Ranking every NHL starting goalie 31-21
It is the offseason so it is the perfect time to rank every NHL starting goalie.
This post is without a doubt going to catch some heat, but it is fun to do nonetheless. When the idea first popped into my head, I didn’t think creating a list like this would be nearly as difficult as it has proven to be. After trying to create it and switching names in and out over and over, it proves just how tough it is to rank goalies throughout the NHL.
Of course, there are some that stand out as they are truly elite, but after that there are a lot who are all pretty similar in talent. When making this list, I didn’t base it off of just last season, although that certainly did play a factor, even more so than I realized as recency bias is a real thing.
However, what I attempted to do was a mixture of which goalie you would want on your team for the 2020-21 season, as well as how they have played over the last couple of years. This also proved to be tough, as some of the goalies on this list have only been in the league for one or two seasons.
Nonetheless, here are the rankings I decided on from 31-21…
G . player. 94. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. . Malcolm Subban . 31
It’s tough to figure out what Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman is doing. Heading into the 2019-20 season, he had both Robin Lehner and Corey Crawford. He now enters the 2020-21 season with Malcolm Subban and Collin Delia, who have combined for 84 career NHL games.
When they traded Lehner at the deadline, it was somewhat surprising as he is just 29 while Crawford is 35, but was understandable given that the latter has been with the organization for a long period of time and has won two Stanley Cups with them. Not only that, but he has still continued playing at a pretty high level when healthy. However, trading Lehner only seemed more bizarre when the Blackhawks announced prior to Free Agency that they would not be re-signing Crawford, who is now a member of the New Jersey Devils.
With this move, it really solidified the fact that the Blackhawks are attempting to rebuild, and the team even released a statement recently confirming just that. It has since come out that many Blackhawks veterans including captain Jonathan Toews are not happy with the direction of the team, and it’s hard to blame them.
The 2020-21 season could be a long one for this organization with Subban as their starting goaltender.
30. player. . Linus Ullmark . G . 12. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis
The 2020-21 season could end up being one that allows Linus Ullmark to climb well up this list. The 27-year-old actually had an okay 2019-20 season with the Buffalo Sabres, going 17-14-3 with a .915 Save Percentage and a 2.69 Goals Against Average, but he has struggled with consistency throughout his 97 career NHL games.
While he doesn’t have much experience under his belt and has never really been considered a high-end prospect, he is a much better option for the Sabres going forward than Carter Hutton, who was signed to a three-year, $8,250,000 deal prior to the 2018-19 season. Unfortunately for Hutton, his time with the Sabres has been a complete disaster to this point.
The 2020-21 season could finally be the season where the Sabres compete for a playoff spot. Despite having one of the more talented players in the league in Jack Eichel, they have been one of the worst teams in the league for quite some time as management has not done a good job with this roster. However, the surprise signing of Taylor Hall in Free Agency, as well as players like Victor Olofsson and Rasmus Dahlin blossoming into stars, the Sabres could do some damage this year.
Perhaps a better team in front of him is what will allow Ullmark to turn himself into a legitimate NHL starter.