Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy will start in net for Team Russia in the upcoming International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Championships
Andrei Vasilevskiy has gotten the nod from Team Russia. The Bolts’ backstop will serve as their starting goaltender in the upcoming IIHF Hockey World Championship, according to CBS Sports.
The 22-year-old net-minder is already amassing an impressive resume, as he’s the No. 1 goaltender for both the Lightning and now Team Russia on the international stage.
After an exhausted Sergei Bobrovsky backed out of the championship, Team Russia was left with Vasilevskiy and Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche as their goalies. From there, Vasilevskiy won the spot outright.
After the Lightning traded Ben Bishop, the 1A-1B goal-tending dynamic ended in Tampa Bay. The starting job clearly belonged to Vasilevskiy, despite the Lightning acquiring veteran net-minder Peter Budaj in return for Bishop. Budaj made a stellar stand for the L.A. Kings while Jonathan Quick was injured, but the Bolts coaching staff is clearly satisfied with Vasilevskiy manning the helm. While the season didn’t end the way most Lightning fans would have wanted it to, Vasilevskiy showed real promise in the Bolt’s final games.
That being said, he also showed a lot of youth. Some games were less than stellar, and he was repeatedly beaten glove side. Playing with Team Russia will do nothing but give Vasilevskiy more experience and prepare him for next season.
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Vasilevskiy’s teammates Nikita Kucherov and Vladislav Namestnikov will also be playing for Team Russia in the upcoming World Championships. Hopefully, the three of them will be able to put the disappointment of last season behind them and have fun playing for their country. With the NHL not participating in the Olympics, this might be the only chance they get for a while.