Welcome back to another edition of Lining Up. This iteration will continue examining goaltending battles across the league. With the trade deadline ending yesterday, there is also a need to revisit the situation in Minnesota, particularly that in net with Cam Talbot and Marc-André Fleury.

Let's dive in.

Jordan Binnington – Ville Husso

Probably not what St. Louis had in mind when they signed their Stanley Cup-winning goalie to a six-year $36 million contract, but there is currently a battle for who is lining up on the crease right now for the Blues. Due to poor performances by Binnington, Husso has received more than two thirds of his 26 starts since January and is really making a case to be the number one guy going forward. When comparing their numbers it is hard to argue against:

Husso

2.34 GAA, 0.926 SV%, 61.5 QS%, 11.84 GSAA.

Binnington

3.11 GAA, 0.905 SV%, 37.9 QS%, -7.30 GSAA.

Binnington has played in three more games but the numbers between both goaltenders are very different with Husso putting up a strong season. Despite the poor play, Binnington continues to see action as he is the goalie being paid six million and is still receiving the trust of the coaching staff. Even though it would behoove St. Louis to turn to Husso more often, expect both goalies to continue being close to even with starts down the stretch. In particular during fantasy playoffs, St. Louis will play four games the first week and four the second so there will at minimum be back to backs for Binnington to see action if you are still holding out on him.

Sergei Bobrovsky – Spencer Knight

This tandem is more about the goalie battle that many thought was going to happen but never came to fruition. Indeed, in his first two seasons with Florida Bobrovsky did not appear to be earning his $10 million contract and Knight appeared late last season with an excellent performance to steal starts. As expected however, when you are paying a goalie such a significant sum of money you will undoubtedly give them every opportunity to earn it. This season Bobrovsky made no mistake and has posted his best numbers since arriving in Florida. Let's compare the two:

Bobrovsky

2.57 GAA, 0.917 SV%, 58.5 QS%, 6.76 GSAA.

Knight

2.88 GAA, 0.906 SV%, 47.8 QS%, -3.08 GSAA.

Bobrovsky has also been a great beneficiary of playing behind this squad, having 30 wins in 41 games, providing owners with a W nearly 75% of the time. Comparatively, Knight has only won games in just over half of his 23 starts. Despite everything leaning in Bobrovsky's favour, at 45% rostered in Yahoo leagues it appears that a surprising portion of owners still believe Knight can steal more starts. He has a higher ownership rate than Kaapo Kahkonen at 33% but has started less games and has worse numbers. Certainly Knight would be the goalie of the future for Florida but so long as Bobrovsky is posting passable numbers, he will continue to be the number one goalie until his contract expires in the 2026-2027 season.

The only caveat here is that Bobrovsky has been dealing with an illness lately and Florida sits six points ahead of Tampa Bay in the standings. If Florida can increase this lead will they try to rest Bobrovsky during the final weeks of the season? Although he will not be the starter,  there could be potential for Knight to see some extra time lining up behind the powerhouse Florida squad late in fantasy playoffs, keep an eye on him or consider picking him up if you have the roster space.

Minnesota Update – Marc-Andre Fleury

Well, goaltending situations can certainly change in a hurry? With Kaapo Kahkonen moving on to San Jose and Fleury coming in, it is worth re-examining the incoming numbers of a Vezina-calibre goaltender. So far he has not had been able to match the calibre of his performance in the season prior which was to be expected moving from Vegas to Chicago. He has a pedestrian 2.95 GAA and a 0.908 SV% with 19 wins in 45 games played, a little better than league average.

However when examining his statistics by quarter, it is clear that he had a rough start to the season but has played significantly better since. In the first 11 games, Fleury posted a 3.36 GAA, 0.901 SV% and a 45.5 QS%. In the next 27 games, he posted a 2.61 GAA, 0.916 SV% and a 54 QS% so a marked improvement.

If examining his time in Vegas, he had a 1.98 GAA, 0.928 SV% and a 72.2 QS% in 36 games. So which Fleury can we expect in Minnesota? As the shiny new acquisition and as noted in the Fantasy Take for this trade, it is reasonable to expect Fleury to receive the bulk of the workload down the stretch as the team attempts to integrate him into their system prior to the playoffs. Minnesota as a team is more defensively sound team so anticipate that Fleury will perform better than his time with Chicago although likely not hit the levels he had last season with Vegas.

Chicago fallout?

Perhaps equally as significant is what happens now in Chicago? With no goalie acquired by the team today it looks as though Kevin Lankinen could see a significant workload down the stretch. The problem is his numbers are horrid this year.

Lankinen is currently operating with the following stats:

3.51 GAA, 0.889 SV%, 23.5 QS% and a -11.43 GSAA. He also has three wins in 17 starts. Three.

So perhaps if you are absolutely desperate and your league counts goalie stats such as Saves or Shots Against, he might be worthy considering for a Hail Mary during playoff week. Maybe.

Stay safe.