Ranking every NHL Starting Goalie Part Two: 20-11

Another very tough player to rank on this list is Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. In the previous article, which you can read here, I mentioned how goalies like Jonathan Quick, Pekka Rinne and Braden Holtby were all recently regarded as some of the best in the NHL. The same can be said for Bobrovsky, who won two Vezina Trophies in the 2012-13 and 2016-17 seasons respectively.

Up until this past season, many considered him to be arguably the best goalie in the entire league. However, this was based more so on reputation as many failed to notice that his numbers were not nearly as good as seasons past. That made some who did take note very skeptical when the Panthers gave him a massive seven-year, $70 million contract prior to the 2019-20 season.

While the money and term were certainly an overpay, many still thought this was a deal that would benefit the Panthers for a few seasons, and that it could be devastating that the Columbus Blue Jackets lost their franchise netminder.

Thankfully for the Blue Jackets, they decided not to match that crazy offer, and the Panthers are left wishing they had. Bobrovsky had a horrible first season in Florida, going 23-19-6 with a .900 Save Percentage and a 3.23 Goals Against Average, and was often a liability on what was a pretty good roster.

The only thing saving him from being near the bottom of this list is that he was still recently one of the best in the game and at 32-years-old could still bounce back.

Bobrovsky’s team needs him to given the ridiculous money they are paying him.

Despite what a lot of both Edmonton Oilers fans and media around the hockey world say, Mikko Koskinen really isn’t a bad goalie. In fact, his numbers last season were quite good. Unfortunately for him, Head Coach Dave Tippett seemed to prefer his other goalie in Mike Smith and split them evenly throughout the year despite Koskinen posting far superior numbers and clearly giving his team a better chance to win.

His first season with the team wasn’t nearly as bad as some have made it out to be either, as he ended up claiming the number one role over Cam Talbot which resulted in the latter being traded. That ended up being bad news for Koskinen, who was forced to start nearly every game for the remainder of the season as Anthony Stolarz, who the Oilers acquired in the Talbot trade, was simply not an NHL level goaltender and couldn’t be given starts. The heavy workload admittedly wore on Koskinen as he saw his numbers fall.

Though Edmonton had the chance to acquire a new goalie partner for Koskinen, they re-signed Smith to a one-year deal. The hope is that they use Koskinen as their true number one this season, as it is very evident he is the superior of the two at this stage in their careers.

However, given Tippett’s history with Smith, it’s hard to say whether or not that will happen. If he does begin to use Koskinen more, the Finnish netminder may just prove to everyone why he was regarded as one of the best goaltenders in the KHL for a number of seasons.

It appears that the New Jersey Devils have found their franchise goalie in Mackenzie Blackwood. Although it’s early, the soon to be 24-year-old has been quite good since being called up to the Devils midway through the 2018-19 season. ‘Quite good’ is very impressive given both his age and the team he has been forced to play behind.

While the Devils had high hopes in Blackwood from the time they selected him 42nd overall at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, they likely didn’t picture him being as good as he has been this early. He was the only real bright spot for New Jersey in 2019-20, posting a .915 Save Percentage and a 2.77 Goals Against Average in 43 starts.

The one concern moving forward with Blackwood and something that could hinder him from posting great numbers over the next few seasons is that the Devils are not a very good team. They do have some young talent who they are hoping can turn into impactful NHLers, but that won’t help them much for the 2020-21 season where they will more than likely struggle once again.

One positive for Blackwood is that he won’t carry the pressure of being the only team’s goaltender capable of winning games, as the Devils recently signed two-time Stanley Cup winning goalie Corey Crawford after the Chicago Blackhawks let him walk. His winning past will make him an excellent mentor for Blackwood, and he is more than capable of stepping in if needed.