Ranking every starting goalie in the NHL

Since stepping into the Ducks starting lineup, Gibson has consistently been one of the top goalies in the league, which makes it all the more shocking that he has received hardly any Vezina Trophy consideration throughout his career. The two biggest things holding him back are his lengthy injury history, and he plays on a team that does not give him any offensive support. 

Say what you will about his shortcomings in the playoffs over the years, but he was consistently one of the biggest reasons the Columbus Blue Jackets were even close to the playoffs throughout his tenure with the team. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner will now be under pressure to live up to his massive free agent contract with the Panthers. 

The Stars paid a huge price to get Bishop a few years ago, and so far he has been worth every penny. He has been a Vezina Trophy finalist three different times in his career and is consistently one of the most productive goalies in the league. His .934 save percentage this past season was tops in the NHL. 

The Lightning have a contender for every major individual award the NHL hands out, and Vasilevkiy took home Vezina Trophy honors this past season. It's not enough that the Lightning have a loaded group of forwards and one of the best defenders (Victor Hedman) in the NHL, but they also have a top-tier goalie. 

When Price has been at his best throughout his career, there has been no other goalie in the league close to him. He has slowed down a bit the past couple of years as he's gotten older, but he can still be a top-tier goalie in the league and steal his share of games for the Canadiens. It's a shame they wasted his best years with what was an otherwise mediocre team. 

When things go wrong in Boston, Rask is usually the first person who gets the blame, but he has been a top-tier goalie for close to a decade and has backstopped the team to a pair of Stanley Cup Finals. They did not win either one, but they probably do not make either final with him. 

Andersen is probably the most underrated part of the Maple Leafs core. They lean on him to play more than 65 games every year, and he gives them consistently strong play. Given the state of their defense the past couple of years, there is an argument to be made that he was one of the most valuable parts of the team. 

Rinne is going to start passing the torch on to Juuse Saros in the Predators' net, but he should still be the starter this season. If recent history is any indication, he will still be one of the best in the league. Even though Rinne is entering his age 37 season, he is still in the top five in save percentage in the NHL over the past three seasons and was the Vezina Trophy winner during the 2017-18 season.

Holtby is entering a contract year for the Capitals, meaning the team has a huge decision to make about his future. His big-picture track record is as good as any other goalie in the league, with a Vezina Trophy and a Stanley Cup ring. He is turning 30 this year and has not been as consistently good the past two years, so that probably knocks him down a little, but he can still be a dominant force in net. 

It would be impossible for a goalie to have a better start to their career than the one Murray had, winning the Stanley Cup in each of his first two seasons. He regressed a bit in Year 3, but he bounced back during the 2018-19 season and was probably one of the biggest reasons the Penguins made the playoffs. 

Fleury has never been the best goalie in the league at any point during his career, but his durability, longevity and team success is probably putting him on track for the Hockey Hall of Fame. He has been a part of five Stanley Cup Final teams and three Stanley Cup winners, and he has been the face of the Golden Knights franchise and played a huge role in its immediate success. 

The best goalie of his era and one of the best to ever play, he is turning 38 years old this season and has clearly taken a step back, which knocks him back a few spots on the current rankings, but he can still steal a few games for the Rangers and show why he is called The King. 

No one realized how good Dubnyk was early in his career because he was playing behind some truly awful Edmonton Oilers teams and still managed to perform well given the circumstances. Since joining the Wild he has been a consistent, reliable goalie who always gives his team a chance. He won't steal many games, but he won't lose many either. 

He may not get a lot of press, but when Raanta is healthy he has been outstanding for the Coyotes and has had one of the top save percentages in the league. The biggest problem is he has missed a lot of games over the past few years and limited his impact on the team. 

There is a lot of projecting at play here because Hart has played only half a season in the NHL. But it was an impressive start to his career, and expectations are extremely high for him in Philadelphia. He is supposed to be the goalie who fixes the franchise's long-standing problem in net. 

If Crawford is healthy he is probably in the top 10 on this list. But his health has been a constant concern for three years now, and we still do not know what should be expected of him this year. The Blackhawks brought in Robin Lehner to help take some of the workload off Crawford and to serve as an insurance policy in the event Crawford gets hurt again. 

After starting the season as the backup in the American Hockey League, Binnington came out of nowhere to help save the Blues' season and lead them to their firstever championship. The question is whether he can repeat that performance over a full season. He was great in his first NHL action, but the jury is still out. 

Hellebuyck's resume features one great year and three mostly average seasons. He is going to have his work cut out for him this season playing behind a decimated defense. If the Jets are going to make any noise this season with the blue line they currently have, Hellebuyck is going to have to be great. 

Ask NHL executives what they think of Quick, and they will probably tell you he is one of the best goalies in the league — or was at least considered one of the top goalies in the league at one time. That is mostly due to his performance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs between 2012 and 2014 when he helped the Kings win two Stanley Cups in three years. Outside of those three playoff runs, though, he has just been...decent. Not great. Not awful. Just decent. 

The Hurricanes have put together quite a hockey team with a deep defense and some great young forwards. The key, as it always is with the Hurricanes, is whether the goaltending holds up. This year that duo will be Petr Mrazek and James Reimer in what will likely be a platoon role that sees both of them get plenty of playing time. 

When Grubauer has played, he has been outstanding. The problem with ranking him higher is that he has never really had a chance to be a full-time starter. With Semyon Varlamov moving on to the New York Islanders, he will get that opportunity this season in Colorado. With the team the Avalanche have around him, there will be a ton of pressure on Grubauer to handle the job.

He had a terrible year in 2018-19, and goal tending will still be the Sharks' biggest weakness. But he is better than he showed this past season. He may not be great, but he has always been at least a close-to-league-average goalie throughout his career. If he can get back to that level for the Sharks, it might be enough. 

Varlamov has some big shoes to fill on Long Island as tries to replace Robin Lehner. Lehner was one of the biggest factors in the Islanders' turnaround and has since moved on to the Chicago Blackhawks. It was so surprising because the Islanders ended up paying an older, more injury prone and likely inferior goalie more money over more years than they may have had to pay Lehner. We will see if it works. 

Markstrom never became the franchise goalie he was expected to be in Florida, but he has turned into a solid NHL starter for the Canucks over the past two seasons. The Canucks will have a decision to make with him this season as he enters the final year of a deal. Is he someone they want to invest money in to remain the starter beyond this season? Or are they going to hope Thatcher Demko can develop and take the job?

Howard has been a mainstay in the Red Wings net for a decade now. Earlier in his career and at his peak he was one of the better goalies in the league, but age and a declining, rebuilding team around him has hurt his overall play, Entering his age 35 season, the Red Wings need to find their long-term replacement behind him. 

I hate putting Schneider this low because at one time he was a top goalie in the NHL. But age, injuries and general decline have ravaged his career the past three seasons, and now the Devils are just hoping he still has something left. They had one of the best offseasons in the league, but none of it will matter if the goaltending is not good. 

Anderson is one of the last remaining veterans on a team that has been stripped down to the bones over the past two years. At one time Anderson was an absurdly underrated goalie who was always near the top of the league in save percentage, but he is entering his age 38 season and has rapidly declined while playing behind a shell of an NHL team.

The Blue Jackets went from having one of the league's best goalies (Bobrovsky) to having two unknowns in their net. Korpisalo has never been a starter in the NHL, while Merzlikins has never even played a game in North America. Even after their offseason free agency exodus, the Blue Jackets still have a lot of good players coming back. But the development of these two in net will determine how many games they are able to win.  

His first year as a full-time starter did not go as planned in Buffalo. He was great as a backup in St. Louis and managed to turn that into a long-term free agent contract with the Sabres to try and lock down their goalie job. It would be safe to say that it was probably a disappointment, and now the Sabres have to hope he can bounce back. This year will tell us a lot about what he is as a starter. 

This seems like it is going to be an issue for the Flames this season. They have everything they need to compete for the Stanley Cup right now except for a goalie they can rely on. Rittich had a great start to the 2018-19 season but faded down the stretch, while Talbot is in town on a one-year deal trying to rebound from a miserable time in Edmonton. Maybe playing behind a better team (one that is a contender) will help him do just that. 

Smith struggled all year in Calgary while playing behind one of the best defenses in the NHL. Not exactly a great sign for his short-term future performance. Now he is going to Edmonton, one year older, and he has to play behind one of the NHL's worst defenses. This could be a brutal match.