Final B/R NHL Goalie Rankings For the 2022-23 Regular Season
We made it everyone; the end of the regular season is upon us. We've laughed, we've cried, we've screamed at our televisions because the goalie didn't seal up the post, and now it's time to put all 32 teams' goalies in their place...in our rankings, of course.
As we've done throughout the season, we slot the 'tenders in place according to metrics like save percentage, goals saved above expected and overall success.
Some teams had a small army of goalies take the net for them, while others lucked out and could run with a tandem all season long, so the overall success of everyone will play a factor as well, but (spoiler!) if your favorite team had to run a lot of different goalies out there, chances are they're not going to rank too highly.
Everyone is gearing up for playoff mode or draft lottery mode, but we're in goalie mode before anything else right now. After all, they play the position you wish you could ignore but absolutely can't because it's too dang important. But this is it, the be all, end all of rankings for the season, and you're almost definitely going to get mad at them. Make sure to voice those grievances in the comments so we know whose buttons we pushed.
Statistics and information from: MoneyPuck, Hockey Reference, NHL.com, Natural Stat Trick
32-25: Pressbox Popcorn Crew
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32. San Jose Sharks
Other goalies around the league may have had worse seasons, but no team in the NHL collectively had a worse season in net than the Sharks. They've put up a .881 save percentage spread out among four goalies. James Reimer started off as well as you could given the team in front of him and was outstanding on the penalty kill, but as the season wore on it brought him down to a .891 save percentage. Backup Kaapo Kähkönen had the third-lowest save percentage among goalies with 30 or more games (.883), and he and Reimer virtually split games 50-50. The Sharks will have a long road back to the playoffs, and fixing up goaltending must be a priority.
31. Vancouver Canucks
It was a night-and-day difference in Vancouver's net between Bruce Boudreau's time behind the bench and when Rick Tocchet took over. Problem is, Thatcher Demko, Spencer Martin, Collin Delia and Arturs Silovs just weren't consistent enough this season. Demko was brutal early in the season and then got hurt. By the time he returned in late February, Tocchet was in charge, and he's slowly rounded into form. He's gone 11-4-2 with a .918 save percentage since then and looks every bit the player he's shown to be in the past. Martin and Delia took a lot on the chin with Demko out, and Silovs showed some promise in a handful of games. It was a brutal season for Vancouver, but their late-season push brings hope for next season.
30. Columbus Blue Jackets
When it comes to raw numbers like shots allowed and goals against, the only team worse than the Blue Jackets were the Ducks, and we've got a soft spot for goalies who can stand up admirably in the face of a lot of frozen vulcanized rubber. Between Elvis Merzlikins, Daniil Tarasov, the traded Joonas Korpisalo and Michael Hutchinson, there wasn't much goodness to go around apart from Korpisalo. Merzlikins was the worst goalie (minimum 30 games) in the NHL by most advanced and simple metrics. His .874 save percentage is last, and he tied for last with Kaapo Kähkönen with minus-25.9 goals saved above expected. Considering he had a .907 last season, that's hard to see.
29. Calgary Flames
The Flames' disappointing non-playoff season was made possible due to Jacob Markström and Daniel Vladar not seizing the day. Markström went from a Vezina contender with a .922 save percentage to .892 this season. Vladar, who played well enough to carve out more starts and threaten to take the starting job, cooled off and finished with a .894. Goaltending wasn't the only reason Calgary missed the playoffs, but it's the leading cause, and Markström's save percentage falling by 30 points sticks out badly. Below-average and inconsistent goaltending will do a team in every time.
28. St. Louis Blues
St. Louis rode Jordan Binnington hard this season, which is unfortunate because he wasn't very good. Binnington's .892 save percentage is the worst of his career as a full-time NHLer, and he posted that after setting a career low of .901 last season. He played 60 games this season which seems wild considering his play, but backup Thomas Greiss went 7-10-0 with a .896. Both players had below-zero goals saved above expected (Greiss minus-5.4, Binnington minus-11.7), so they weren't doing themselves any favors either. Rookie Joel Hofer has provided some hope in his few starts, but it was a slog for the Blues in goal this season.
27. Montréal Canadiens
The Canadiens had a fascinating situation in goal with Jake Allen their No. 1 (.891) but backup Samuel Montembeault being the better performer (.904). The two of them nearly split starts 50-50, and Montembeault provided plenty of reasons why he should've gotten more of them. Visions of Connor Bedard just popped up in my head for some reason, and I don't know why. Leaning on the more veteran goalie in the situation Montréal is in (young, not a playoff contender, lots of injuries) made plenty of sense, except the Habs just weren't very good. When their young players become even better players, how they tackle the goalie situation will be interesting.
26. Chicago Blackhawks
Alex Stalock's play was excellent, it's just unfortunate he dealt with an injury. His .910 in 26 games with two shutouts on the kind of team Chicago put out there is outstanding. Consider his tandem-mate Petr Mrázek had a .894 and rookie Arvid Söderblom did the same in 54 combined games. Chicago played hard but just wasn't built to win, and the goaltending was probably a little better than anticipated, all things considered. It's tough to crush guys who are purposely put in a position to have a rough night every night, and their goalies handled it as well as anyone could, particularly Stalock.
25. Anaheim Ducks
Let's tip our caps out of respect for John Gibson, Anthony Stolarz and Lukas Dostal for being part of the Ducks team that allowed the most shots on goal in franchise history. They faced 39.1 shots per game (last in NHL; Columbus was second worst with 35.4) and have allowed a league-worst 330 goals. They also have the second-worst penalty kill in the league. This is the way to soften the blow of seeing the numbers the goalies put up. Gibson took it on the chin, going 14-30-8 with an .899 save percentage and minus-12.7 goals saved above expected. When you face the volume of shots he did, it's impossible to save them all. Stolarz had a respectable .897, and Dostal had .901 in 19 games. The Ducks allowed over four goals per game and jeez, if not for what the goalies did, this could've been so much worse.
24-17: Trying to Make It Work
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24. Ottawa Senators
The Senators would like to forget they traded Filip Gustavsson to Minnesota for Cam Talbot and that Gustavsson now has the second-best save percentage in the league. But Talbot made it pretty difficult to do that after posting a .898 save percentage and minus-0.7 goals saved above expected. That hurts, but not as much as Anton Forsberg blowing out both knees in a game while he was having a decent season (11-11-2, .902). The Sens used five other goalies because of injuries, including Mads Søgaard going 8-6-2 with an .889. League-average goaltending (.904) might've been enough to get Ottawa to the playoffs. Alas, they'll have to go back to the goaltending drawing board this summer.
23. Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres tried so hard to become the sweethearts of the playoffs, but one of the big reasons they weren't able to do it is goaltending. For just over 90 percent of the season, the trio of Craig Anderson, Eric Comrie and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen traded starts, and while Anderson was the best of the three (.908 save percentage), he's 41 and couldn't be the regular starter. Neither Comrie (.886) nor Luukkonen (.891) were able to stake a hard claim to the No. 1 job, which allowed rookie Devon Levi to jump in out of college and get Buffalo back into a contending position for the playoffs by going 4-2-0. The Sabres will have to get goaltending figured out if they're going to break into the playoffs next year.
22. Detroit Red Wings
This season was a missed opportunity for Detroit, and part of that was because Ville Husso wasn't able to get a night's rest. Husso came out of the gate flying and had a .912 save percentage in 23 games before the Christmas break. After? An .884 in 32 games. The 55 regular-season games played are 15 more than he managed last year in St. Louis. With that extra workload, Husso's overall save percentage dipped from .916 to .896, and backups Alex Nedeljkovic (.895 in 15 games) and Magnus Hellberg (.885 in 17 games) weren't able to give coach Derek Lalonde much of a reason to make a change. We know Husso can be good, but he'll need a little bit of a breather to help out.
21. Philadelphia Flyers
If there were a goaltending version of a Purple Heart, Carter Hart would be one of the handful of guys receiving one. Hart saved 10.3 goals above expected and went 22-23-10 with a .907 save percentage. The Flyers allowed 31.4 shots per game, so there was rarely an easy night, and without Hart they're likely a bottom-three team...as opposed to the seventh-worst. Philly may have to look into whether they should find a veteran backup. Felix Sandstrom and Samuel Ersson, respectively 26 and 23, weren't as strong behind the Flyers defense, albeit that's somewhat understandable. Both were under .900, though, and you'd like them to be a little better.
20. Los Angeles Kings
The transformation of Kings goaltending as the season went on was such a necessary issue to address. Starting with Jonathan Quick and Cal Petersen and ultimately changing it over to Pheonix Copley and Joonas Korpisalo helped make the Kings' weakest position into a strength. Korpisalo has been super since joining the Kings (6-3-1, .926), which is a distinct improvement over Copley's .903...which was light years better than Quick's .876. Korpisalo could be the guy who helps carry L.A. deep into the playoffs, and based on how he handled the 2020 bubble postseason (.3-5-0, .941), they'll hope he can repeat that in front of actual fans should he get the call over Copley.
19. Seattle Kraken
The playoff-bound Kraken have been an incredible story this season. They've got some of the deepest scoring in the league while having some of the most questionable goaltending. They're a 100-point club with an .887 team save percentage, and they face the second-fewest shots per game in the NHL. The trick to pulling this off is to give up all of your goals on the penalty kill. At 5-on-5, the trio of Martin Jones, Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord have a .906 save percentage. Their PK improved as the year went on, but 55 of the 249 goals they allowed came when trying to kill penalties. It'll be interesting to see if goaltending gets in their way in the playoffs.
18. Arizona Coyotes
We know the Coyotes weren't terribly successful this season, but goaltending was far from being a problem. They faced the third-most shots per game in the NHL but had a .902 team save percentage from Karel Vejmelka (49 games, .902), Connor Ingram (27 games, .907) and Ivan Prosvetov (seven games, .880). And while Vejmelka's save percentage doesn't look impressive, he was 12th in goals saved above expected with 13.3. That means he was doing Herculean work to even get a .902. Fix up that defense in the desert, and they just might have something good there.
17. Florida Panthers
Yes, the Panthers are in the playoffs, but they could've been there comfortably a couple of weeks ago if the Sergei Bobrovsky from the second half of the season had been there from the start. Before New Year's Day, his save percentage was below .897 and Spencer Knight, who went into the league's player assistance program later on, struggled to help out. But since Jan. 1, Bobrovsky has a just above league average .905, and just doing that much while Matthew Tkachuk picked up his own game dragged the Panthers out of the lottery. Alex Lyon posting a .914 in the last few weeks was an unexpected but very welcome turn of events.
16-9: Just Off the Top
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16. Washington Capitals
After a good start to the season, Darcy Kuemper cooled off to a .909 save percentage, while Charlie Lindgren wound up at .899. Kuemper went from a .920 before New Year's to a .902 after that. The Caps had all kinds of injury problems to sort through, and they lost No. 1 defenseman John Carlson around Christmas. Perhaps Kuemper's numbers falling off around the same time is not a coincidence. Still, one of the reasons the Capitals had their worst season since 2006-2007 was their goaltending not being consistent enough to boost their point total. Kuemper has been a steady goalie his entire career, so this dip was a little unexpected.
15. Pittsburgh Penguins
Of all the problems the Penguins had this year, goaltending was lower in priority than others. Tristan Jarry had a strong season when he was healthy. His numbers ultimately wound up being down from last year, and Casey DeSmith didn't fare much better in the backup role. Jarry's .909 and DeSmith's .905 are passable, but Jarry had minus-3.4 goals saved above expected, while DeSmith had 2.9. Since Christmas break, Jarry had a .897 save percentage and dealt with three different injuries in that time. The Pens have a lot to figure out in goal in the offseason.
14. Edmonton Oilers
We all thought Jack Campbell was going to be the goalie to help steady the Oilers and give them their best chance come playoff time. Turns out it was rookie Stuart Skinner, who will be in the running for the Calder Trophy after going 28-14-5 and putting up a .913 save percentage while seizing the starting job. Campbell had a 21-9-4 record, but his .888 save percentage instills zero confidence. Skinner's cool demeanor and consistency has the Oilers feeling good heading into the playoffs. They can worry about what to do about Campbell after the season.
13. Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina's three-headed monster in goal this season, for the most part, worked out pretty well. Between Frederik Andersen, Antti Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov, they had a .907 team save percentage and nine shutouts (four each for Raanta and Kochetkov, one for Andersen). Kochetkov was the best of the trio in goals saved above expected, and his .909 save percentage was just behind Raanta's .910. Raanta, though, went 19-3-3 to Andersen's 20-11-1 and Kochetkov's 12-7-5. Who they roll with in the playoffs will be fascinating.
12. Tampa Bay Lightning
It feels awkward having Andrei Vasilevskiy's team at this position. Vasilevskiy's .915 save percentage has him just outside the top 10 in the league, and his four shutouts place him in a six-way tie for fourth-most. He's played in 60 games this season and carries the burden of getting Tampa Bay back to the Cup final again. What's different this year is Brian Elliott went from a .912 to a .886 as Vasilevskiy's backup. Fortunately, Vasilevskiy could handle the extra pressure.
11. New Jersey Devils
Vitek Vanecek's arrival in New Jersey was a major contribution to them rocketing out of the basement in the Metropolitan Division to secure home ice in the first round. His .911 save percentage may not stand out among the league's best goalies, but it's the consistency that's taken him and the Devils far this season. Mackenzie Blackwood wasn't too hot as a backup, and 22-year-old Akira Schmid might be the future in net for them, but Vanecek's play is highly commendable, especially when you look at what New Jersey dealt with last season. Steady play and doing it with top-15 numbers in the league is just what this up-and-coming group needed.
10. Toronto Maple Leafs
Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray were essentially given up on by their previous teams, and the ever-desperate-for-goaltending Leafs saw each of them thrive. Samsonov has been brilliant (27-10-5, .919), and Murray, who battled injuries, was solid enough when available (14-8-2, .903). Even Joseph Woll has been good late in the season. Of course, none of it matters if they don't have success in the playoffs, but Toronto's goaltending was the least of their worries. Samsonov deserves a lot of credit for turning his career around after Washington let him go.
9. Winnipeg Jets
Let's pat Connor Hellebuyck on the back for what he's done to get the Jets to the playoffs this season. He led the league in games played and started (64) and put up a .920 save percentage. Were it any other season, he'd be at the top of the list for the Vezina Trophy. He cooled off a little in the second half, though, and it really affected the Jets badly. Before the start of 2023, he had a .928 save percentage, but that dropped to .913 when the calendar flipped and the Jets nearly gave away what was a for-sure playoff spot in the West because of it. David Rittich also didn't provide much of a break as the backup (9-7-1, .902).
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8-1: The Best of the Best
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8. New York Rangers
Igor Shesterkin was a strong MVP candidate last year, but he didn't necessarily have to play at that level this season in New York. Jaroslav Halák provided steady backup play to give Shesterkin the breaks needed to keep him fresh for the playoffs, although if Shesterkin's .916 save percentage had been closer to the .935 he posted last season, maybe they'd have home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Still, it's hard to argue with his performance and, honestly, who wants to deal with the Rangers in the postseason?
7. Vegas Golden Knights
Virtually everything Vegas touched in goal turned to gold for them this season. Logan Thompson stepped in for Robin Lehner as the starter and went on to earn a place in the All-Star Game. When Thompson went down with injury, backup Adin Hill held it down. Both guys posted a .915 save percentage, and the team's other goalies Laurent Brossoit (.923). Jonathan Quick (.901) and Jiri Patera (.929) also helped the Golden Knights surge in the West. Thompson taking care of business as a 25-year-old rookie solidified the biggest question mark for Vegas before the season.
6. Dallas Stars
Jake Oettinger's performance this season in Dallas was both expected and also exceeded expectations. Pre-All-Star break, he was one of the best in the league with a .923 save percentage and four shutouts. After the break he became a bit mortal with a .909, and not coincidentally the Stars slipped out of first place in the Central Division. His overall .918 still makes him a top-10 goalie in the league. Backup Scott Wedgewood also posted a .916 save percentage, and when you can spell your starter with a guy who can do similar things, that makes your team really hard to beat.
5. Colorado Avalanche
While the Avs have dealt with injuries all season, the one steady presence was Alexandar Georgiev in goal. He tied with Juuse Saros and Ilya Samsonov for sixth in save percentage with .919, and he kept the Avalanche steady early in the season when it seemed like half the lineup was on the injured list. After backing up Igor Shesterkin with the Rangers, Georgiev becoming the no-doubt No. 1 in Colorado and one of the best in the league could be considered a big surprise. The Avs took an educated shot, though, and it is paying off.
4. Nashville Predators
One of the biggest reasons the Predators were even in contention for the playoffs entering the final two weeks of the season was Juuse Saros. Since the start of 2023, he's put up a .921 save percentage with a couple of shutouts. And it's not that he was even bad before that, he just took his game to another, Vezina-like level all while Nashville's top scorers went out for the season with injuries. He was first in the league in goals saved above expected and tied for sixth in save percentage (.919). Elite goalies perform at elite levels, and Saros proved again he belongs in the elite discussion.
3. Minnesota Wild
It would've been hard to imagine the Wild winding up this high on the list after the season's first couple of months. Marc-Andre Fleury was struggling, and 24-year-old Filip Gustavsson was getting acclimated to the team. Fast forward to now, and Gustavsson is second in the league with a .933 save percentage and Fleury has risen to .908. Gustavsson's ascension has fans in Ottawa banging their heads against the wall (they traded him for Cam Talbot one-for-one last July) and Wild fans giddy at the prospect of Gustavsson carrying them for years to come. For now, they'll settle for a deep playoff run.
2. New York Islanders
Any other season, Ilya Sorokin would probably win the Vezina. He's the reason the Islanders are in position to make the playoffs. His .924 save percentage is third in the NHL and he's third in goals saved above expected. Even better still, Semyon Varlamov has been excellent in a backup role with a .913 save percentage. Boston, Carolina or New Jersey will have to deal with the Islanders in the first round, and they could be in for a frustrating time.
1. Boston Bruins
What's more amazing about Linus Ullmark's (probable) Vezina season is that his tandem partner Jeremy Swayman is fourth in save percentage among goalies with 30 or more games. Ullmark leads the league with .938, and Swayman has .922. It's a silly wealth of riches and basically eliminates any "what if" scenarios about Ullmark if he somehow struggles in the postseason. They're going to win the Jennings Trophy and are heavy favorites to win the Cup, so of course they're No. 1 here.
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