Media Day 2025 | Andrei Vasilevskiy

Media Day 2025 | Andrei Vasilevskiy

Andre, how much have your workouts changed in the off season leading into a season from when you were a kid? Um, well, you know, at this point, uh, it just almost like a maintained, you know, for the most part. Obviously, the body body doesn’t get any younger, so I can’t squat as heavy anymore or at all. So, but uh yeah, at this point just trying to stay uh just healthy, you know, and uh just again it’s all about the maintenance. Now, how much do you work on flexibility as well? Uh well, every day pretty much uh my routine is all about uh stretching um activation if you can call it that way. So um yeah, it’s been my routine for many years now and you know obviously helps me a lot to save you know sometimes the puck and uh obviously less uh uh injuries. So that’s a big factor too. You’ve always been like a physically strong goal when you came in league. you just that was your strength was a was a big part of your game. As you get older and you like you’re lifting less and not lifting as heavy, how do you make adjustments for maybe some of the the strength not being what it used to be? Uh yeah, as you mentioned when I came to the league, I used to, you know, play more uh outside the uh the blue paint. You know, I could have pushed from one corner to the other like easily. you know, I was like fast enough to do that, strong enough, but now I have to again hockey hockey changed a lot too over the years. Guys are uh much much better, much faster. The game is faster. Uh you know, sometimes it’s hard to beat that pass. So that’s why I um uh last few seasons start trying to be more uh I mean almost like more compact and uh play more in the uh in a blue paint. So, and obviously my workouts are about uh not about like pushing like too hard, but as I already mentioned, like maintenance, just uh work on the things, you know, that will help me uh in the game over the course of the summer when you’re just thinking about the season. Are are you like remembering certain games? Do you go through a lot of games in your mind about what went right, what went wrong? Do you do you do a lot of that replay? Uh, sure. Even if I don’t want to, it’s just a part of me that I hate, you know, that it’s it’s always in my head. Uh, especially the bad games, good game, it’s like, yeah, good game, whatever. Move on. Um, bad game, it’s really almost uh, you know, p punch in the mouth, so hard, tough to swallow. Um yeah, I mean uh my not not mine but obviously one uh one goalie give me an advice when I came to the league got to have short memory um you know good game bad game but I’m still struggle when you know if I have a bad game to kind of let it go. Massie, you’re one of a handful of goalies that still play 60 games a year. Feels like a lot of teams are intentionally not playing their goalies that way. Do you feel that that workload benefits you? Uh, well, I guess I I mean I I love to play a lot, so at the end of the day, they pay me for it, so might as well to play play me a little more. And I I mean, I just love it, too. So, I love the game, you know. I I would play 82 if they allow me to, but they probably will not. So, uh, but, uh, yeah, I I know I, you know, nowadays I see that, uh, coaches trying to play, uh, their main main, uh, main guys less, uh, than 60 games just to, you know, have them fresh for the playoffs. I mean, I guess it’s an individ individual thing. may work for some goalies, but uh some other goalies will need to play 60 plus games to feel comfortable in the playoffs. So, as you were one of the guys at the end of the year last year that really took that loss, you know, hard and saying that this team really needed to get back to the consistency and setting a higher standard. What do you guys need to do now that you have a whole off season? What do you have to do as a group to get over that hump and get back to where you guys belong? Uh well I you know as you said yeah consistency is the main factor here. Um I don’t know I thought in a regular season over over the last few years we were pretty all right but uh yeah the playoffs was just a different story. I mean, obviously it didn’t help that we played like, you know, Stanley Cup champions uh two times in a row, but I mean, if you want to be the best, you have to be the best. And but to start game one at home in front of our fans and get like kicked, I mean, that’s not the way to do it. So, I mean, I’ll I’ll do my best uh to, you know, to do my part and the rest of the team. It’s I will I mean, we we’ll figure it out all together. So, last year going into the season, there were big changes on the roster, right? You have Stammer, Jake was here, you brought in JJ. This year, it’s the opposite. maybe a couple of newer guys that has prominent names. Just the difference of preparation when you have familiarity with what the group was last year, which we expect it’ll be to start this year as compared to maybe bringing in a bunch of new guys and trying to get familiar with them. Uh well, I to be honest, I didn’t even uh didn’t see who we signed before I came like before like few days ago when when they all came here. So, I mean during the season I’m trying to but even during the season I kind of you know trying to stay away from hockey. Uh well it’s hard to do during the season cuz I’m playing hockey but um to me you know what I again it’s it’s it’s not a big factor to me. I you know either we have like a the half of the team like bunch of new guys or we only sign like one or two. It doesn’t really matter to me like you know I uh my I I know my my part what I have to do and uh and I mean don’t get me wrong it’s always nice to have like a fresh blood uh on the team but to me it’s doesn’t make any you know difference because my my job will will stay the same. How about for the defensive core right? It’s basically the same. Oh yeah, I mean our defensive core is couldn’t be happier with that. So we all have our deep guns like uh Mac HD shy like uh they’re out there. So So I’m I’m happy with that. So when you talk about you know earlier you said you know to be the best you got to be the best, right? you know, when you guys won those cups, you know, you had to go through a lot of teams that, you know, tough serieses that against teams that could have been could have won the cup with a couple breaks. And what is that fine line because like everyone says that series wasn’t, but the Panthers wasn’t that necessarily that you know, have to learn how to score goals in overtime. I think that’s the big one. So it’s again it’s uh I already mentioned that I think last year and year before that point line I mean our record in the playoffs it’s like overtime it’s just you know no wonder we can’t win. Uh obviously the home record in the playoffs at home terrible in front of our fans getting kicked. Uh we won I think like what one game probably two maybe the last like few years which is not good enough I would say terrible. So um yeah I guess again consistency discipline that’s I guess that’s the final line. Sometimes you have to you know play it simple instead of making like hero plays. Um, but again, it’s all we we’ll work in it and I hope we we’ll get the job done. Bassie, last year you guys improved to top five in defense and five on five way better than two years ago. Like what do you attribute that to and are you looking forward to having that sort of defensive year again this year? Yeah, I uh even again me personally probably the best go against I ever had in this league uh because of the team u so the last year’s regular season was great I thought uh but you’re worth nothing if you can cannot bring it to the to the playoffs. So probably we’re top five worst teams in the playoffs like uh like on goal against. So it’s all about the playoffs.

Andrei Vasilevskiy takes the podium during our 2025 Media Day.

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