Considering how important goaltending is to the success of a fantasy hockey league team it only makes sense that it is one of the most difficult positions to handicap on an annual basis. Anybody who selected Jonathan Quick, Martin Jones or Pekka Rinne in the first round of their fantasy hockey league draft is probably regretting it to one extent or another while a goaltender like Tuukka Rask has rewarded those that invested in him by exceeding expectations out of the gate. Here is a look at the top five fantasy goalies so far this NHL season.
Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota Wild
Dubnyk turned a lot of heads when he seemingly came out of nowhere in 2014-15 when he registered a 27-9-2 record with a 1.78, .936 save percentage and five shutouts after being traded to the Minnesota Wild. The jury was out on whether Dubnyk could be trusted as an elite fantasy goaltender and while he regressed somewhat with a 2.33 GAA on a weaker Minnesota team last season he has bounced back early on this year with five wins, a 1.46 GAA, .951 save percentage and three shutouts through nine games. The fact that he plays behind an improved Wild team should help this season. Dubnyk is currently the top-rated fantasy goalie in Yahoo fantasy hockey leagues.
Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets
Bobrovsky is another excellent bounce back candidate after his numbers regressed behind bad teams in Columbus over each of the previous three seasons. The Blue Jackets are definitely a more defensively responsible team than in past years and Bobrovsky had looked very good out of the gate with five wins, a 1.79 goals against average, .947 save percentage and three shutouts through nine starts. However, he has slumped in his last two outings, giving up four goals in each of his last two starts while getting pulled as well.
Bobrovsky will need the team in front of him to continue to improve in order to maintain his current pace but he has been the second-best fantasy goaltenders to this point in the season.
Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
The gold standard for NHL goaltending when healthy, Price has been outstanding out of the gates with eight wins, a 1.40 goals against average, a .957 save percentage and one shutout. The Canadiens are a better team than they were a year ago so it will be very interesting to see how good Price’s numbers will be. Price is the currently the third-ranked fantasy goalie but it’s fair to say he is the favorite to finish at the top of this list through a complete 82-game season. He’s the main reason why the Canadiens are 13-1-1 on the season and have registered the most points of any team in the NHL (27).
Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
Rask’s numbers dipped a bit behind an inconsistent Bruins’ team last season and that led to many fantasy GM’s passing on him early in fantasy hockey drafts. However, Rask has bounced back early on this year as he has seven wins through his first eight games with a 1.69 GAA, .941 save percentage and two shutouts. Boston has improved both offensively and defensively so it shouldn’t be a surprise that Rask has bounced back with a solid start that he should be able to build off this season. They are currently in a tie for second place with Ottawa (at 18 points) in the Atlantic Division.
Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks
Crawford has been incredibly consistent over the years for Chicago and fantasy owners that were worried about a relatively slow start out of the gate can relax now that he and the Blackhawks are back on track. Crawford has six wins through his first 10 games with a 2.01 goals against average and a .936 save percentage with two shutouts. Chicago seems to have figured things out following their stumble out of the gate and that means Crawford should be a lock for at least 30 wins and a sub-2.40 GAA this season. He’s already the fifth-ranked fantasy goalie right now and the potential is there for him to climb these rankings this season.
NHL GAA Leaders
1. Carey Price, MTL 1.40
2. Devan Dubnyk, MIN 1.65
3. Tuukka Rask, BOS 1.69
4. Jimmy Howard, DET 1.80
5. Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB 2.00
NHL Save Percentage Leaders
1. Carey Price, MTL .957
2. Devan Dubnyk, MIN .947
3. Jimmy Howard, DET .943
4. Tuukka Rask, BOS .941
5. Corey Crawford, CHI .935
