Ranking Each NHL Team’s Starting Goaltender

Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

It has been proven time and time again that in order to win the NHL, you must have a goaltender who is at least “good”. Complicating this issue is that goalies tend to be hard to predict since goalies tend to go through hot streaks and cold streaks. Goalies can be really good one year and awful the next. Mike Smith and Jim Carey are excellent examples of just how quickly NHL goalies can decline.  

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For that very reason, I think it’s unfair to judge NHL goalies based on one season. You have to look at what they’ve done over the past three years. You also must factor in their age into the equation, as it’s proven that goaltenders tend to begin their decline around the age of 32 (give or take a few years). Once a goalie turns 35 years old, that’s when the real decline starts. And it’s usually ugly. Even when looking at a three-year sample size, you have to be careful to look out for any obvious fluke years (whether they be good or bad).

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This power ranking will be done using the following criteria.

• I will look at three-year sample sizes. Any obvious outlier seasons (good or bad) will be removed.
• While I will quote a variety of stats, my primary ones will be even strength save percentage and even strength adjusted save percentage. Since a majority of each NHL game is played at even strength, it’s important that goalies be at their best during even strength.
• I will separate each NHL team’s starting goaltender into one of several categories, depending on how good they are. To make it fair, I’ve decided to make “unproven” goalies (those with under 80 career starts) their own category.
• If a team plans on using a tandem or there is no clear starter, I’ll include everyone in the tandem.
• I’ve listed the goalies in each category at random. No rankings other than by category.

Where does your favorite NHL’s team goalie rank? Stay tuned and find out!

Next: Tier 7: The Unproven Ones