Who have been the top three goalies in fantasy hockey this season?

It’s always hard to predict which goalies will rise to the top of the pack in a given year but this season there are three distinct goalies who’ve gone above and beyond. This week we’ll be taking a look at those three goalies and how successful they’ve been.

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Entering the season, Vasilevskiy wasn’t expected to dominate the league. Obviously the Lightning were a good team so as the starter Vasilevskiy would provide good value, evidenced by his 54^th overall average draft position. But with a career .915 save percentage up until that point, nobody expected him to become the next Carey Price or Henrik Lundqvist. The Lightning were just coming off a season where they missed the playoffs and Vasilevskiy still wasn’t a proven entity, so many poolies showed hesitation when drafting the young netminder. He wasn’t sought after as a fantasy team’s number one goalie but was expected to be a strong second goalie on a person’s roster.

However, Vasilevskiy has completely blown away expectations this year, tearing up the NHL with an FHG value of 134. According to our Fantasy Hockey Geek tool, Vasilevskiy has easily provided the most fantasy value by any goaltender.
 

He is currently leading the league in wins with 37 and is only one of four goalies so far to break the 30+ win mark. His seven shutouts are also the most out of any other netminder and his save percentage is tied for the fourth highest in the NHL. Vasilevskiy has always had the potential to be an elite goaltender ever since he was drafted 19^th overall and it looks like he’s beginning to realize that potential. On an already elite Lightning team, Vasilevskiy has provided the stellar goaltending that has shot them up to first in the NHL and most likely carried your fantasy team to success. 

Pekka Rinne

Very similar to Vasilevskiy, Pekka Rinne was not expected to contend as one of the elite goalies of this season. He’s a well-known netminder who everyone knew would provide good value but it had been a while since Rinne posted elite-level numbers. Going into the season it was assured he’d get wins, as he was coming off his third straight 30+ win campaign and would once again be the unquestioned starter. However, his .918 save percentage from the previous year was just his second highest save percentage over the last five years and there were serious questions about his reliability. Since 2008 Rinne had only had three seasons where he posted a save percentage over .920 in a season and his career average up until that point was only a .917. Coming off a good year with a .918 save percentage, most expected a very similar year out of the already 35-year-old goaltender.

However, Rinne has had an incredible bounce back year, playing at levels he hasn’t reached since his 2010 and 2011 seasons. According to our Fantasy Hockey Geek tool, Pekka Rinne has provided the second most fantasy value out of all NHL goaltenders.
 

Despite only being drafted on average 45^th overall in Fantrax leagues, Rinne has been one of the best goalies to own this season. His save percentage ties him with Vasilevskiy for the fourth highest save percentage and his 34 wins are the second most in the NHL. With a Quality Start percentage of 68.1% (where the league average is around 53%), Rinne has also been extremely valuable by not having a lot of terrible games. Since December he’s only had six games where he’s posted a save percentage below .900 and overall has one of the highest QS%’s in the league.

Connor Hellebuyck

And finally we have Connor Hellebuyck, who wasn’t even projected to be the starting goalie entering the season. The Winnipeg Jets had just signed Steve Mason to a two-year, $8.2 million deal and was set to take a lot of the starts for the Jets. But now three quarters of the way through the season, Hellebuyck has firmly cemented himself as the starter with his exceptional play. Our Fantasy Hockey Geek tool ranks him third out of all starting goalies in fantasy value.
 

Even though his save percentage is only the 11^th best out of all starters (which is still pretty good), Hellebuyck has registered the third most wins and the second most shutouts out of any netminder. He always had the potential to be a top starting goalie in the NHL and is having quite the bounce back season after posting a .908 save percentage in almost the same number of games last year.

*Averages provided by NHL.com