Since the development of goals saved above expected (GSAx) in the 2008-09 season, it has become easier to analyze goaltenders, past and present, based on their individual play rather than how they perform with the defense in front of them in consideration. With every single starting and backup goaltender combined, which teams have had the best goaltending in the past 15 seasons?
10 – Montreal Canadiens
It feels as though the Montreal Canadiens are a bit low here with the Hall of Fame level play from Carey Price for over a decade coupled with some fantastic years from Jaroslav Halak. With a total of a 28.8 GSAx, as a unit the Habs were still among the best.
In part, Montreal’s downfall in this ranking had to do with them overplaying Price, especially later in his career when he was entering his 30s. Despite this, he finished with the 10th-best GSAx for an individual team in his career with 62.7. A bit earlier than that, Halak was playing at an incredible level and earned himself a 37.4 GSAx in the regular season and playoffs combined in just three seasons with the Canadiens. In the early to mid 2010s, the Habs were pretty unstoppable in goal. Their backup goaltending did bring them down a bit, having posted a 16th-ranked -51.3 GSAx since 2008-09. Currently, Sam Montembeault and Jake Allen are more than serviceable, finishing with a combined 9.9 GSAx in 2022-23.
9 – Arizona Coyotes
In a relatively surprising twist, the Arizona Coyotes have had some of the best goaltending numbers in the NHL over the last 15 seasons. Even though they have only made the playoffs four times in that span, their play in net was not the reason for that.
Related: 10 Best NHL Goaltending Seasons Since 2008-09
For Arizona, they are great because of several solid goaltenders as opposed to just one or two. Mike Smith provided them with several years of some of the most underrated displays of goaltending in history, finishing with the second-best GSAx in a season with 50.2. Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper were fantastic when he left, and Karel Vejmelka looks to keep the trend going with his finish as the 14th-best goaltender in GSAx in the league. Overall, the Coyotes have a 43.6 GSAx, with their starters ranking eighth in the league and their backups ranking 11th.
8 – Vegas Golden Knights
A benefit to being in the league for only a few seasons is that the Vegas Golden Knights have been able to be one of the most dominant teams in the league consistently. Having only missed the playoffs once in their entire history, their goaltending has played a big part in that, with their starters ranking 10th among the league and their backups ranking ninth.
Marc-Andre Fleury had a -18.5 GSAx with the Pittsburgh Penguins his entire time there, with his best seasons actually coming right before he was selected in the expansion draft by Vegas. He completely turned around his career when that happened, and gave himself a legitimate Hall of Fame argument in the process, as opposed to being either below average or reduced to a lesser role in his Stanley Cup seasons with the Penguins. In total, he held a 48.1 GSAx and a Vezina Trophy season to boot. Robin Lehner and Adin Hill have also provided stable goaltending when he wasn’t there, leaving them with a positive career GSAx grade among every single goaltender they have had as a true starter.
7 – Carolina Hurricanes
Another slightly surprising inclusion is the Carolina Hurricanes. Rather than having one truly dominant starter, every single starting goaltender has finished with a positive GSAx with the team, highlighted by Cam Ward’s finish with a total of 43.0 despite his best seasons not being tracked. In addition, their backups rank 10th when compared to the rest of the league.
More recently, Frederik Andersen has been very solid for Carolina. With two years left on his recent extension, upcoming netminder Pyotr Kochetkov will likely be the next man up for the Canes. He will follow up several years of great goaltending with a fantastic system run by head coach Rod Brind’Amour in front of him.
6 – Tampa Bay Lightning
Before the likes of Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Tampa Bay Lightning actually had some of the worst goaltenders in terms of GSAx. Without them, they would have had the fourth-worst goaltending since the 2008-09 season.
As of now, Vasilevskiy is actually the best goaltender in GSAx history with a total of 150.1. Many netminders were on his path, but as they got older their totals began to decrease instead of improve. He has been a vital figure for the team, and especially in winning two Stanley Cups. Following up Bishop was a tough task, as he was the ninth-best goaltender in the GSAx era for an individual team. He did it and has been one of the best goaltenders to ever play the game since he officially became the starter in 2016-17. They take a bit of a hit with their backups ranking just 27th, but they have been a fantastic goaltending team, nonetheless.
5 – Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals mark the biggest jump in GSAx, having a total of 90.0 as opposed to Tampa’s 66.0. While they have had some decent starters throughout the years, none come close to even touching Braden Holtby, who finished his tenure with Washington with not only a Stanley Cup, but a GSAx of 113.8 as well.
Washington’s backup netminders actually helped their cause out significantly with a GSAx of 33.0, being only one of four teams to have a positive total for non-starters. As for their starters, they only ranked 12th but their backups were a huge help. With Holtby carrying the load, the Caps were a very dangerous team for a long time.
4 – Winnipeg Jets
This was not always the case, but the Winnipeg Jets have had some of the most elite goaltending in the NHL since moving from Atlanta prior to the 2011-12 season. Ondrej Pavelec and Connor Hellebuyck have been the only two official starting goaltenders in the history of the Jets, and they have done their part to make the team competitive. The latter did his job exceptionally well.
So far, Hellebuyck has put up a monstrous 109.8 GSAx with still some elite years left in the tank. Winning a Vezina Trophy in 2020-21, he has helped rejuvenate hockey in Winnipeg. Their backups have helped tremendously, ranking as the fifth-best team in GSAx for non-starters.
3 – Los Angeles Kings
Almost entirely highlighted by Jonathan Quick, the Los Angeles Kings have the third-best GSAx in the modern NHL with a combined total of 120.0. On his own, the now former Kings’ netminder provided 122.2 of that.
It is a crime that Quick was never able to capture a Vezina Trophy in his time with the Kings, but he was also going up against some elite competition. Regardless, he is arguably the best goaltender of the 2010s and has data to back it up. Backing him up was the third-best non-starting corps, showing the team’s eye for talent and willingness to spend money on their goaltending as a whole.
2 – New York Rangers
It really comes as no surprise that the New York Rangers have had some of the best goaltending since 2008-09, most notably backed by Henrik Lundqvist and Igor Shesterkin. With a 202.4 GSAx for starters and a total of 5.3 for backups, the Rangers have been one of the best teams in finding gems to play in net.
Having just three starting netminders in your last 15 seasons is usually a good sign. For the Rangers, 14 of those have belonged to either Lundqvist or Shesterkin. The elder of which finished with a total of 121.3 that started to die down as he grew older. With a total of 94.7 already, the younger netminder could be the best in Rangers’ history for GSAx as soon as this season, needing a GSAx of only 26.6 which he smashed in 2022-23 with a total of 36.9.
1 – Boston Bruins
It should also not be a surprise that the Boston Bruins have had some of the best goaltenders in the league in recent memory. They rank as the best team in GSAx among starters (229.0) and backups (41.9) and give no room for doubt. Since they have been so tremendous, they have only had three true starters in the past 15 seasons, with Tim Thomas, Tuukka Rask, and currently, Linus Ullmark taking over the reins in goal.
With Ullmark only being in Boston for the past couple seasons, he has had the worst GSAx among them with 47.4, which is incredibly impressive given he has only had two seasons to do this. Him and Thomas hold the second and third best regular season GSAx in history with 42.4 and 39.6 respectively. As for Rask, he has the second-best GSAx with a single team with 125.8. Boston has been a factory of amazing netminders, and the analytics only help prove this.
Many of the teams on this list are among the most consistently great clubs in the league. Much of that is due to their incredible goaltending and them preaching it throughout the lineup. Make no mistake, this data is due to their efforts, and not solely because of how great the defenses in front of them were.
