The third and final article in this series ranking every single starting goalie in the NHL is here, and once again, it was a true struggle.
However, I truly believe this to be the correct order for the time being. It will be interesting to see how much it may change change after the 2020-21 NHL season is over.
As mentioned in the two previous articles in this series, this list isn’t based off of just last season, though it does play a factor. The attempt is to try and base it on who you would want in net for your team during the upcoming season, while also factoring in how they have faired over the last few seasons.
Without further ado, here are the current top 10 goalies in the NHL. Let’s delve right in…
The Philadelphia Flyers have finally found their franchise goalie. Carter Hart has been hyped up as being this organization’s savior for some time now, and is proving that to be true over his first season and a half with them. While some may argue he is a bit higher on this list than he should be, it is important to note just how good he played during the second half of the 2019-20 season.
The scary thing for other teams in the league is that Hart is only 22-years-old, meaning he has not even scratched the surface of his potential yet. There is a reason he was able to win both the WHL and CHL goaltender of the year in two different seasons. This kid is special, and he has a chance to become one of if not the top goalie in the league over the next couple of years.
Hart will also benefit from playing on the Flyers, a team who on paper has one of the more talented rosters in the Eastern Conference. A lot of their top end pieces, including Hart, are very young, meaning that this team will likely continue to be one of the better teams in the East for a long time to come.
It took far too long, but the Philadelphia Flyers finally have stability between the pipes.
The Calgary Flames landed one of the biggest 2020 Free Agents when they announced the signing of goaltender Jacob Markstrom to a six-year, $36 million contract. The 30-year-old had been the Vancouver Canucks starting goaltender for multiple seasons.
The 2019-20 season was a career year for Markstrom, who finally became the goaltender many had thought he had the potential to be, recording a .918 Save Percentage and a 2.75 Goals Against Average to go along with two shutouts and a 23-16-4 record.
He was one of the main reasons, if not the biggest, that the Canucks were able to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2014-15. His great season had many thinking he was snubbed from being a Vezina Trophy candidate.
Joining the Flames should benefit Markstrom, as they have a very solid roster headed into the 2020-21 season. Since the Miikka Kiprusoff era, this franchise has gone through many goalies trying to find an adequate replacement, and appear to have finally done that with this signing. This may just be the piece they need in order to go on a deep postseason run.