages of .918, .918 and .917 over the past three seasons.

While the soon-to-be 30-year-old is backstopping what should be one of the league’s top teams, he hasn’t received a whole lot of help defensively in recent years. New addition Tyson Barrie should help on the back end, but Andersen will still face his fair share of rubber on a nightly basis.

We ranked him No. 1. You ranked him No. 1.

Here’s why Andrei Vasilevskiy is the top goalie in the NHL.#NHLTopPlayers | @TBLightning pic.twitter.com/XF3vShTQKp

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) August 26, 2019

Vasilevskiy has the benefit of playing behind perennial Norris Trophy candidate Victor Hedman on a loaded Tampa Bay team, which doesn’t give up many even-strength shots and boasted the NHL’s No. 1 penalty kill last season.

But, while the 25-year-old Russian is probably the odds-on favorite to lead the league in wins and goals-against-average, keep in mind that there hasn’t been a back-to-back Vezina winner since Martin Brodeur in 2007 and 2008.

SOLID BETS: BISHOP AND BINNINGTON

Ben Bishop’s long injury history makes him hard to bet on, but the Stars goalie led the NHL with a .934 save percentage last season and finished second in goals-against-average (1.98), just behind Jordan Binnington (1.89 GAA).

He also notched seven shutouts, trailing league-leader Sergei Bobrovsky by only two despite playing in 16 fewer games.

Playing on a bonafide Cup contender with young, mobile puck movers such as John Klingberg and Miro Heiskanen, the 6-foot-7-inch netminder is well-positioned to win the Vezina if he can start about ten more games than he did last year.

Ben Bishop’s focus? Setting the pace for the Stars.

“It’s never been a goal of mine at the beginning of the season to try to win the Vezina. I have the same goal every summer, and that’s to win the first game and go from there.”

Read now with All-Access: https://t.co/q7n2yuKWZI

— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) September 23, 2019

Stanley Cup champion Jordan Binnington only started 32 regular season games in 2018/19, but his play (1.89 GAA, .927 SV%) was the chief reason why St. Louis climbed out of a massive hole and made the playoffs in the first place.

The 26-year-old rookie then went 16-10 with .914 SV% in the postseason, holding the fort down for his teammates in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final when the Bruins badly outshot the Blues (12-4) in the first period.

Binnington is for real and somehow still available at 20-1 odds.