The 2025-26 Fantasy Guide was officially released on Saturday and is now available for download! Projections by team and by point totals, sleepers, drafted players, rookies, goalies, advanced stats, and much more! Get it at the Dobber Sports Shop on its own or as part of a package.

The three topics I wrote about specifically for the fantasy guide were injuries, goalies, and contract year for each team. I shared some of my observations regarding injuries in an earlier Ramblings. Today will be an extension of the goalie sections for each team, which will specifically cover what I believe are the five most interesting goalie situations heading into the coming season.

For a goalie situation to be "interesting", I have two basic criteria:

1) Which goalie will play the most games is significantly less than 100% certain for one reason or another. That could be due to uncertainty as to which goalie is better, injury history to at least one of the goalies, or even what I'll call outside forces.

2) One or more of the goalies must be draftable in most league formats. In other words, I'll try to spare you from the goalies playing for teams that have a very low probability of making the playoffs. Goalie fantasy value is usually connected to team success, at the very least with the inclusion of the wins category.

I'm not simply rewriting what I wrote in the Fantasy Guide, as I had to follow a specific word count and formatting. If you want to read my analysis there, pick up a copy of the guide.

Edmonton

If it's simply Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, then we probably know how this will play out. Skinner should start the majority of games, but Pickard could jump in for short stretches if Skinner struggles. The question is whether the Oilers find a way to bring in another goalie. That was difficult to do this offseason with the goalie market barely moving due to the rising cap. Goalie trades aren't that common, especially for starting-caliber goalies. That means the Oilers might target Carter Hart, although he has to be reinstated first. I highly doubt Alexandar Georgiev or Ilya Samsonov would be the difference maker in a return trip to the final, but they appear to be the best of what's still available. I even read a recent article from an Edmonton writer suggesting that the Oilers try to lure Marc-Andre Fleury out of retirement!

Vancouver

The Canucks are confident enough in Thatcher Demko that they have traded AHL playoff MVP Arturs Silovs to Pittsburgh. With the type of unpredictable injury Demko battled last season, should they be? Kevin Lankinen was signed to a five-year extension back in February when Demko's future wasn't known. But then when Demko's status became more certain, he was given a three-year extension with a cap hit of $8.5 million. That means the Canucks will have $12.5 million tied up in goalies starting in 2026-27. Demko should play the majority of games when he is in the lineup, but your guess is as good as mine as to how many that will be. Both goalies could hold value this season, and both goalies could even be worth drafting, especially if the Canucks can bounce back.

Carolina

Again, this is about injuries. Even after appearing in just 22 games during the regular season, Frederik Andersen was made the playoff starter for the Hurricanes. Generally, Rod Brind'Amour has rotated Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov when both goalies are healthy. Andersen has appeared in a combined 38 regular-season games over the past two seasons, so Kochetkov seems likely to play more games than Andersen. However, Andersen has been the better goalie when healthy. It's not easy to determine which Canes goalie to draft first, but Kochetkov seems like the safer bet (even though I saw one ranking system outside of this website that had Andersen first). Both Canes goalies are clearly worth drafting, as the team appears to be a strong challenger for the Metropolitan Division crown.

Toronto

For the first time since I can't remember, the Leafs appear to be stable in net. So much so that Leafs media looking to fill content during the summer dead period have discussed trading Woll to bolster other areas. Edmonton, are you listening? This isn't a hot stove column by any means, but there could be a match. As much as Stolarz's 2024-25 ratios (2.14 GAA, .926 SV%) have been among the league's best, he has never played 35 games in a season and is already 31 years old. If everything remains the same, this appears to be a tandem, and an effective one at that. Both goalies are worth drafting, and I would give Stolarz the upper hand.

Detroit

John Gibson has finally been freed from Anaheim, but just as they appear to be on the way up. He joins a team that stalled in their rebuild, so is this really an upgrade for Gibson? It didn't look like he'd start more games than Lukas Dostal in Anaheim if he stayed there, but it appears he could have the upper hand over Cam Talbot in Detroit. To me, the reason this is most interesting is to what Gibson will look like in a Red Wings uniform. His numbers had been headed in the wrong direction until rebounding in 2024-25, albeit with just 29 games played. Can he handle a heavier workload again, or will injuries catch up to him like they had in the past?

Are there any interesting goalie situations that I missed? Let me know in the comments.

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In case you missed it, Bubble Keeper Week will take place between August 10 to 17. Myself and the other writers will discuss bubble keepers of our own, revealing our thought process in how we make our decisions. If any of these players are familiar to you, even better! We may also answer a few of your questions, so stay tuned.  

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I'll finish with the news items from Saturday. Sticking with goalies, the Blackhawks avoided arbitration with Arvid Soderblom, signing him to a two-year extension with a $2.75 million cap hit. Soderblom played in a career high 36 games in 2024-25, posting a 10-18-7 record with a 3.18 GAA and .898 SV%. He will be the likely backup to Spencer Knight, although Laurent Brossoit could complicate things if he is able to return. As a backup for the rebuilding Hawks, Soderblom does not hold much single-season fantasy value.

The Blues have signed Nikita Alexandrov to a one-year, two-way contract. The 24-year-old Alexandrov has played 51 career NHL games, although he played the entire 2024-25 season in the AHL. He finished with 49 points in 48 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds.

San Jose and Colorado made a minor trade late Friday, with the Sharks acquiring forward Oskar Olausson from the Avalanche for forward Danil Gushchin.

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