Tom Collins takes a look at the Top 10 goalie battles early in 2015-16 which have an obvious fantasy impact

The season may have started, but that doesn't mean every NHL team or fantasy general manager is confident in their goaltending situation.

This may the craziest year yet when it comes to goaltending. There are numerous teams where the goalie situation is shaky enough that any of the two netminders on the roster may be the number one at some point.

This makes it extra frustrating for hockey poolies as we have to be always on guard of who is in danger of losing their grip as a team's number one goalie. Forty-one goalies have already started a game this year, meaning there are a lot of teams that could be dealing with a 1A/1B situation.

Here are the top 10 teams that may have a goalie controversy this year:

10. Carolina Hurricanes

Let's just all admit it. The Hurricanes brass know Cam Ward isn't a good goalie any more, but are purposefully playing him so they can get a higher draft pick as they rebuild. Ward has started both Carolina games — both losses — and hasn't looked good at all. He has a 3.09 GAA and a .864 save percentage. Meanwhile, Eddie Lack is sitting on the bench, biding his time until the coach realizes he needs a few more wins to save his job. Lack will get a chance to be Carolina's number one goalie. It's just a matter of when.

9. Toronto Maple Leafs

Yeah, the Leafs are going to be awful this year. Even Mike Babcock can't make this team decent. And it doesn't matter who is in net. But there are a lot of desperate owners in a lot of leagues. Many will choose Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer because of that desperation. Early on, both goalies have a sub-.900 save percentage and a post-2.80 GAA. I'm not sure either goalie can thrive and become a true number one when they are putting up awful numbers.

8. Chicago Blackhawks

Don't sleep on this one. Of all the teams with a sure-fire number one goalie, Corey Crawford has the best shot of losing his top dog status at some point. Don't believe me? Just look at last year's playoffs. Chicago coach Joel Quenneville had no qualms starting Scott Darling for games three to six in the first round against Nashville. What happens if Crawford struggles this year? You have to believe that Quenneville will not hesitate to go with Darling in that situation.

7. Calgary Flames

There was some talk this summer that Joni Ortio could see lots of starts this year, but it looks like the final battle will be between Karri Ramo and Jonas Hiller. Ramo seemed to have the early advantage by getting the first start of the season. He wasn't good, and the Flames went with Hiller in the second game. Throw Ortio in the mix, and that's a three-headed monster poolies have to shy away from.

6. San Jose Sharks

I was a lot more confident putting San Jose on this list before Martin Jones decided to channel his inner Patrick Roy. Jones has been excellent to start the season with two wins, a 0.50 GAA and a .979 save percentage. The 25-year-old has never started more than 19 games in an NHL season. If you include his WHL and AHL career, he's only started 50-plus games twice. It's not like backup Alex Stalock has a lot of experience either. It will be interesting to see if either of the two wear down as the season progresses.

5. Vancouver Canucks

Ryan Miller has started both games for the Canucks this year and has looked good with a 1-0-1 record, a 1.96 GAA and a .941 save percentage. But let's not forget that Miller started last year great as well, winning 10 of his first 11 and only allowing three goals or more in two of those games. Somehow he finished the season with a .911 save percentage and a 2.53 GAA average. The Canucks have  lot of faith in backup Jacob Markstrom, currently out for with a hamstring injury. After all, they dealt away Eddie Lack in favour of him. When Markstrom is healthy, and given Miller's recent history of not being very good, this should become more of a timeshare.

4. Detroit Red Wings

You would have thought with a 3-0 shutout against Toronto on Friday night, Jimmy Howard would have staked his claim as the number one guy. But then Petr Mrazek answers with a 47-save victory on Saturday night. At the end of last season and into the playoffs, Mrazek had taken over the starter's job. That was enough to scare poolies into drafting Mrazek ahead of Howard in many drafts. In two new dynasties I was in this summer, Mrazek went about 160 spots higher than Howard. For now, it appears as if Detroit is happy to rotate these two guys until one of them falters.

3. Winnipeg Jets

I'm not sure if there's a team in the league with a more average duo than Ondrej Pavelec and Michael Hutchinson. Last year was Pavelec's best career season, and he still lost the starter's job at times. Hutchinson was decent when called upon, but didn't do enough to outright be the team's top guy. This year, they've each started a game and both picked up the W. Neither has been that much better than the other, so there will be lots of musical chairs this year.

2. St. Louis Blues

The Blues have quite a recent history of using a two-goalie system. The Blues haven't had a goalie start more than 50 games since the 2010-11 season.  And things may not look any better this year as both Jake Allen and Brian Elliott have started a game (Elliott with a win, Allen with a loss). For now, count on neither goalie starting 50 games.  An important side note to this debate whether Ken Hitchcock is the coach for the full year. He could be let go if the Blues struggle at any point as he is already on thin ice. Would a new coach favour one goalie over the other?

1. Dallas Stars

I wrote last week that the Dallas Stars are the best team without a number goalie. Someone in the comments mentioned the Blues, but I stand by my statement. Dallas was the second highest scoring team last season, and would have made the playoffs if Kari Lehtonen had been even an average goalie. So the team went after Antti Niemi, who has started both games so far. Niemi looked impressive in shutting out the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first game of the year. But he then gave up six goals to Colorado. That means it will probably be Lehtonen starting the next game. Expect this to happen a lot this season.

Final note: If you own any of the goalies listed above, you should head over to Goalie Post ASAP. There you can sign up for email notifications of who is starting each day. It's a valuable resource for when you own goalies in a timeshare situation.