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Matthew Zator
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Ranking NHL Teams By Goaltenders
Now that the 2019-20 NHL season is over and the Stanley Cup playoffs are in full swing, it’s time to rank the teams by position once again.
Starting with the goaltenders since that position seems the most solidified on paper across the league as of today.
When it comes to ranking goaltenders, starters still carry the most weight despite the fact it’s becoming a two-goalie league, and positional depth is more important than ever before.
With that in mind, in the first of a four-part series, here are the goaltender rankings where they stand right now — counting down from No. 31 to No. 1.
31) Detroit Red Wings
Jonathan Bernier
Jimmy Howard
Calvin Pickard
Filip Larsson
ANALYSIS: The Detroit Red Wings are clearly a rebuilding team in every position. Goaltending is not exempt from this as Jimmy Howard lost his starting job to his backup, Jonathan Bernier. He had career-worst numbers across the board sporting a 4.20 goals against average (GAA), .882 save percentage (SV%), and only two wins to his credit. Bernier didn’t fare much better, although he did have better numbers than last season with a 2.95 GAA and a .907 SV%.
With Howard unlikely to be re-signed in the offseason, look for general manager Steve Yzerman to look to free agency or trade to upgrade his goaltending. Calvin Pickard is already 28 and hasn’t established himself in the NHL yet and Eric Comrie doesn’t look like he’s going to be anything but a backup, so in a long list of improvements to make, goaltending has to be high on his list.
30) New Jersey Devils
Mackenzie Blackwood
Cory Schneider
Zane McIntyre
ANALYSIS: The Devils as a whole were probably the biggest disappointment in the NHL this season. After an offseason that saw them draft Jack Hughes and trade for number one defenceman PK Subban, everyone anticipated big things for the team. That never happened, but you can’t place the blame squarely on the goaltending for that one. However, seeing that Blackwood is now the clear-cut number one, and former star netminder Schneider was sent down to the minors, the depth is just not there to warrant a higher ranking.
29) Ottawa Senators
Craig Anderson
Anders Nilsson
Marcus Hogberg
Filip Gustavsson
Joey Daccord
ANALYSIS: With Anderson either retiring or moving on to another team in the offseason, the crease will be going through a shakeup soon. Nilsson is a capable backup and Hogberg could still become a starter but after another disappointing season in the Nation’s capital, the net is still a sore spot for the Senators. All three goaltenders allowed an average of three goals per game and none of them established themselves as the clear-cut number one. Suffice it to say, the three-headed monster they employed did not strike fear into opposing forwards this season.
28) San Jose Sharks
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Josef Korenar
Andrew Shortridge
ANALYSIS: After missing the playoffs, the San Jose Sharks are going to have to look at their goaltending very closely. Jones struggled again with a career-low 3.00 GAA and .896 SV% in 41 games, and his backup Dell didn’t fare much better with a 3.01 GAA and .907 SV% in 33 games. Jones is now four seasons removed from his Stanley Cup appearance in 2016, and probably shouldn’t be considered an elite goaltender anymore. It might be time for a new face in the Shark Tank.
27) Los Angeles Kings
Jonathan Quick
Cal Petersen
Matthew Villalta
ANALYSIS: Quick has a wonky groin but, when healthy, he’s still capable of stealing a game. In a one-game showdown, there aren’t many goalies more clutch than him when he’s at his best. That’s evidenced by his two Cup rings. He had a similar season to 2018-19, but if the Kings are going to contend again, he has to be better. It’s a hard ask at 34-years-old with injury problems, but with Jack Campbell getting moved to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Kings really don’t have much beyond him. Peterson performed well as the backup when he was traded away, but clearly goaltending has to be a focus for Rob Blake at the draft and the offseason.
26) Anaheim Ducks
John Gibson
Ryan Miller
Anthony Stolarz
Kevin Boyle
ANALYSIS: Along with the rest of his team, Gibson had a sub-par season, posting a career-worst 3.00 GAA and .904 SV%. Also, after four straight seasons of being on the positive side of the goals saved above average (GSAA) advanced statistic, he dipped into the negative with a minus-8.66. Miller didn’t fare too well either posting career lows in GAA and SV% as well. So if the Ducks hope to make strides next season, Gibson has to return to the form that saw him earn All-Star nods and Vezina Trophy consideration as recent as the 2018-19 season. It would also help if their backup could give them some quality starts too.
25) Buffalo Sabres
Linus Ullmark
Carter Hutton
Andrew Hammond
Jonas Johansson
Ukko-Pekka Luukonen
ANALYSIS: At the beginning of the 2019-20 season, it was expected that Hutton and Ullmark would share the net. However as the season went on, head coach Ralph Krueger seemed to lean towards Ullmark more often than not. Hutton struggled mightily throughout the campaign and finished with a career-worst 3.18 GAA, while his counterpart posted a respectable 2.69 GAA. They are still not the best tandem but Ullmark showed that he could maybe take over full time as the primary man in the crease next season.
However, standout prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukonen is knocking at the door and even though he struggled in his first professional season, he has the potential to be a solid NHL starter down the road. Add in the solid season that Jonas Johansson had both in the NHL and AHL, Hutton’s job could be in jeopardy sooner rather than later.
24) Florida Panthers
Sergei Bobrovsky
Samuel Montembeault
Chris Driedger
Philippe Desrosiers
ANALYSIS: Bobrovsky cashed in with a $10 million contract in the offseason, but couldn’t live up to the money as he turned in his worst season since 2011-12 when he was part of the Flyers organization. I don’t think the Panthers were expecting the 3.23 GAA and .900 SV% they got when they signed him on the opening day of free agency.
The Panthers defence and run and gun style of offence didn’t help, but Bobrovsky needs to be better if they hope to contend in 2020-21. Montembeault and Driedger had their moments, but aren’t ready to take the reigns yet. With all that term and money tied up in Goalie Bob, he has to return to the form that had him in the discussion of the top goaltenders in the NHL as recent as last season.
23) Minnesota Wild
Alex Stalock
Devan Dubnyk
Kaapo Kahkonen
ANALYSIS: Dubnyk has been the unquestioned number one goaltender for the Minnesota Wild for five straight seasons, but at 34-years-old, he’s clearly in the twilight of his career. Since 2016-17 he has seen a gradual decline in his numbers and had his worst season in a Wild uniform in 2019-20. Stalock took over the starting job towards the end of the season and did a masterful job, but at 33-years-old himself, he shouldn’t be counted upon to be the starter going forward. There is some optimism that the 23-year-old Kahkonen could be Minnesota’s goalie of the future and perhaps he’ll be pushing for the crease in 2020-21.
22) Nashville Predators
Juuse Saros
Pekka Rinne
Troy Grosenick
Connor Ingram
ANALYSIS: Just like Dubnyk and Lundqvist, Pekka Rinne seemingly has lost his crease to his backup, as he had his worst season statistically while starting only 35 games. That’s a far cry from his usual 60-plus. At 37-years-old, he’s probably nearing the end of his career, and his performance in 2019-20 confirmed it. The Saros era in Nashville has begun as he started a career-high 34 games, and even though he didn’t put up eye-popping numbers, he is just entering his prime at 25-years-old. Entering 2020-21, he should be the unquestioned starter as he attempts to bring the Predators back to the playoffs after falling in the qualifying round to the Coyotes.
21) Edmonton Oilers
Mikko Koskinen
Mike Smith
Shane Starrett
Stuart Skinner
Dylan Wells
ANALYSIS: Even though Smith started the season as the starter, Koskinen ultimately took back the number one job by the playoffs. Both of their seasons were rather pedestrian though, as no one took a firm grip of the reigns.
Smith is clearly nearing the end of his career, as he finished with his worst GAA since 2014-15. Koskinen closed out the season with the better statistics, but couldn’t perform in the playoffs as the Oilers got ousted by the 12th seeded Chicago Blackhawks. He never got into a groove after the long layoff and finished with a 3.16 GAA and .889 SV% in three starts. Clearly the Oilers need better goaltending if they hope to take advantage of the prime years of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid.
20) Chicago Blackhawks
Corey Crawford
Malcolm Subban
Collin Delia
Kevin Lankinen
ANALYSIS: Crawford has two Cups but has been battling concussions and vertigo in recent years. After Lehner was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights at the trade deadline, it was his net once again, and he ran with it. He helped his team knock off the high powered Oilers and looked good doing it too. Unfortunately, he hit a wall with the Golden Knights, but he showed that he still had a lot of games left in him. Subban has potential and could split the duties next season, while Lankinen and Delia continue to develop. Goaltending definitely looks like a strength for the Hawks.
19) Calgary Flames
David Rittich
Cam Talbot
Jon Gillies
Tyler Parsons
ANALYSIS: The Flames’ goaltending this season was average at best. Rittich got the majority of the starts in his first season as the perceived number one, but couldn’t replicate the season he had in 2018-19. He finished with a lower GAA and SV% and became a backup in the playoffs to Talbot. He is still a solid goaltender, but he needs to be better next season especially if the Flames do not retain Talbot.
18) New York Rangers
Igor Shesterkin
Henrik Lundqvist
Alexandar Georgiev
Adam Huska
ANALYSIS: Despite Lundqvist’s resume and legacy in the Big Apple, he ultimately lost his starting job to future star Igor Shesterkin, as he took the league by storm towards the end of the season by compiling an impressive record of 10-2-0 with a 2.52 GAA and an insane .932 SV%. He also took the job into the playoffs as well, usurping perennial playoff starter Henrik Lundqvist.
Lundqvist took the job back in Game 2 of the qualifying round, but with Georgiev in the mix too, this could be the last we have seen of the King in a Rangers’ uniform. With how Shesterkin performed in the regular season, I think his era is just beginning.
17) Washington Capitals
Braden Holtby
Ilya Samsonov
Pheonix Copley
Vitek Vanecek
ANALYSIS: After Holtby turned in one of his worst seasons in the NHL, there isn’t a lot of certainties about his future in Washington. He is an older goaltender at 30-years-old, and with Ilya Samsonov in the wings, they may move on from the long-time Capital. For the first time in eight seasons, there are legitimate questions about the goaltending, even if Holtby returns.
16) Carolina Hurricanes
Petr Mrazek
James Reimer
Alex Nedeljkovic
Anton Forsberg
ANALYSIS: Mrazek and Reimer battled for the number one job all season long with the latter coming out on top statistically speaking. They both led the Hurricanes to the playoffs for the second straight season, but that’s all they could do as they were ousted by the Boston Bruins in five games. The Canes goaltending should be in good hands for the next couple of seasons, but with Nedeljkovic in the wings, they will have to make a decision on one of them soon. With top prospect Yaroslav Askarov potentially available in the draft, that decision may come sooner rather than later.
15) Arizona Coyotes
Darcy Kuemper
Antti Raanta
Adin Hill
ANALYSIS: Raanta battled injuries for the second straight season, but Kuemper filled in admirably once again. In fact, he ended up taking the number one job from him and became one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. He ultimately only played 29 games but finished with a stingy 2.22 GAA and an equally impressive .928 SV%. He also was the only reason the Coyotes were even competitive against the Avalanche in the playoffs. He was torched with ten goals in four periods in the end, but that’s more on the team in front of him than his talent as a goaltender.
14) St. Louis Blues
Jordan Binnington
Ville Husso
Evan Fitzpatrick
ANALYSIS: Binnington took the league by storm — and by surprise — in the second half of 2018-19, backstopping the Blues into the playoffs and onto a championship. This season he showed that he wasn’t a flash in the pan, at least until the playoffs came around again. Against the Vancouver Canucks, he never got into a groove and finished with an abysmal 4.72 GAA, .851 SV%, and five losses.
Now that Jake Allen is a member of the Montreal Canadiens, the starting gig is Binnington’s to run with. The Blues better hope that his poor playoffs were just a blip on the radar, not a sign of things to come. As of right now, their goaltending starts and ends with him, so their ranking takes a bit of a hit as a result.
13) Toronto Maple Leafs
Frederik Andersen
Jack Campbell
Kasimir Kaskisuo
Joseph Woll
Ian Scott
ANALYSIS: Andersen was the main man in the crease again for the Leafs in 2019-20, but closed the season with a career-worst 2.85 GAA and .909 SV%. He did turn it around in the qualifying round with an impressive 1.84 GAA and .936 SV%, but it wasn’t enough to move past the Blue Jackets and into the actual playoffs. Mostly because he couldn’t out dual the goaltending tandem of Korpisalo and Merzlikens. Campbell is the new face in town and could be the goaltender they go with next season, as rumours swirl about Andersen being moved in the offseason.
12) Pittsburgh Penguins
Tristan Jarry
Matt Murray
Casey DeSmith
ANALYSIS: Murray has two Cup rings highlighting an impressive resume for a 25-year-old but injuries and inconsistency have plagued him at times. He’s proven his worth during those playoff runs as well as backstopping Team North America at the World Cup and Canada at the world championships. Despite all those accolades, he couldn’t hold off Jarry, who started off the season as the third-stringer behind DeSmith.
Jarry finished the season with better numbers than Murray, and has created another goaltender controversy in the Steel City. With the Seattle expansion draft around the corner, could Murray follow Marc-Andre Fleury’s footsteps and end up being the starter on an expansion team?
11) Dallas Stars
Anton Khudobin
Ben Bishop
Colton Point
Jake Oettinger
ANALYSIS: Bishop had a solid regular season, but regressed from his Vezina Trophy contending 2018-19 season. Now he’s lost his starting job to Khudobin in the playoffs after a weak showing in the round-robin where he lost both his starts and allowed eight goals in the process. He is still a legitimate starting goaltender, but with how strong Khudobin has been in the playoffs, and Point and Oettinger coming up fast, his future could be murky in the Big D.
10) Colorado Avalanche
Philipp Grubauer
Pavel Francouz
Michael Hutchinson
ANALYSIS: Grubauer and Francouz were a formidable tandem for the Avalanche this season, especially Francouz who put together a masterful run when his partner battled injuries throughout the shortened campaign. He finished with a 21-7-4 record along with a 2.41 GAA and a .923 SV% in 34 games. Now he’s the main man in the playoffs with Grubauer injured yet again. Without him, the Avs would be in a heap of trouble and way lower in these rankings.
9) Montreal Canadiens
Carey Price
Jake Allen
Charlie Lindgren
Cayden Primeau
Keith Kinkaid
ANALYSIS: Price has been topping this particular ranking for much of the last decade and showed us in the postseason that he’s got lots of good hockey left in him. Price is still the goalie that most coaches would want in their crease for a one-game showdown based on his international heroics at the Olympics, the World Cup, and dating all the way back to the 2007 World Juniors. He led the Canadiens to a surprising playoff berth against the Flyers and gave them all they could handle. He is still a top-tier goaltender in the NHL and their best player. With their most recent acquisition of Allen, their goaltending should be the envy of the league — while Kinkaid, Lindgren, Primeau, and McNiven continue to provide promising depth as well.
8) Philadelphia Flyers
Carter Hart
Brian Elliott
Alex Lyon
Kirill Ustimenko
Felix Sandstrom
ANALYSIS: Hart is Philadelphia’s goalie of the future and also of the present, thrust into the spotlight in the second half of last season and expected to be the starter from Day 1 this season. He rose to the challenge has now become one of the best young goaltenders in the game today, reminiscent of Carey Price in his rookie season. He led the Flyers to the first seed in the Eastern Conference and is now in the second round of the playoffs after an impressive showing against the Montreal Canadiens in the first round. The bottom line is, Hart is the real deal, and the Flyers won’t have to worry about goaltending for a very long time.
7) New York Islanders
Semyon Varlamov
Thomas Greiss
Christopher Gibson
Jared Coreau
Linus Soderstrom
ANALYSIS: Under the masterful coaching of Barry Trotz, the New York Islanders made the playoffs, and took out the Washington Capitals in five games. Varlamov and Greiss formed a solid, yet unspectacular tandem for the upstart defensive team from Long Island, and are now in a battle with the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round. In fact, they are just one win away from the Eastern Conference Finals, and both goaltenders have had a hand in it, which bodes well for the future of the Islanders’ crease.
6) Vancouver Canucks
Jacob Markstrom
Thatcher Demko
Michael DiPietro
Richard Bachman
ANALYSIS: Markstrom was the Canucks’ unquestioned MVP during the regular season, and has continued his brilliance into his first foray in the postseason. Along with Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat, he has been one of the biggest reasons they are in the second round.
With Markstrom’s contract ending in a couple of months, they will have to make a decision on if Thatcher Demko is ready for the big time or if they want to bring him back on an inflated long-term contract. The good news is, Demko is a legitimate NHL goaltender and DiPietro has all the potential to be a great backup as soon as next season. However, bringing Markstrom back is clearly the best option with how he’s performing right now.
5) Vegas Golden Knights
Robin Lehner
Marc-Andre Fleury
Oscar Dansk
Garret Sparks
ANALYSIS: Fleury has been phenomenal for Vegas after being part of three Cup-winning teams in Pittsburgh as the first overall pick from 2003. It’s hard to believe he’s 36, but Fleury’s play hasn’t been hindered by age and he’s been quite durable over the years. He’s held up well and lived up to his draft position. Though with Lehner entering the mix and apparent unrest in Vegas, they could be forced to trade him in the offseason and retain Lehner, who’s a pending unrestricted free agent.
If they want their strength in the crease to continue, they have to either makeup with Fleury or work hard to keep Lehner in the fold. Lehner has been the man so far in the playoffs, so at this point, it’s looking like they are leaning towards him to man the crease in the future. He hasn’t given them any reason to doubt him, sporting a 2.08 GAA and two shutouts as of this writing.
4) Columbus Blue Jackets
Joonas Korpisalo
Elvis Merzlikins
Veini Vehvilainen
Matiss Kivlenieks
ANALYSIS: After the Blue Jackets lost Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky to free agency, goaltending was obviously a major question mark going into the 2019-20 season. Though, as the season went on, this perceived weakness turned into a major strength. Korpisalo and Merzlikins ended up going from unknowns to legitimate NHL goaltenders and should be a formidable tandem in the seasons to come.
Korpisalo’s coming out party came in the first round of the playoffs versus the Tampa Bay Lightning when he made an NHL-record 85 saves in an epic five overtime periods. Even though he lost the game and ultimately the series, he finished the postseason with an eye-popping 1.90 GAA along with an equally impressive .941 SV%. It’s hard to imagine a goaltender like that losing a series, but since his team couldn’t score any goals, that’s just how the chips fell. Regardless, the Blue Jackets shouldn’t have to worry about their goaltending for a very long time.
3) Winnipeg Jets
Connor Hellebuyck
Laurent Brossoit
Mikhail Berdin
Eric Comrie
ANALYSIS: Hellebuyck hasn’t won anything yet but has turned goaltending into a position of strength for Winnipeg. He was one of the best goaltenders in 2019-20 and is in contention for the Vezina Trophy too. In fact, with what he did for the Jets last season, he probably should be considered for the Hart Trophy as well. He didn’t have the best postseason, but that’s more about the injury problems the Jets had than the quality of his goaltending.
2) Boston Bruins
Tuukka Rask
Jaroslav Halak
Daniel Vladar
ANALYSIS: Rask is one of the best goaltenders in the NHL, and his numbers back that up. He led the league with a 2.12 GAA and 22.12 goals saved above average and led his Boston Bruins to a President’s Trophy as well. He ended up opting out of the playoffs in the second round due to concerns with his family, but he still remains one of the best in the game. Halak did his best to fill his shoes, but he is no Rask. If the Bruins are going to remain a power in the East, he has to return to the same form next season, or they will struggle to make the playoffs. We already saw what his absence did, as they were recently eliminated by the Lightning.
1) Tampa Bay Lightning
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney
Scott Wedgewood
Mike Condon
ANALYSIS: Vasilevskiy regressed in 2019-20, but he still led the Lightning to the playoffs and helped secure them a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals as well. He remains the top goaltender in the NHL, and could finally add a Stanley Cup to his resume when all is said and done. Of all the Vezina Trophy candidates this season, he is the only one remaining in the playoffs right now. His numbers sparkle with a stingy 1.91 GAA and .931 SV%, which is a massive improvement from his career-low 3.82 GAA and .856 SV% in the first round sweep versus the Blue Jackets in 2019.
Recapping Goaltender Rankings
1) Tampa Bay Lightning
2) Boston Bruins
3) Winnipeg Jets
4) Columbus Blue Jackets
5) Vegas Golden Knights
6) Vancouver Canucks
7) New York Islanders
8) Philadelphia Flyers
9) Montreal Canadiens
10) Colorado Avalanche
11) Pittsburgh Penguins
12) Dallas Stars
13) Toronto Maple Leafs
14) St. Louis Blues
15) Arizona Coyotes
16) Carolina Hurricanes
17) Washington Capitals
18) New York Rangers
19) Calgary Flames
20) Chicago Blackhawks
21) Edmonton Oilers
22) Nashville Predators
23) Minnesota Wild
24) Florida Panthers
25) Buffalo Sabres
26) Los Angeles Kings
27) Anaheim Ducks
28) San Jose Sharks
29) Ottawa Senators
30) New Jersey Devils
31) Detroit Red Wings
Feel free to disagree with those rankings and share your own in the comments below.
The post Ranking NHL Teams By Goaltenders appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
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