There is usually less change with the goalies than the skaters, but when there is a change the leaps forwards or backwards are much bigger. The movement can be accounted for with new contracts (Ilya Samsonov and Marc-Andre Fleury), injuries (the Vegas group), or a large change in projections. Trades have opened up slots for more games (and by extension more wins and saves), while some other spots have opened up (or been left open) for goalies such as Spencer Martin and Felix Sandstrom.

Overall though, this is a tough ranking to make, and the November set is always a lot more indicative of the rest of the season than the September version (duh). The main reason being is that there are always surprises, goalies that start more (or less) than they should, injuries that are a bigger deal than let on, waiver claims for a few backups, and maybe a trade or two left. For example, the value of Matt Murray/Ilya Samsonov, Linus Ullmark/Jeremy Swayman, or Vitek Vanecek/Mackenzie Blackwood could shift dramatically if one is given the reigns over the other in what is initially projected as a platoon.

For those of you drafting in cap leagues, the tier rankings is the best place to start, as it should show you the kind of goalies that you can wait on in drafts, while still getting a lot of the same value.

Standard pre-rankings note:

This isn't meant to be a be-all and end-all rating system for you to use without thinking and just trade your players for anyone above them on the list that you can find, but used with some foresight for managing salaries. Cap hit is used for the player cost, so if your league uses salary or AAV, please account for that, as it can greatly change the impact of rookies. The rankings are set up so as to provide the most value in the current season, while providing some value in future years, based on modeling for predicted salary increases and production growth.

The stats used for the goaltenders attempt to balance both ratio stats as well as volume. For those of you with variations towards either end of the spectrum, leaning more towards volume or rate stats, you will want to account for that change in value. Same thing goes for setting variations such as: number of teams, salary space, or roster positions. This list is made to be a baseline guide for player evaluation, and to promote discussion and understanding of how to optimize rosters in a cap league setting.

The goalie list comes not only with a rankings system, but with value tiers. The tiers (also computed by a formula of mine) represent a more general view on a goalie's value taking into account a few overarching factors. Cheap backups can have higher ratings but show up lower down the tier rankings. The high ranking is due to their low cap hits coupled with an established floor with some possible upside. The lower tier is a result of them having uncertain volume, and the lower likelihood of hitting their upside in any given year. In general, aim to have the highest rated players if you are looking to be most cap efficient, but use the tiers if you just want to focus on having the best goalies and you are comfortable paying a little more for that security (my preference is usually to lean towards the more cap efficient options because of how variable goalies can be).

If you note a mistake, or have any further questions about the ranking system, please let me know. You can find me on Twitter here @alexdmaclean.

Comments help with optimizing the values, because they're not perfect and they never will be.

We're sticking with the +/- 5.0 rating that Dobber uses on all of his rating schemes as the range for approximately equivalent value. The skater and goalie rankings are synched so that the value of a skater against a goalie can be compared, though the scale of the ratings has changed a little since the last update.