1.90

0.9351

All those who saw Michael Hutchinson stepping in and stealing the number one job away from Ondrej Pavelec this year in Winnipeg say "aye".

Nobody?

Seriously, Hutchinson has won over Paul Maurice with his play and is now the main guy leading Winnipeg as they charge towards the playoffs. The former third round pick of the Boston Bruins signed as a free agent after the 2012-13 season, and is costing a miniscule $0.575M against the cap this year and next.  

When we look at goalies with 15 or more appearances this year, Hutchinson is one of the league's best in goals-against average as well as save percentage. Considering the injuries the Jets went though on their backend early on this year, those numbers are even more impressive. Now that they are seeing some of they main cogs return, Hutchinson should settle in for a strong second half push. 

If it weren't for his lack of appearances compared to Andersen and Holtby, this guy would have easily been the number one guy on this list.

2. 4.Brian Elliott – STL

After a disappointing early exit from the playoffs, the St Louis Blues faced a decision with their goaltending. They paid a steep price to acquire Ryan Miller and hoped he would lead them deep into the playoffs but that wasn't to be. Miller stumbled down the stretch and was weak in the Blues first round loss to the Blackhawks. He was headed to unrestricted free agency and the Blues had to take a hard look at whether he was worth the big bucks he would command. Instead, GM Doug Armstrong took a deeper look and saw what everyone already knew, he had a strong goalie already in the system, waiting to be handed the keys to the family car; Brian Elliott. During his previous three years in St. Louis he has been nothing if not stellar, annually posting quality numbers in a backup role behind Jaroslav Halak (who was part of the Miller trade to Buffalo). The big question was how would Elliott handle the number one role? Well, Armstrong was about to find out, signing Elliott to a three-year deal with an annual cap hit of $2.5M.

So far, Elliott has shown he is up to the task to run with the 1A role (the 1B role is being used by Jake Allen), sporting the best goals against average in the league and near the top of the league in save percentage as well (counting goalies with 15 starts or more).  Unfortunately for Elliott this year he has battled some injuries, which cost him 14 games and some wins.

Elliott was already on vacation with his wife when Armstrong called him and told him he was asked to be a late addition to his second career NHL All-Star game. Elliott dropped everything and rushed to Columbus to partake and enjoy the festivities.  He was definitely deserving of the honour. The normally under-rated Elliott has been excellent for St. Louis, proving he was the right man for the job when a tough decision had to be made.

2. 5.Devan Dubnyk – MIN

Comeback player of the year candidate, Devan Dubnyk has managed to resurrect his career after bouncing around between five organizations in a calendar year. The former first round pick of the Edmonton Oilers, Dubnyk has managed to land on his feet and prove his NHL career wasn't quite done just yet. After signing a one-year, $0.8M contract as a free agent with the Arizona Coyotes in the off-season, Dubnyk stepped in for a struggling Mike Smith and managed to stabilize the ship for the Coyotes. Arizona, obviously wanting to be in the Connor McDavid race more than winning games, dealt Dubnyk to Minnesota for a third round pick.

In his short amount of games this year, Dubnyk has put up some very respectable numbers on a low quality Coyote team. Not really a league leader in anything, it's his opportunity in Minnesota and contract that lands him in the number five spot on this list.

If there was ever a soft landing spot for Dubnyk, Minnesota might just be the right spot.  Minnesota has been stung with inconsistent goaltending most of the year and has been a major factor in the team sliding out of the playoff race. This might not be a short-term gig for Dubnyk either. An unrestricted free agent at the end of this year, Dubnyk could very well be auditioning for a new contract as well. Even though Niklas Backstrom and Darcy Kuemper are signed next year, neither has really shown that they are capable of holding down the top spot. Backstrom is at the end of his career and might be a buy-out candidate if Dubnyk can show he is able to run with it for the Wild. Kuemper is the goalie of the future, but that doesn't mean the future is now. 

Minnesota is a solid team, top to bottom, and if their current goaltending was anywhere near capable, they wouldn't be on the outside of the playoff picture, looking in. If Dubnyk can play as well in Minnesota as he did in Arizona, his numbers will be on the rise quickly, as will Minnesota in the standings. It's looking like he will certainly get the opportunity here that many didn't expect him to receive at the start of this season.

Honourable mentions go to Craig Anderson and Calvin Pickard.

**

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