The goaltending position from a fantasy perspective is completely up in the air these days. There are fewer workhorses and more committees than ever before. Backups are getting increased playing time and even the projected best options have been prone to struggling. Our tiered positional breakdown is below.
TIER 1 – The Best. Again.
Andrei Vasilevskiy (TB)
Vasilevskiy won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goalie for a second time a season ago. He led the league with 39 wins, in addition to posting a 2.31 GAA and .912 save percentage. His 58 appearances were third-most in the circuit. With his injury concerns from previous years likely behind him, Vasilevskiy is the top option playing behind a Lightning team that should again be amongst the league's best.
TIER 2 – The Next Best
Igor Shesterkin (NYR), Connor Hellebuyck (WPG), Jake Oettinger (DAL), Logan Thompson (WSH), Ilya Sorokin (NYI), Jeremy Swayman (BOS)
Shesterkin was the Rangers' best player last season despite the fact they finished with one of the worst records in the league. They completely revamped their defensive group this offseason and I'm expecting a significant rebound in that area. Hellebuyck followed up his MVP year with the worst season of his career (23-23-11, 2.86 GAA, .895 save percentage). He's a tricky evaluation because Hellebuyck could seemingly be traded at any moment. Oettinger won 35-plus games last season (35) for a fourth straight year, but his save percentage was under .900 (.899). Thompson won 31 games last season for a second year in a row, while his supporting stats (2.44 GAA, .912 save percentage) were solid. I'm heavily targeting him given Washington's excellent offseason additions. Sorokin is an easy top five goalie talent, but I have zero faith in the Islanders to rise above mediocrity. Swayman is a regression candidate for no other reason than the fact Boston is likely to take a step backwards.
TIER 3 – Fading Veterans
Jacob Markstrom (FLA), Sergei Bobrovsky (TOR), Juuse Saros (NSH)
Markstrom is going to be over-drafted as the unquestioned starter for a loaded Florida team. The upside is there, but he had a 3.07 GAA and .883 save percentage in 44 games for New Jersey last season. This could go badly. Bobrovsky got three years and $21 million from Toronto in free agency. The wins should be there to some extent, but he'll be 38 years old in September. In 181 games over the past three seasons, Saros has 3.00 GAA and .899 save percentage.
TIER 4 – Rising Youngsters
Jakub Dobes (MTL), Spencer Knight (CHI), Karel Vejmelka (UTA), Lukas Dostal (ANA)
Dobes should be ranked higher than this after signing a three-year, $16 million contract this offseason after an excellent year (29-10-0, 2.78 GAA, .901 save percentage), but top prospect Jacob Fowler is lurking. The Blackhawks are at least a year away and Connor Bedard's injury won't help matters, but Knight is their guy. Vejmelka's numbers were inflated last season by the fact he played in a league-high 64 games, five more than anyone else. Sebastian Cossa was brought in to give the team a competent backup. I'm a believer in Dostal's talent, but Anaheim's defensive situation is scary.
TIER 5 – Committees On The Best Teams
Scott Wedgewood/Mackenzie Blackwood (COL), Brandon Bussi/Pyotr Kochetkov (CAR)
Colorado and Carolina are probably the two best teams in the league. Wedgewood probably has a leg up for playing time for the Avs after sporting a ridiculous 31-6-6 record last season, but Blackwood is going to figure in heavily. The Hurricanes have been going with the committee route for years and that isn't changing despite winning the Stanley Cup. All four of these guys have increased value in leagues with daily lineup changes as opposed to weekly.
TIER 6 – Committees On Good Teams
Jesper Wallstedt/Filip Gustavsson (MIN), Carter Hart/Adin Hill (VGK), Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen/Alex Lyon (BUF), Darcy Kuemper/Anton Forsberg (LA), Frederik Andersen/Tristan Jarry (EDM)
Gustavsson had offseason hip surgery and likely won't be ready for the season. Wallstedt has a chance to run away with playing time, at least early on. Hart was a workhorse for Vegas in the playoffs, but he didn't look great. I'm surprised Hill hasn't been traded. UPL has three years left on his deal at $4.75 million, while Lyon is on a one-year $1.5 million deal. Forsberg was the clear starter for the Kings by the end of last season, but I doubt that holds up over the course of a full year. I expect Andersen, Jarry, and youngster Devon Levi to all get playing time as the Oilers attempt to rectify their situation in net.
TIER 7 – Veterans
Dan Vladar (PHI), Linus Ullmark (OTT), Jake Allen (NJ)
Vladar earned his five-year, $27.5 million extension, but I see no world in which he matches the 29-14-7 record, 2.42 GAA and .906 save percentage he posted a year ago. Ottawa is trending in the wrong direction from a personnel standpoint. Allen is a career backup who will get pushed by youngster Nico Daws.
TIER 8 – Things Could Get Ugly
Dustin Wolf (CGY), Yaroslav Askarov (SJ), John Gibson (DET), Jet Greaves (CBJ)
I like Wolf, but the Flames are clearly the least-talented team in the NHL. Everyone loves the Sharks, but Askarov had a 3.63 GAA and .883 save percentage in 47 games last season. Adding Jacob Trouba and Darnell Nurse to the defensive group doesn't do much for me. Things could get very ugly in both Detroit and Columbus depending on the respective trade situations regarding Dylan Larkin, Zach Werenski, and Kirill Marchenko.
TIER 9 – Committees On Bad Teams
Joel Hofer/Jordan Binnington (STL), Joey Daccord/Philipp Grubauer (SEA)
I will give the Blues credit for largely shoving Binnington aside in favor of Hofer late last season. I'd be more excited if I liked the team a bit more. Grubauer outplayed Daccord much of last year but I don't expect that to last.
TIER 10 – The Penguins
Arturs Silovs/Sergei Murashov (PIT)
I have no idea.
TIER 11 – The Canucks
Thatcher Demko (injured)/Kevin Lankinen/Nikita Tolopilo (VAN)
Just, no.
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