Hockeycentric Fantasy Focus: Prime Puckstoppers
The final installment of the early-season fantasy focus looks at goaltenders.
This is such a vital compotent of any fantasy team for a number of reasons. Because most leagues allow 2 or 3 goaltender slots at max, and there are only a handful of elite picks, and there aren’t a lot of scraps leftover in the free agent pool. If you can’t acquire a top tender in your draft, try your best to acquire one via trade.
Most intriguing about the goaltender category is that each year someone new climbs the ladder and surprises everyone.
Steve Mason came to the forefront of fantasy circles last year, winning the Calder Trophy and carrying the Blue Jackets to the playoffs with 10 shutouts. The usual suspects were in top form last year, as Luongo, Nabokov and Lundqvist were up to their old tricks. But 08-09 belonged to Tim Thomas, the B’s keeper who established himself as an elite netminder, posting astounding numbers and capturing the Vezina.
Below we analyze the top-10 goaltenders from last season in four categories: Wins, Shutouts (SO), Goals Against Average (GAA), and Save Percentage (SV%)
Wins (08-09)
45 Mikka Kiprusoff
41 Evgeni Nabokov
39 Cam Ward
38 Henrik Lundqvist
37 Nicklas Backstrom
36 Tim Thomas
35 Marc-Andre Fleury
34 Ryan Miller
33 Steve Mason
33 Roberto Luongo
Cam Ward took his game to a new level in the playoffs, and hopes to see this growth translate into regular season success (As Ward has never been a fantasy favourite in regular season play, despite his solid win totals). This list should look similar at the end of the 09-10 season, as each of these goaltenders still play for upper-level teams. Ryan Miller’s win total of 34 is particularly impressive, seeing as he played in 59 games. We don’t think the Sabres will come as close to playoff contention this year as last, but if they do, it will be on Ryan Miller’s back.
Shutouts (08-09)
10 Steve Mason
9 Roberto Luongo
8 Nicklas Backstrom
7 Evgeni Nabokov
7 Pekka Rinne
6 Cam Ward
6 Chris Mason
6 Tomas Vokoun
6 Ty Conklin
5 Tim Thomas
Bet a friend that Steve Mason will fall short of 10 shutouts this year, and you’ll make an easy buck. Mason burst onto the scene as a 20-year-old and benefitted from Columbus’ defense-first mindset. While he will still be a top-15 goaltender, don’t look to acquire Mason solely on the strength of his shutouts. Ty Conklin won’t approach 6 shutouts this year, as he too experienced personal successes on the back of his team, playing for the Red Wings. Luongo is the best bet for this category, so see if you can pry him away from someone through trade.
Goals Against Average (08-09)
2.10 Tim Thomas
2.29 Steve Mason
2.33 Nicklas Backstrom
2.33 Nikolai Khabibulin
2.34 Roberto Luongo
2.38 Pekka Rinne
2.39 Jonas Hiller
2.39 Scott Clemmensen
2.41 Martin Brodeur
2.41 Chris Mason
Jonas Hiller will need to be very good over a full season to maintain these numbers, so don’t bet on it. This should be his first full season as a starter, and J.S. Giguere will be pressing for the starting job all year. Thomas won’t post numbers as good as last year, and neither will Khabibulin, playing for a questionable Edmonton team. Scott Clemmensen played exceptionally for the Devils in Brodeur’s absence, but he won’t get the playing time in Florida. Luongo and Brodeur are two of the safest picks in this category.
Save Percentage (08-09)
.933 Tim Thomas
.926 Tomas Vokoun
.924 Craig Anderson
.923 Nicklas Backstrom
.920 Roberto Luongo
.919 Nikolai Khabibulin
.919 Jonas Hiller
.918 Ryan Miller
.917 Scott Clemmensen
.917 Pekka Rinne
Roberto Luongo has long proven that his save percentage belongs in the upper-echelon of goaltenders from year-to-year. If Craig Anderson posts a .924 SV% in Colorado, he will win the Hart Trophy. His only valuable category for this season will be wins, as he will likely start the bulk of the Avs’ games ahead of an unproven Peter Budaj.
We will be posting a weekly, in-depth fantasy report beginning next week, where we tell you who to pick up, who to drop, who has a favourable upcoming schedule, and other tidbits to help you excel in your fantasy leagues.
Also, don’t forget to check our LINE COMBOS section, which will be updated twice weekly throughout the year.
