Andrei Vasilevskiy (born 25.7.1994) is a Russian ice hockey goaltender. He has been playing in the NHL since 2012 and he has played his entire NHL career with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Early Career

Andrei Vasilevskiy played two seasons in the Russian Junior Hockey League (MHL) with Tolpar Ufa (2010 – 12). After that he played two seasons in KHL with Salavat Ufa. Vasilevskiy was traded 19th overall in the 2012 NHL Draft by Tampa Bay Lightning and on 6.5.2014, he signed three-year contract with the Lightning.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Vasilevskiy started his North American career with Syracuse Crunch of the AHL, the top minor league affiliate of the Lightning. Vasilevskiy was very good, and he was recalled to Tampa Lightning in December 2014. Vasilevskiy missed start of the 2015-16 season due injuries and started again with Crunch. On 1.7.2016, the Lightning re-signed Vasilevskiy to a three-year contract. Season 2017-18 was total breakout season to Vasilevskiy.

He was named to the 2018 NHL All-Star Game, he broke many team records of the Lightning – most shutouts of the season (8), most wins in a single season (43) and he was also nominated for the Vezina Trophy, but this time Pekka Rinne won the trophy and Vasilevskiy must wait one more year. Next season started badly, Vasilevskiy suffered injury while in practice and he started his first game of the season on 13.12.2018. Vasilevskiy was again very good and this time he won Vezina Trophy as the top goaltender in the NHL – he was the first player in Lightning’s history to win the award. On 29.7.2019, Vasilevskiy signed eight-year contract extension with the Lightning.

International Play

Andrei Vasilevskiy played three times in World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and won one silver medal (2012) and two bronze medals (2013 and 2015). Vasilevskiy has won three medals in IIHF World Championships – Gold (2014) and two bronzes (2017 and 2019). in 2017 IIHF World Championships, Vasilevskiy was voted top goaltender of the tournament.

Other interesting stuff

Vasilevskiy has won one Vezina Trophy for the best goalie of NHL (2019). Vasilevskiy has been chosen to the NHL First All-Star Team once (2019). He owns several goaltender records of the Tampa Bay Lightning: Most wins in a single season 44 (2017-18), most shutouts in a single season 8 (2017-18) and most saves in a single season 1908 (2017-18). He also owns few career records of the Lightning, but those stats will grow up, because Vasilevskiy has contract with the lightning through the 2027-28 season.