Once in a while, a new goalie shows up on the block and it upends the entire hierarchy across the league. They don't always come out of nowhere like Tim Thomas, but because it takes goalies so long to develop, even the first-round picks sometimes get forgotten.
Take, for example, the 2016-17 season. The Lightning went into the season confident in net; Ben Bishop had led the league with a 2.06 GAA and finished second in Vezina voting to Braden Holtby the year before. But injuries would start to plague Bishop that season — in hindsight, the beginning of the end of his career — and he would end up making only 31 starts.
The workload ended up being heaped onto a young goalie named Andrei Vasilevskiy, who went 11-10-0 in the prior season. The consensus was that Vasilevskiy had a ton of potential — he had been a first-round pick, after all — but it took him four years to establish himself in the league, and there were some early scares regarding his health after he was sidelined for a few months due to a blood clot. His future, at the time, was uncertain.
While no two players' journeys are exactly the same, I am reminded of this every time I see Jake Oettinger, who is not featured on the list below but is now arguably the best goalie in the league, posting a 5-1-0 record and a league-leading .960 save percentage and 1.17 GAA. Oettinger was
Once in a while, a new goalie shows up on the block and it upends the entire hierarchy across the league. They don't always come out of nowhere like Tim Thomas, but because it takes goalies so long to develop, even the first-round picks sometimes get forgotten.
Take, for example, the 2016-17 season. The Lightning went into the season confident in net; Ben Bishop had led the league with a 2.06 GAA and finished second in Vezina voting to Braden Holtby the year before. But injuries would start to plague Bishop that season — in hindsight, the beginning of the end of his career — and he would end up making only 31 starts.
The workload ended up being heaped onto a young goalie named Andrei Vasilevskiy, who went 11-10-0 in the prior season. The consensus was that Vasilevskiy had a ton of potential — he had been a first-round pick, after all — but it took him four years to establish himself in the league, and there were some early scares regarding his health after he was sidelined for a few months due to a blood clot. His future, at the time, was uncertain.
While no two players' journeys are exactly the same, I am reminded of this every time I see Jake Oettinger, who is not featured on the list below but is now arguably the best goalie in the league, posting a 5-1-0 record and a league-leading .960 save percentage and 1.17 GAA. Oettinger was drafted 26th overall five years ago, and, like Vasilevskiy, didn't draw a lot of headlines early in his pro career until last season's playoffs. Vasilevskiy and Igor Shesterkin dominated the conversation all summer for the league's best goalie, but no goalie's fantasy value has increased as much as Oettinger's this season, as he's gone from being a very good starter to a franchise goalie. He could very well finish the season at the top of the list.
Trending Up
Alex Stalock, Blackhawks (3-2-0, .913 Sv%, 3.00 GAA)
Stalock's fantasy value will come from the quantity of starts he's set to receive. Petr Mrazek's annual injury woes have already started, and his troublesome groin will keep him out for at least a little longer after he was placed on injured reserve last Sunday. In the immediate term, Stalock has some fantasy value as the starter on a team that has surpassed expectations so far, but make no mistake, the Blackhawks are still likely headed toward the lottery, so he isn't a long-term hold.
Alexandar Georgiev, Avalanche (4-0-1, .921 Sv%, 2.56 GAA)
Georgiev is on his way to being a top-five goalie if he can keep this up. As the starter for a Cup contender and as someone who matched Shesterkin save for save in their showdown in New York, Georgiev should easily set new career highs across the board. Pavel Francouz was expected to force a timeshare, but his poor play has relegated him to a full-time backup. Georgiev has a good chance to earn at least 35 wins this season.
Linus Ullmark, Bruins (5-0-0, .936 Sv%, 2.01 GAA)
Another goalie who's taken over a starting job is Ullmark, who many believed would take a backseat to Jeremy Swayman. While Ullmark's incredible performance is a nice surprise, the preseason attention on Swayman seemed undeserved after the two netminders split the games equally at 41 apiece last season. With Brad Marchand back in the lineup and Charlie McAvoy soon to follow, Ullmark is quickly climbing the lists among fantasy goalies and has a chance to finish in the top 10 if the Bruins can continue their run. Ullmark is rostered in only 78% of Yahoo leagues, and while his perfect record will be tarnished sooner rather than later, it would require a significant drop in performance for him to cede the starting job to Swayman.
Marc-Andre Fleury, Wild (Last week: 2-0-1, .929 Sv%, 2.28 GAA)
Fleury's early-season performance was unsustainably bad, and his performance over the past week seems unsustainably good. Overall, his season numbers are still abysmal, with a 3.88 GAA and .879 Sv%, but it tells fantasy managers that Fleury is a very matchup-dependent goalie. His past three wins have come against Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver, and the Wild defense hasn't been particularly stout, allowing an average of 33.1 shots per game, ninth-most in the league. Enjoy Fleury's little hot streak, but there's no evidence to think that it will last for very long.
Stuart Skinner, Oilers (Last start: 37 saves, 1 goal allowed vs. Blues)
Skinner was brilliant in his last start against the Blues and is making a very strong case for additional playing time. Remember that Jack Campbell nearly lost the starting job last season, and given how inconsistent he can be and how thin the Oilers defense is, there is some hope that Skinner can displace him as the starter, if only for a month or two. That makes Skinner a good bench stash if you have the room; otherwise, he should be one of the top options for streaming starts.
Trending Down
Thomas Greiss, Blues (0-2-0, .904 Sv%, 4.10 GAA)
Greiss is coming off a poor season with a .891 Sv% and 3.66 GAA, and things haven't really gotten any better this season. That's great news for Jordan Binnington, who is one of the best goalies in the league right now and may end up setting career highs in playing time. Binnington has never played more than 50 games in any season, but he might need to play as many as 65 to ensure the Blues stay in the playoff race. Greiss is just not reliable to be a streaming option, even though the Blues are a good team.
Elvis Merzlikins, Blue Jackets (2-2-0, .863 Sv%, 4.06 GAA)
Last season, the Jackets were their usual plucky selves, and Merzlikins, who had dedicated the season to his late friend Matiss Kivlenieks, could at least rack up the saves and steal the occasional win for the gutsy fantasy manager who trusted him. This season, it's been completely different. The Jackets can't generate offense with any sort of consistency, and a blue line depleted by various injuries forced the team to call up 18-year-old David Jiricek, selected sixth overall in the most recent draft. The Jackets have talent, but Brad Larsen's squad have really struggled, and even when Merzlikins has been good, they simply don't provide enough goal support; the Jackets are now 0-for-23 on the power play.
