It's been two seasons since the NHL has completed an 82-game schedule. That's an increase of more than 40 percent from last season's 56 games, and the longer schedule means teams will have to plan their goalie rotations carefully or otherwise risk burnout in the playoffs.
It's the riskiest position in fantasy hockey because there's so few elite goalies and so many of the other teams operate on some form of timeshare. Here's a look at goalies trending up and goalies trending down.
Trending Up
Jake Allen, Canadiens
Allen is the starting goalie in Montreal with Carey Price entering the league's substance abuse program, which means he will be away from the team for at least 30 days. We knew Allen would play a big role when he signed with the Habs, tasked with taking some of the enormous burden off Price's shoulders and considered something closer to a 1B than a traditional backup. But Allen wasn't as good as advertised, going 11-12-5 with a .907 Sv% and 2.68 GAA on a strong defensive team, and at various points seemed like he could cost the Habs a playoff spot.
This season, Allen gets another chance to prove he can be a capable goalie, and there's no pressure behind him with young backup Samuel Montembeault still struggling at the NHL level and posting a .873 Sv% in the preseason. The Habs play back-to-backs Oct. 13-14 and Oct. 30-31, but those may be Montembeault's only appearances this month until he earns
It's been two seasons since the NHL has completed an 82-game schedule. That's an increase of more than 40 percent from last season's 56 games, and the longer schedule means teams will have to plan their goalie rotations carefully or otherwise risk burnout in the playoffs.
It's the riskiest position in fantasy hockey because there's so few elite goalies and so many of the other teams operate on some form of timeshare. Here's a look at goalies trending up and goalies trending down.
Trending Up
Jake Allen, Canadiens
Allen is the starting goalie in Montreal with Carey Price entering the league's substance abuse program, which means he will be away from the team for at least 30 days. We knew Allen would play a big role when he signed with the Habs, tasked with taking some of the enormous burden off Price's shoulders and considered something closer to a 1B than a traditional backup. But Allen wasn't as good as advertised, going 11-12-5 with a .907 Sv% and 2.68 GAA on a strong defensive team, and at various points seemed like he could cost the Habs a playoff spot.
This season, Allen gets another chance to prove he can be a capable goalie, and there's no pressure behind him with young backup Samuel Montembeault still struggling at the NHL level and posting a .873 Sv% in the preseason. The Habs play back-to-backs Oct. 13-14 and Oct. 30-31, but those may be Montembeault's only appearances this month until he earns more trust from his coaches. Allen is rostered in only 59 percent of Yahoo leagues, which is too low considering he could start against the Sabres and Sharks in the first week of the season.
Anton Khudobin and Braden Holtby, Stars
In the end, going with a Khudobin-Holtby tandem wasn't all that surprising. It did, however, provide a little more clarity to the Stars' plans in net: Jake Oettinger will get as much playing time as he needs with AHL Texas, while the two veterans will try to work out a timeshare. And I say "try" because Holtby is coming off a disappointing season with a career-low .889 Sv% and career-high 3.67 GAA with the Canucks, and there's no way the 35-year-old Khudobin can handle a big workload.
It's safe to dump Oettinger on the waiver wire, who ironically is the most rostered Stars goalie at 33 percent in Yahoo leagues, followed by Khudobin (26 percent) and Holtby (15 percent), who will likely split the starts on their four-game road trip to start the season. On a more positive note, the Stars beefed up their defense during the offseason, which should help their goaltending.
Jack Campbell, Maple Leafs
The Leafs open up their season with a back-to-back against Montreal and Ottawa, so maybe we shouldn't read too much into this, but Campbell is confirmed to start for the season opener. Campbell won the starting job last season after an 11-game winning streak and the hope is he'll continue where he left off. However, Campbell's injury history and relative inexperience led the Leafs to sign Petr Mrazek, who will get Thursday's start, and the pair likely will rotate until one of them proves better. At the least, the Leafs will provide good goal support, and even discounting last season's sixth-place finish in GF/GP in a fairly weak North Division, will still likely have a top-10 offense.
Ilya Sorokin, Islanders
Sorokin will start the season opener with Semyon Varlamov dealing with an undisclosed issue, and it's Sorokin's chance to maybe steal the starting job. The former Olympic gold medallist and KHL champion finished 15th in Calder voting with a .918 Sv% and 2.17 GAA in 21 starts, and the Isles made a three-year, $12-million commitment to him this summer knowing Varlamov's contract expires in two years. Varlamov is travelling with the team on its 13-game road trip as UBS Arena is being completed, so his return seems imminent, but in the interim, Sorokin's fantasy value has jumped up as the starter for a Cup contender.
Adin Hill, Sharks
Judged based solely on preseason play, Hill will be the Sharks' starter after allowing just two goals in two games, outplaying veteran James Reimer, who has also been good but not nearly as good. Hill, a 25-year-old 2015 third-round pick, has limited experience with only 41 career starts, but the sample has been very good considering he spent all four seasons on mediocre Coyotes teams. The Sharks are better, even if it's not by a big margin, and the sheer quantity of the starts Hill might get gives him some fantasy value, especially in leagues that count saves; the Sharks allowed the sixth-most shots last season.
Trending Down
Linus Ullmark, Bruins
The Bruins have not named their starter for Saturday's season opener, but if the job was given based on merit alone, then Ullmark would start the season on the bench. In three preseason games he posted a save percentage of .839, lowest among expected starters this season. Jeremy Swayman, on the other hand, continued where he left off and sported a .932 Sv%, allowing just five goals in three games. The Bruins made a $20 million commitment to Ullmark, so they won't give up him easily, but the situation should be closely monitored. Swayman is rostered in just 58 percent of Yahoo leagues.
Mackenzie Blackwood, Devils
On the surface, Blackwood's overall numbers last season — .902 Sv% and 3.04 GAA — looked like a huge step back from his first two seasons, but it doesn't tell the full story. Blackwood was brilliant at the beginning of the season, going 4-0-1 with three road wins against the Bruins and Rangers, but a COVID-19 outbreak disrupted the Devils' rhythm, and by the time Blackwood had regained his form in the final month of the season, it was already too late.
His strong play has continued into the preseason with a .938 Sv% in two games, but as of this writing, Blackwood hasn't been vaccinated. That means Blackwood would not be allowed to play in certain cities – all the Canadian ones, for example — which will limit the number of games he may play even though he was pencilled in as the 1A goalie. That means we may see more Jonathan Bernier than expected, and also more regular appearances from third-string Scott Wedgewood. The Devils have been a popular dark horse pick with a potential breakout season from Jack Hughes and a big free-agent addition in Dougie Hamilton, so making a move for Bernier, who is rostered in only four percent of Yahoo leagues, could be a sneaky-good pickup.
