NHL: Top 5 worst starting goaltenders since the start of 2010

There have been many goaltenders in the NHL who have not been as successful as others. Here is a list of the top 5 worst starting goaltenders since 2010.

Being an NHL goaltender is one of the hardest jobs in sports. When they do well, they don’t get enough credit. Yet when they don’t do well, they’re the first ones named in the blame game.

There are a lot of great goaltenders in the league. However, not all of the goalies in the NHL are great. Some of them are bad. But here’s the thing – even the bad ones are among the best in the world at what they do.

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Let’s take a look at the five worst goaltenders since 2010.

5. Michal Neuvirth

Michal Neuvirth has not had a bad career in the NHL. His time with the Washington Capitals was quite memorable during the earlier seasons. He was able to lead the team to the playoffs and performed significantly well. However, during his tenure with the Philadelphia Flyers, his performance was not so great; giving him the number five spot on this list.

Neuvirth played an excellent role on the Capitals during the earlier seasons, maintained good save percentages and was able to come away with a lot of wins. Not only did he accumulate good stats he was also able to lead the team pretty far in the playoffs, giving him some playoff experience.

During his time with the Capitals, he was able to maintain a high save percentage of .914%. This is a very good accomplishment for him to achieve but unfortunately, time spent with the Flyers was subpar.

Playing with the Flyers, was and has been a rough time for Neuvirth in the net. He has achieved a high save percentage of .924% and a low save percentage of .859%. Although the high save percentage is an incredible achievement, this has been a rare occasion for Neuvirth.

The low save percentages have been more frequent in net for him than the high percentages. This type of inconsistency is something that teams do not desire in their goaltenders; and will certainly not land a spot as a starting goalie.

It would be nice to see Neuvirth get back into his groove and showcase his talent again as he did in his early days with the Capitals. It is a lot of pressure being a starting goaltender in the National Hockey League but Neuvirth certainly has the potential to earn a position as a goaltender on a team. However, his performance over recent years does not highlight this positive potential, landing him the number five spot on this list.

4. Petr Mrazek

Petr Mrazek has not been a terrible goaltender over his entire career. He has actually had positive and impacting performances for the teams that he has played for. However, Mrazek’s tenures with the Detroit Red Wings and Flyers were not the greatest performance compared to other goalies, giving him the number four spot on the list.

During his time with the Red Wings, he managed to get a lot of wins and playing time. However, his highest save percentage of .927% and a low of .901%. Not to mention the Red Wings were a struggling team during his playing experience with them.

Mrazek certainly has a different style of play unlike other goalies and he also is talented but this talent did not show with the Red Wings and Flyers. To highlight some of his achievements, Mrazek was able to lead the Red Wings to the playoffs, which is an amazing achievement for any goaltender. Nevertheless, the Red Wings were not successful during the playoffs as they were only able to make it to the first round but he surely contributed positively to the team.

His performance with the Flyers was even worse than with the Red Wings. Although he had spent more time with the Red Wings, his time with the Flyers was not good at all. Mrazek only started in 17 games but maintained a save percentage of .891%. This type of performance certainly was not a good one and did not contribute well to him staying on the team.

Mrazek has found some hope with the Carolina Hurricanes, as his production with them during the 2018-2019 season was pretty good. He also helped lead them to the Conference Finals, which was an achievement the Hurricanes have not been able to accomplish in over 10 years. It looks like Mrazek will have his place with the Hurricanes for another season but his performance with the Red Wings and the Flyers unquestionably earn him a number four spot on this list.

2. Rick DiPietro

Rick DiPietro was drafted number one overall by the New York Islanders during the 2000 NHL draft. Although he has played many seasons in the NHL, he certainly has not lived up to the potential of a number one overall pick goaltender. His inability to lead the team to the playoffs on multiple occasions, possess terrible save percentages, and never win a Stanley Cup have marked him as a number two spot on this list.

DiPietro has played with the Islanders during his entire NHL career and yet he was only able to lead the team to the playoffs a couple of times if that. His stats were not consistently good and there were only a few seasons where he was able to put up above par numbers.

During his time with the Islanders, his best save percentage was .919%and his worst save percentage was .855%. These save percentages are atrocious numbers for any goaltender to have and certainly did not contribute well to DiPietro’s career.

There were some seasons where DiPietro had some success and actually played pretty well given the team that he was on. The Islanders have not been good in quite some time and have struggled for many years to even make the playoffs.

Although some parts of that came from DiPietro being in the net, it still does not deny the fact that DiPietro did have some good seasons. Overall, he did not live up to the potential he had as number one overall pick. There were high expectations set on him during his entire career that he did not deliver on. He played many seasons in the NHL and that is quite an individual achievement but his performance has earned him a spot as one of the worst starting goalies.

1. Scott Darling

Scott Darling is a goaltender that the Carolina Hurricanes put too much hope and faith into. He had amazing success playing for the Chicago Blackhawks but once he went to the Hurricanes, this success was surely taken away. His performance with the Hurricanes has certainly earned him a number one spot on this list.

During his two seasons with the Hurricanes, Darling had awful statistics. His best save percentage was .888% and his worst was .884%. This is unacceptable for any goalie to have, especially in hopes of leading a team to success.

The Hurricanes put a lot of trust in Darling to deliver positive results and this decision made the seasons very unsuccessful. Not only were the Hurricanes already struggling to make the playoffs as a team but having Darling for both seasons, contributed to them finishing towards the bottom of the league.

It seems a little crazy for Darling to have had such good seasons with the Blackhawks but then have career low seasons with the Hurricanes. He played so well with the Blackhawks and even helped them make it to the playoffs.

Once he was selected to be the starting goaltender for the Hurricanes, he accumulated atrocious statistics and did not help the Canes come anywhere close to playoff hopes. Darling has also struggled to maintain a spot in the NHL as he is not currently on any NHL roster.

His performance has not only minimized his ability to play in the NHL but it has also given him the number one spot for the worst starting goalies since 2010.