Justin’s 4th Annual Top 30 Goaltenders List (10-1)

Happy Friday, BSB faithful! Welcome to the final installment of the 4^th Annual Top 30 Goaltenders List. It’s been a wild ride, but here we are. The first two editions of the rankings can be found here and here, and the first post will outline the format if you are late to the party. A few readers have reached out looking for a write up on the guys who were left off the list from last season, since there was a ton of turnover this time around. If there is interest in that, I can definitely put a post like that together. You can think of it as a spin-off to the original.

Without any further delay, here are your Top 10.

10. Corey Crawford- Chicago Blackhawks. Last year’s ranking: 17

Crawford

I know there are going to be a lot of people out there who will destroy me for this ranking, but hear me out. Everyone knows that Crawford has two fairly distinct weaknesses. His mobility is well below-average and his glove hand is suspect. There isn’t much you can do about the glove hand portion, but his style has developed around masking the mobility deficiency. He has started to play deeper in his net, requiring less distance to be covered between lateral pushes. His positioning instincts are top notch and he is a battler. You combine all these hedges and you have a pretty efficient mask of his weak mobility.

Many will also point to how ridiculously talented the ‘Hawks are as buoying Crawford’s game. It’s a fair point, but Crawford can’t control the team he plays on, he can only try to maximize their success. I don’t think anyone can deny that is exactly what he has done with two Cups in the past three years. His consistency and willingness to make adjustments to his game have vaulted him into the Top 10.

9. Roberto Luongo- Florida Panthers. Last year’s ranking: 13

Luongo

Luongo has had quite the renaissance since escaping the goaltending nightmare in Vancouver and heading back to south Florida. Something of a homecoming for Lu, he has seemingly be rejuvenated by being the veteran stalwart to a very young, and promising roster. Additionally, his Twitter account might be the best thing to happen to hockey, ever.

While Lu maybe getting a little long in the tooth, he still has a very solid positional game, and takes up a ton of net. His mobility isn’t what it once was, but he has learned to make adjustments on the fly as he has gotten older and make more efficient use of his movements. He probably won’t be elite for too much longer, but for a one year option (for the purposes of this list; he still has about 281 years left on his contract) you could do an awful lot worse.

8. Semyon Varlamov- Colorado Avalance. Last year’s ranking: 6

Varlamov

The dip in rankings isn’t so much about a lack of talent or performance, in fact, he almost matched his ridiculous stats from last season despite Colorado’s abhorrent possession ratings catching up to them. It’s more about some very talented goaltenders moving up in the rankings. I feel for the talented Russian being trapped Colorado, right when he is finally starting to put his game together consistently.

Varlamov is a tremendously gifted athlete, with elite mobility and quickness. The biggest knock on him was his tendency to wander and lose control of his game. Over the past two seasons, he has kicked that habit and developed a much more consistent game. Enough so that I feel confident he will be in the Top 10 for the foreseeable future.

7. Cory Schneider- New Jersey Devils. Last year’s ranking- 7

Schneider

Schneider might be the most underrated goaltender in the entire NHL. He might also have the worst luck. He finally breaks free of the goaltending prison that is Vancouver, then gets traded to a New Jersey team with a stubborn future first-ballot Hall of Famer in the crease. Then he gets his big contract (not unlucky!) and is now locked into the tire fire that is the current New Jersey Devils organization.

Professional circumstances aside, Schneider has thrived in a very difficult environment, posting a .925 save percentage for a team that finished with the league’s fifth-worst record. Schneider is incredibly consistent, positionally sound and has above average tools across the board. As Rangers fans, we would have a far greater animosity for Schneider if the Devils weren’t so terrible.

6. Pekka Rinne- Nashville Predators. Last year’s ranking: 9

Rinne

The 2015 Vezina Finalist had a remarkable comeback season from his injury riddled 2013-2014 campaign. He seemed to show no ill-effects of his hip surgery and subsequent staph infection. He played a talented defensive team, but his performance far exceeded the caveat.

Rinne remains one of the toolsiest goaltenders in the game. His wiry 6’5” frame gives him a tremendous amount of net coverage, but his mobility and positional instincts make him elite. His save selection can be a little unorthodox at times, but overall his game is consistent and technically sound. Rinne is starting to approach his decline years, but should provide solidly above-average production for the Preds for at least the next few seasons.

5. Braden Holtby- Washington Capitals. Last year’s ranking: 18

Holtby

Braden Holtby finally put all of his considerable talents together this season. He reigned in his positional aggressiveness and learned how to use his elite athleticism to completely take over games. At 25 years-old, he still has some maturation ahead of him, but this was a huge first step to solidifying his status as one of the league’s best. The Caps saw fit to reward him with a 5 year/$30.5 million dollar contract to retain his services.

If you have been following the rankings the past few years, you know I am a huge fan of Holtby. The scariest thing about him is that he still has room to get better and the Capitals are looking to build a competent back line in front of him. He is going to be a very good goaltender in this league for a long time.

4. Jonathan Quick- Los Angeles Kings. Last year’s ranking: 4

Quick

Quick has gone from overrated to underrated in the span of about three seasons. Winning two Cups in three years with otherworldly playoff performances, there was legitimate arguments about whether Quick was the best goaltender in the NHL. I had him ranked #2 in the first two editions of the rankings. Everyone knows that Quick’s toolbox/skillset is probably the best in the entire league. His tendency to get overly reliant on his athleticism and mobility have gotten the better of him recently, and with the King’s missing the playoffs, he has turned into something of a goat.

Let’s be clear, though. Quick is still a ridiculously talented goaltender. His consistency issues keep him from occupying the elite company of the next three goalies on the list, but 27 other teams would love to employ his services.

3. Tuukka Rask- Boston Bruins. Last year’s ranking: 3

Rask

When you get to this point on the list, you tend to sort of run out of superlatives. I am of the school of thought that what separates great goaltenders from elite ones is consistency. Rask has given Boston consistency and then some over the past half-decade. The Bruins have many problems at the moment, but their goaltending certainly is not of them.

Rask gets the job done with a tremendously efficient positioning model. He has a short path to the puck, never really strays out of position, and makes sure he stops the shots that need to be stopped. Throw in a few great saves every now and then, and you have a model of consistently excellent production and a sense of confidence in your teammates whenever you are on the ice. Nothing Rask does is particularly flashy, but there are very few tenders you would rather have in your crease.

2. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers. Last year’s ranking: 1

Lundqvist

It has finally happened. The King has been dethroned. Now, I will qualify this by saying, if these rankings were based on track record of excellence, Lundqvist would remain number one. However, we are talking about current ability for one year, and under that criteria, Lundqvist has been surpassed.

Hank is still very much elite and should continue to be so for at least the next few seasons. He has entered the territory I like to call the “Hall of Fame aging curve”. Normal NHL goaltenders will start to fall of performance wise in their early-to-mid thirties. However, it is clear at this point that Lundqvist is not your normal NHL goalie. He looks more like Martin Brodeur and Dominik Hasek than Byron Dafoe on the aging curve, so I am definitely expecting continued excellence from the King for the foreseeable future.

1. Carey Price- Montreal Canadiens. Last year’s ranking: 2

Price

What else is there to say about Carey Price at this point? The guy is absolutely ridiculous. His 2014-2015 season was one of the greatest full season goaltending performances in the history of the game. For his efforts, he was rewarded with: an Olympic Gold Medal, the Hart Trophy, the Vezina Trophy, the Ted Lindsay Award and the William Jennings Trophy. No one (even Lundqvist and Rask) are in his stratosphere right now.

From a scouting perspective, Price is the whole package. He has every elite carrying tool one could ask for in a goaltender. Elite positioning, mobility, athleticism, reflexes, recovery, poise, you name it. The only knock on Price was his maturity level, something we witnessed early in his career. Now having overcome those growing pains and entering the latter part of his 20’s, Price should continue to set the standard for the position for the foreseeable future.

Well, that’s it for this year’s list. I hope you all enjoyed this year’s edition, I know I did. Feel free to tar and feather me for anything you disagree with in the comments below, and be sure to let me know if you would like to see anything changed or elaborated on for next year’s list!