The NHL Network released their list of the top goalies playing in the NHL today, as compiled by analysts Kevin Weekes and E.J. Hradek.
According to NHL.com, these are the ten best goalies in the game today:
10. Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators
The career Predator backstopped Nashville to the franchise's first Stanley Cup final with a 1.96 GAA and .930 save percentage during the playoffs. The 34-year-old Finnish netminder had three Vezina nominations and posted a regular season record of 31-19-9 with a 2.42 GAA, .918 save percentage and three shutouts last season. Summed up by NHL Network analyst and former NHL goalie Kevin Weekes:
"When that glove is cooking, typically, he's on his game. I can tell you it is frustrating to shooters. He has an active hand and it's almost like a vacuum. When it's on, it just sucks in pucks at an alarming rate."
9. Martin Jones, San Jose Sharks
In his second season with San Jose Jones had a record of 35-23-6 with a 2.40 GAA, .912 save percentage and two shutouts. He was a major part in the Sharks making to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in 2015-16. NHL Network analyst E.J. Hradek said of the 27-year-old:
"He's very quiet in the net. When he's at his best, he's not running outside the crease, he's not chasing pucks. He's in that blue paint, very structured. It's hard when you compare anybody to Carey Price, but I can see the comparison because of the fact of the size and the quietness of his game."
8. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
The dependable Lundqvist is pretty much a New York institution at this point. He has 30 wins in the past 11 seasons and had a 31-20-4 record last season with a 2.74 GAA, .910 save percentage and two shutouts. He's won the Vezina trophy once in 2011-12, and has been a finalist on five other occasions. The Rangers' netminder was summed up by Hradek:
"His drive is what has made him a great goaltender and what keeps him on our list. He is obviously not getting any younger - a 35-year old goaltender now in this league, it starts to get a little bit more difficult - but he finds a way through that desire, through that hard work, through that passion for this game, just to keep stopping pucks."
7. Cam Talbot, Edmonton Oilers
A workhorse in Edmonton who started 73 games, won 42 of them and posted career bests with a .919 save percentage and a 2.39 GAA. to go along with 7 shutouts. Talbot was a big reason the Oilers posted their best season in term of wins (47) and points (103) since the 1986-87 season. Hradek said of Talbot:
"He's one of those guys that has shown that even with a heavy workload, he still comes to the rink night after night and helps you win."
6. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings
There wasn't a lot to see of Quick last season, a knee injury kept out of all but 17 games, but he still posted an 8-5-2 record with a 2.26 GAA, .917 save percentage and two shutouts. He hasn't had a season with a GAA above 2.26 or a save percentage under 9.15. He's a player who Kevin Weekes categorized as a clutch performer, saying:
"The bigger the game, the tighter the spot, the more he's able to get in there. One of the great U.S.-born goaltenders that will go down in the history of our game, although we've had several."
5. Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota Wild
Dubnyk has been golden since he joined the Wild in 2015. Last season the 31-year-old went 40-19-5 with a .923 save percentage and a 2.25 GAA. He's played 171 games for the Wild and has 99 wins, good enough for third in Wild history, and has a .924 save percentage, 2.17 GAA, and 15 shutouts. Weekes summed up his career defining turn around saying:
"Since he's come to Minnesota, he's been a great fit for them [and] they've been a great fit for him. Not too long ago, two and a half years ago, he was down in the American League. To rebuild himself and rebuild his career, I've got to give him tons of credit."
4. Matt Murray, Pittsburgh Penguins
Murray is a two-time Stanley Cup champion, the first rookie player to accomplish such a feat. He went 32-10-4 with a 2.41 GAA, .923 save percentage and four shutouts in his first full campaign last season, and his NHL career totals are 41-12-5 with a 2.32 GAA, .925 save percentage and five shutouts in 62 regular-season games. He's in a class of his own according to Kevin Weekes:
"He doesn't chase the game around."He's very calm in the net. He'll make you make the first mistake and make the first move, typically before he will. Now we've just got to see it for the whole year now that the net is his. There's no Marc-Andre Fleury behind you. We know this guy has the pedigree."
3. Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets
Bobrovsky won his second Vezina trophy on the back of his best season with a 41-17-5 record and a 2.06 GAA and .931 save percentage and 7 shutouts. His most impressive runs last season were a Blue Jackets franchise-best 16 winning streak from Nov. 29-Jan 3, where he went 14-0-0. Bobrovsky would catch fire again between Feb 26 and March 28, going 10-0-2 with four shutouts, including three straight. Kevin Weekes praised the 28-year-old saying:
"He doesn't have very many holes in his game, because what could be open nets on some other guys, he's able to just take them away.Two Vezina Trophies for him. Now, the biggest thing that he and the Blue Jackets are in pursuit of, of course, is the Stanley Cup."
2. Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
Over the last three seasons, Holtby has won at least 41 games a season and has posted a 131-42-23 record. He won the Vezina in 2015-16 and posted a 42-13-6 record with a 2.07 GAA, .925 save percentage and a League-high 9 shutouts last season. He leads the NHL with wins since the 2012-13 season with 177, leading Kevin Weekes to describe his as such:
"He handles the puck, he's technical, but he's not too locked up when he's at his best. He can still react to pucks, catch pucks with his glove, active blocker [and] really quick feet. …There are just no holes, he doesn't have any real weaknesses to his game."
1. Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
In 2014-15 Price won the Vezina, the Hart Trophy as League MVP and the Ted Lindsay Award as the most outstanding player, as voted by the players. Last season he had a 37-20-5 record with a 2.23 GAA, .923 save percentage, 3 shutouts. He's been nothing but consistent for Montreal making at least 60 starts in four of the past six full NHL seasons and has a career GAA of 2.40 and save percentage of .920, with 210 wins since the 2010-11 season. Kevin Weekes said of Price:
"When you look at the Mount Rushmore of the greats that have played in Montreal, Carey Price has earned his place among them and he continues to ascend among the greats in Habs history."
