Top 10 NHL Backup Goaltenders

Backup goalies in the NHL are tragically underappreciated. It’s hard enough for a team to find a starting goaltender that they can rely on game in, game out. It is an outright luxury to have a dependable backup goalie. Top NHL backups need to be able to perform well during their intermittent opportunities, but they also need to be ready to step up for long stretches if their partner goes down to injury. It’s a thankless, tireless, and underpaid position. But the bests are some of the most valuable players in the league, and some of the best teams in the league are those that have two fantastic goalies to lean on.

Backup goalies get their position in numerous ways. They might be former starters near the end of their career or future starters getting their first shot in the big leagues. The names on this list come from all backgrounds. Some are even among the top goaltending prospects in the NHL. They have different backgrounds and different futures, but they share one thing in common: they can be relied on in a pinch, and their teams are very thankful to have them.

10) Justus Annunen — Colorado Avalanche

This list begins with two very new goaltenders just finding their footing in the NHL, both of whom seem to have very bright futures. First, Justus Annunen, who played just 14 games in the NHL in 2023-24, but played well enough for at least a few fans to call for him to start in the postseason, especially after Alexandar Georgiev’s shaky start.

Annunen has quite a pedigree. He was the top starter for goalie factory Finland’s World Junior Championship (WJC) squad for three straight years (once as a U-18, where he helped them win gold, and twice at the U-20 tournament). He posted the best GAA and SV% in Liiga in Finland during the 2019-20 season. But he struggled at the American Hockey League (AHL) level, dimming optimism about his NHL future temporarily. After this season, though, with a .928 save percentage (SV%) and 2.25 goals-against average (GAA) in 14 starts, he looks like he might once again be the Avalanche’s goaltender of the future.

9) Joel Hofer — St. Louis Blues

And speaking of goaltenders of the future with great WJC pedigrees, Joel Hofer first burst onto the scene with his gold medal performance in 2020, which was equally surprising as it was dominant. Since then, he has been generally viewed as a top 10 or so goaltending prospect, and last season, when he earned AHL All-Star honors and helped Canada once again capture gold at the World Championships certainly didn’t dim those hopes.

Stepping into backup Jordan Binnington with the St. Louis Blues — who had struggled for several seasons — was no easy task. But Binnington righted the ship, and Hofer did fantastically behind him as a rookie, starting 27 games, posting a .913 SV% and 2.65 GAA with 8.2 goals saved above average (GSAA). Now, with the firebrand Binnington’s name constantly in trade rumors, the time might be soon that Hofer is asked to step up again into a starting or tandem role. If history is any indication, he will rise to the challenge.

8) David Rittich — Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings did not ultimately trade for Connor Hellebuyck, as many thought they might, but they managed to cobble together an unlikely but extremely effective tandem in the 2023-24 season. At a combined 67 years of age and 19 seasons of experience, Cam Talbot and David Rittich managed to keep the Kings on track for a playoff berth. And the man affectionately known as “Big Save Dave” deserves his flowers.

The 31-year-old native of then-Czechoslovakia arrived in Los Angeles after a few down years with Nashville and Winnipeg, but he found his footing and managed a .921 SV% and 2.15 GAA with 11 GSAA in 22 starts. He even represented himself well in two playoff starts against the high-powered Edmonton Oilers, though the Kings were outmatched in the series. Both Rittich and Talbot signed for just one season, so the Kings’ goaltending picture is once again uncertain going forward. But whoever lands “Big Save Dave” will be getting a reliable backup with upside.

7) Laurent Brossoit — Winnipeg Jets

Laurent Brossoit is a backup goaltender. At least, that’s what the Winnipeg Jets faithful tried to make clear to him in the 2023 postseason, as the then-former backup to Hellebuyck in Manitoba helped lead the Vegas Golden Knights past the Jets in the first round of the playoffs. Broissoit entered the postseason as the starter for the Golden Knights before Adin Hill took over and led them to the Stanley Cup. But Brossoit got to stick it in the face of the Jets and their fans, which prompted Winnipeg to re-sign him over the summer. Brossoit has a career .907 SV% and 2.79 GAA. And Winnipeg fans were right: those are backup numbers. But he had one of his best seasons ever in his first season back in Manitoba, posting a .927 SV% and 2.00 GAA, with a .727 QS% in 22 games starting ahead of the presumptive Vezina Trophy winner. It might not be the toughest backup role in the league, but somebody’s gotta do it, and Brossoit does it really, really well.

6) Marc-Andre Fleury — Minnesota Wild

The only guaranteed future Hockey Hall of Famer on this list, Marc-Andre Fleury has finally become a clear backup heading into his aged-40 season — his 21st in the NHL. He’s been with the Minnesota Wild for parts of three seasons now, and he’s played an important roll in paving the way for Filip Gustavsson to take the role from him. Fleury does it all with his trademark smile and positive attitude, endearing him to every fan base he’s played for.

There’s almost no point debating his numbers at this juncture. Sure, they’ve slipped from when he was a younger superstar. That’s no surprise. But the former first-overall pick claimed his first Vezina Trophy as recently as 2021. He’s had a great final few years of his career, and he deserves recognition for 20 years of NHL success, as well as three Stanley Cup victories. He’s one of the greats, and his name will almost certainly be immortalized in Toronto in a few years.

3) Semyon Varlamov — New York Islanders

Of the goalies on this list,n Semyon Varlamov — who signed a four-year contract extension last summer, despite turning 35 shortly beforehand — has more job security than anyone else in this article. While New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello has become notorious for giving needlessly long contracts to veteran players, it is still a sign of the faith the Islanders have in the Samara, Russia native, and the warm relationship he has with Ilya Sorokin, one of the top goaltenders in the NHL, who got a juicy extension of his own this summer.

No one could have anticipated the outcome of the Islanders’ season, where they were turning to Varlamov more than Sorokin down the stretch. They turned to Varlamov almost exclusively in the postseason, except for one disastrous start where Sorokin allowed 3 goals on 14 shots and got pulled. Even so, there is no argument that Varlamov is now the long-term starter. Unless the wheels totally fall off, they will stick with the man they are paying to be one of the top goaltenders in the league. For now, Varlamov remains one of the best and perhaps the most underrated backup goaltenders in the league.

4) Anthony Stolarz — Florida Panthers

While the Florida Panthers have made lots of changes to turn them from fringe contenders into legitimate Stanley Cup favorites (including the Matthew Tkachuk trade), do not overlook the total resurgence of their goaltending. And while Sergei Bobrovsky deserves a ton of the credit for finally paying off the big gamble Florida made on him in free agency, Anthony Stolarz was a quiet killer throughout the 2023-24 season backing him up. Stolarz led the league in SV% (.925) and GAA (2.03) in his 24 starts. The 30-year-old New Jersey native has been a journeyman in his career and has never gotten a serious look as a starter, but after this season, it might be time for a team desperate for goaltending (perhaps even a team in his home state) to reconsider that.

3) Pyotr Kochetkov — Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes have one of the most confusing goaltending pictures in the league, with Pyotr Kochetkov, Frederik Andersen, and Antti Raanta all seeing significant playing time during the season. But Raanta fell off violently after years as a reliable backup, and the Hurricanes chose to ride Andersen, who had missed much of the season due to injury, as the starter entering the playoffs. So it seems that the 24-year-old Kochektkov is the backup for now.

Related: Frederik Andersen’s Return Sparks Hurricanes Division Title Hunt

Although he was not the pick to start in the playoffs, Kochetkov was fantastic in 40 starts during the 2023-24 season, and looks to have a bright future in the NHL. Though some will argue that the Hurricanes’ fantastic blueline made life easier on him, a .911 SV%, 2.33 GAA, and 7.7 GSAA are nothing to sneeze at in today’s NHL. He is a great, young netminder who will probably inherit the starting job before too long. He just has to bide his time as backup a little while longer.

2) Logan Thompson — Vegas Golden Knights

Who is the backup in Vegas? It’s hard to say. But since Logan Thompson is not the goaltender who won Vegas the Stanley Cup last season, and the one who did (Adin Hill) got a big contract extension this summer, we’ll say that Thompson is the backup right now. Plus, while Thompson started more games this season, the Golden Knights turned to Hill when facing elimination in Game 6 against the Dallas Stars, and he got the job done.

Whoever they choose to start, the Golden Knights are in good hands. Thompson has played parts of four seasons with Vegas, going 56-32-11 with a .912 SV%, 2.67 GAA, and 19.9 GSAA. He’s still on an entry-level contract, which is a tremendous advantage for the cash-strapped Golden Knights. Vegas clearly has one of the best tandems in the league, but, for now at least, there is one that is clearly better.

1) Linus Ullmark — Boston Bruins

Rarely, if ever, has the reigning Vezina Trophy winner been reduced to his team’s backup so quickly, but that is clearly the case now with the Boston Bruin’s Linus Ullmark. The Bruins argued that they had a true tandem all season, and even came into the postseason planning to alternate goaltender starts. But Jeremy Swayman, who previously owned the number one spot on this list, stepped up and stole the show in their seven-game series against the Maple Leafs. Given that he is also five years younger than Ullmark and due a big contract extension this summer, it is hard to argue that he won’t move into the ranks of the top starting goaltenders in the league soon.

Related: Ranking the NHL’s 32 Starting Goalies — Midseason Update

But Ullmark did nothing to lose his job, posting a .915 SV% and 2.57 GAA in 39 starts, with 13.7 GSAA. He is still a fantastic goaltender. But it seems his days in Boston might be numbered, with a trade this offseason seeming likely (he already invoked his no-trade close to block a deal at the deadline). With no crystal ball to predict the future, though, we can only rank based on what we know now. And as long as Ullmark and Swayman are together in Boston, the Bruins have the best goaltending tandem in the league without question.

Who Did We Miss?

Do you think your backup belongs on this list? Do you think we gave someone too much credit? Let us know in the comments below. But don’t forget: some of the best “backup” goaltenders, like Toronto’s Joseph Woll have done enough to prove that they are no longer anyone’s second choice. That’s proof that the role of a backup goaltender in the league is a volatile and ever-changing one. But right now, we believe these are the ten best in the world.