This article is part of our The Goalie Report series.
In this week's column, we take a look at goalie performances over the entire regular season, highlighting a six-pack who excelled and a trio who will enter next season with a need to prove that this season was an anomaly for them. We'll leave Connor Hellebuyck and Andrei Vasilevskiy out, are they are going to be two of the three Vezina Trophy nominees, who've also made the most appearances on the plus side of this column during the 2024-25 season.
Trending Up
Filip Gustavsson, Wild
The Wild's No. 1 starter has completed the busiest season of his career with 58 appearances, while his goals against average (2.56) and save percentage (.914) both represent a significant improvement over his 2023-24 season. He must now be considered one of the league's top workhorses and should be recognized as the team MVP, playing a key role in their qualification for the upcoming playoffs. His draft stock, following this outstanding campaign, will push him well into the top 10 goalies in fantasy pool preparation ahead of the 2025-2026 NHL season.
Jake Oettinger, Stars
Oettinger has completed a fourth straight season as the top goalie in Dallas. He is in one of the best circumstances for any goalie in the league, with a fourth straight 30-plus win campaign, on a team that has been in the upper echelon of the NHL during his tenure. This season, for the first time, he'll enter the playoffs as the primary netminder for the odds-on favorite
In this week's column, we take a look at goalie performances over the entire regular season, highlighting a six-pack who excelled and a trio who will enter next season with a need to prove that this season was an anomaly for them. We'll leave Connor Hellebuyck and Andrei Vasilevskiy out, are they are going to be two of the three Vezina Trophy nominees, who've also made the most appearances on the plus side of this column during the 2024-25 season.
Trending Up
Filip Gustavsson, Wild
The Wild's No. 1 starter has completed the busiest season of his career with 58 appearances, while his goals against average (2.56) and save percentage (.914) both represent a significant improvement over his 2023-24 season. He must now be considered one of the league's top workhorses and should be recognized as the team MVP, playing a key role in their qualification for the upcoming playoffs. His draft stock, following this outstanding campaign, will push him well into the top 10 goalies in fantasy pool preparation ahead of the 2025-2026 NHL season.
Jake Oettinger, Stars
Oettinger has completed a fourth straight season as the top goalie in Dallas. He is in one of the best circumstances for any goalie in the league, with a fourth straight 30-plus win campaign, on a team that has been in the upper echelon of the NHL during his tenure. This season, for the first time, he'll enter the playoffs as the primary netminder for the odds-on favorite to win the Stanley Cup. With a young core in place in front of him, it's easy to project that he will be in a great spot for the foreseeable future in Dallas. He's only 25 and should be entering his prime years.
Darcy Kuemper, Kings
Kuemper is the oldest goalie to make the grade in this week's piece, recognizing his efforts in reaching the 30-win plateau for only the second time in his 13 years in the NHL. His performance may be the biggest surprise at the position in the whole league, as he finished with a career-best goals against mark (2.02) over 50 appearances, one year after recording his worst mark (3.31) in 33 games played last season for Washington. This significant improvement is largely due to the Kings' overall commitment to defense, but we should not discount Kuemper's talent as a competent veteran goalie. The Kings will be a tough out in the upcoming playoffs, in large part due to his consistently high level of play.
Sam Montembeault, Canadiens
Montembeault has to rate as a surprise when we note that he ranks third in the league, behind Vasilevskiy and Hellebuyck, in games played with 62. Since the Four Nations Face-Off, he's played a key role in the Canadiens' fight to climb into playoff contention over the last two months. Perhaps no other goalie has dealt with more pressure, and yet, the Canadiens have one of the top records during that stretch. In year four of their rebuild, they have taken a significant step forward and Montembault should get his flowers for finding this level of play in the best season of his six-year career.
Best Rookie
Dustin Wolf, Flames
It's rare to see a young goalie step in and handle a heavy workload as Wolf has done with the Flames this season. He was anointed as Calgary's No. 1 goalie very early this season and recorded 53 appearances, a sharp rise from his 17 games played last year. He dragged his team to a finish that wound up just a little short of a playoff spot and gives Flames management a great deal of confidence in knowing that they have found their goalie of the future.
Best Tandem
Anthony Stolarz/Joseph Woll, Maple Leafs
The Leafs have been criticized in recent years for not developing goalies. This season they leaned on a tandem, composed of one player signed in free agency (Stolarz) and another whom they drafted a few years ago (Woll) and had suffered a number of injuries that had limited his progress. They both settled into new coach Craig Berube's defensive system and each won over 20 games, representing a historic first for one of the league's oldest franchises. Their combined efforts played a critical role in the Leafs winning their first division title since the 1999-2000 season.
Trending Down
These three goalies face a challenge next season, to show that they can return to their better, more normal, career form.
Jeremy Swayman, Bruins
This season unfolded with Swayman being anointed as the Bruins undisputed top goalie, which was a significant change from a strict goalie share that was the backbone of this team for the last three seasons. With the departure of Linus Ullmark and a few other players last offseason, it soon became clear early in this campaign, that this previously very deep roster was going to face an uphill climb this season. The result was the highest goals against average (3.11 in 59 appearances) of Swayman's five-year career.
Igor Shesterkin, Rangers
Before this season began, Shesterkin was widely regarded as the best at his position in the NHL, an accolade that were earned in backstopping the Broadway Blueshirts to the President's Trophy in 2023-24 as the top team in the regular season standings. Well, how the mighty have fallen. The Rangers stumbled through this season and wound up missing the playoffs, marking only the fourth time that a team has done so poorly after leading the league a year prior. In line with this team decline, Shesterkin's numbers (2.91 GAA, .903 SV%) were the worst of his six years as a pro.
Thatcher Demko, Canucks
A lengthy injury recovery from last season bled into the current one for the Canucks' top goalie. That was clearly a big reason for the club struggling through this season. It was by no means the only reason though, as we found out when a dressing-room dispute between a couple of top skaters become public. This proved to be a significant distraction. While Demko did return midseason, he experienced further injury setbacks that helped clinch a poor result for the Canucks. The hope is that Demko will use the upcoming offseason as a longer runway to get back into top physical form and launch him into a better season.
As this is my final column this season, I want thank my readers for their interest. Enjoy the playoffs!
