New York Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist is our goaltender of the decade
Yesterday, we revealed Sidney Crosby as our player of the decade. The best goalie of the 2010s is unquestionably New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.
The 2010s will be remembered as one of the NHL’s golden eras. Fans got to see numerous future Hall of Fame players, along with two quasi-dynasties (the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins). Yesterday, we revealed Sidney Crosby as our player of the decade. Today, we’re proud to announce New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist has been named our goaltender of the decade.
I want to address some questions I’m sure a lot of people have. Frankly, we all suck at evaluating goaltenders and we need to be better. It’s hard to evaluate goalies when so much relies on the guys in front of them. Ultimately, I feel like a goalie’s job is to erase mistakes. No goalie did that better, or more consistently than Lundqvist.
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Before going into why Lundqvist ruled the 2010s, let’s honor those who were also seriously considered. Our first runner up is Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks. He helped the Hawks win two Stanley Cups, posting a .919% save percentage in the postseason during the decade. According to Corsica, he has the sixth-highest GSAA (goals saved above average) in the 2010s.
Our second runner up is Carey Price. He’s an interesting choice, but when he was at his best, few, if any, were better. Price was the only goalie this decade to win a Hart Trophy.
Goaltender Of The Decade: Henrik Lundqvist
It’s rare for an NHL team to have a goalie as the face of the franchise. But that’s precisely what Lundqvist was for the New York Rangers. He was their face of the franchise for the 2010s and was unquestionably their best player.
The lone blemish on Lundqvist’s career is only having one Vezina Trophy and having no Stanley Cups. However, the former is further proof that we all stink at evaluating goaltenders and the latter is an indictment on the New York Rangers.
It certainly isn’t Lundqvist’s fault he didn’t win a Stanley Cup. He carried the New York Rangers in the playoffs. Lundqvist’s delta save percentage (actual save percentage minus expected save percentage) during the postseason in the 2010s is 1.77%, the highest mark among goalies with at least 30 games started. Furthermore, his 44.19 GSAA in the playoffs is the highest among those goalies.
Lundqvist got it done in the regular season as well. His 299 wins as of Dec. 28 rank third in the decade, trailing only Marc-Andre Fleury and Pekka Rinne. Lundqvist has the fourth-highest raw save percentage (.919%) of the decade as well (minimum 300 games).
However, if you take a deeper dive into Lundqvist’s numbers, his dominance is eye-popping. Per Corsica Hockey, here are the regular season GSAA leaders of the decade.
- Lundqvist (155.52)
- Cory Schneider (89.79)
- Sergei Bobrovsky (88.84)
That’s right, Lundqvist almost lapped Schneider in GSAA. He did it by dominating consistently. Lundqvist’s name appears thrice in the top 11 GSAA seasons of the decade. That’s the most of any goaltender and Bobrovsky’s the only other goalie to appear more than once on the list.
Furthermore, Lundqvist’s consistent dominance is historic. From 2009-10 through 2015-16, he had seven consecutive seasons with a save percentage of at least .920%. Not even Dominik Hasek in his prime pulled off that feat.
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People might take note of his zero Stanley Cups, but again, I’d point the finger at the New York Rangers for wasting such a beautiful prime. Lundqvist dominated the 2010s like no other goalie and he did so consistently. It’s so hard to find a consistent goaltender, which makes what Lundqvist did this decade even more impressive.