With the NHL regular season upon us, here's one last pre-season goalie ranking.
It was hard leaving Thomas Greiss and James Reimer out of the top 35, as both could very well end up starting for their teams by season's end. That said, I still think Robin Lehner has the edge in Long Island, and I'll give Roberto Luongo the benefit of the doubt despite being almost 40. Keith Kinkaid and Jonathan Bernier are interesting ones who just missed as well - the former who stole the job from Schneider (currently injured) and will likely stand in for him to start the year, and the latter could very well unseat Jimmy Howard. Also worth noting that Howard is a pending UFA, and with the Red Wings likely trade deadline sellers he could be on the move.
Our top 35 list ranks the value of goalies over the next 2 to 3 years. Factors include track record, upside, age, team and injury history.
| RANK | PLAYER | NOTES | Age | DOB | Pvs. | Chg. |
| TIER 1 | | | | | | |
| 1 | Connor Hellebuyck, WPG | Starts at the top, but Vasilevskiy is right behind. | 25.4 | 5/19/1993 | - | - |
| 2 | Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB | Slowed down in 2nd half. Still a top 3 goalie. | 24.2 | 7/25/1994 | - | - |
| 3 | Frederik Andersen, TOR | | 29.0 | 10/2/1989 | - | - |
| 4 | Sergei Bobrovsky, CBJ | | 30.0 | 9/20/1988 | - | - |
| 5 | Braden Holtby, WAS | Mediocre regular season; stellar playoffs. | 29.0 | 9/16/1989 | - | - |
| TIER 2 |
| 6 | Tuukka Rask, BOS | | 31.6 | 3/10/1987 | - | - |
| 7 | Jonathan Quick, LA | | 32.7 | 1/21/1986 | - | - |
| 8 | Martin Jones, SJ | Play will be in the other end a lot with EK in town. | 28.7 | 1/10/1990 | - | - |
| 9 | John Gibson, ANH | | 25.2 | 7/14/1993 | - | - |
| 10 | Devan Dubnyk, MIN | Boring choice, but slow and steady wins the race. | 32.4 | 5/4/1986 | - | - |
| 11 | Pekka Rinne, NAS | Should hold off Saros. For now. | 35.9 | 11/3/1982 | - | - |
| 12 | Matt Murray, PIT | Could become top 5 if he finds consistency. | 24.3 | 5/25/1994 | - | - |
| 13 | Ben Bishop, DAL | | 31.9 | 11/21/1986 | - | - |
| 14 | Marc-Andre Fleury, VGK | Can Vegas replicate last season's success? | 33.8 | 11/28/1984 | - | - |
| TIER 3 |
| 15 | Cam Talbot, EDM | Has to be better for the Oilers to have a chance. | 31.2 | 7/5/1987 | - | - |
| 16 | Carey Price, MTL | Will have to be Montreal's MVP most nights. | 31.1 | 8/16/1987 | - | - |
| 17 | Antti Raanta, AZ | Was the best goalie in the league post All-Star. | 29.4 | 5/12/1989 | - | - |
| 18 | Mike Smith, CGY | | 36.5 | 3/22/1982 | - | - |
| 19 | Jake Allen, STL | It's time for him to grab the starting job for good. | 28.1 | 8/7/1990 | - | - |
| 20 | Cory Schneider, NJ | Battling to keep his #1 spot. Can he hang onto it? | 32.5 | 3/18/1986 | - | - |
| 21 | Henrik Lundqvist, NYR | Aging goalie on a mediocre team. | 36.6 | 3/2/1982 | - | - |
| 22 | Corey Crawford, CHI | Lingering concussion issues are a worry. | 33.7 | 12/31/1984 | - | - |
| TIER 4 |
| 23 | Carter Hutton, BUF | | 32.8 | 12/19/1985 | - | - |
| 24 | Jakob Markstrom, VAN | | 28.7 | 1/31/1990 | - | - |
| 25 | Roberto Luongo, FLA | Age and fragility make him a major gamble. | 39.5 | 4/4/1979 | - | - |
| 26 | Semyon Varlamov, COL | The Grubauer threat is real. | 30.4 | 4/27/1988 | - | - |
| 27 | Brian Elliott, PHI | Injuries and inconsistency keep him down. | 33.5 | 4/9/1985 | - | - |
| 28 | Craig Anderson, OTT | | 37.4 | 5/21/1981 | - | - |
| 29 | Jimmy Howard, DET | Now has Bernier to fend off for starts. | 34.5 | 3/26/1984 | - | - |
| 30 | Robin Lehner, NYI | | 27.2 | 7/24/1991 | - | - |
| TIER 5 |
| 31 | Philipp Grubauer, COL | He got the contract. Now he wants the crease. | 26.8 | 11/25/1991 | - | - |
| 32 | Petr Mrazek, CAR | Someone has to start in Carolina. Is it him? | 26.6 | 2/14/1992 | - | - |
| 33 | Scott Darling, CAR | Wants to put last season's debacle behind him. | 29.8 | 12/22/1988 | - | - |
| 34 | Juuse Saros, NAS | Paid like a backup, but could challenge Rinne. | 23.4 | 4/19/1995 | - | - |
| 35 | Cam Ward, CHI | | 34.6 | 2/29/1984 | - | - |
ON THE BUBBLE (in no particular order):
| Thomas Greiss, NYI |
| James Reimer, FLA |
| Keith Kinkaid, NJ |
| Jonathan Bernier, DET |
| Jaroslav Halak, BOS |
| Aaron Dell, SJ |
| Linus Ullmark, BUF |
| Ryan Miller, ANH |
| Darcy Kuemper, AZ |
| Michal Neuvirth, PHI |
| Anders Nilsson, VAN |
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