
But Anderson won’t be alone in that ignoble pursuit. Anderson will make league minimum and serve one purpose: be the poor soul peppered with shots while the bottom-feeding Sabres hope to win the Shane Wright sweepstakes. The designation is meant as no disrespect to Anderson’s storied 19-season career, but the 40-year-old Park Ridge, Illinois native was openly expecting to retire before the Buffalo Sabres swooped in with a starting goaltender job. Add to that the debut of a new NHL franchise and Craig Anderson lays claim to a bit of history (though history he might not want): he is the first goaltender to come in at 32nd on this list.
#Goalie start nhl free
With all the challenges of the last few seasons, as well as a pair of strong free agent classes for goaltenders, there has been an incredible amount of turmoil in these ranks in recent months. So, without further ado, here are your goaltender rankings at the start of the 2021-22 season.

Then, we made adjustments based on experience and track record and settled on a final order. Judging by those numbers, a composite score was created to represent overall goalie effectiveness. In addition to these metrics, we’ll examine SV% and goals-against average (GAA), shutouts (SO), and really bad starts (RBS) where the goalie has a SV% below. Anything above 60 percent is considered very good, anything below 50 percent is poor, and 53 percent is league average. QS% measures the percentage of starts in which the goalie’s save percentage (SV%) surpassed the league average SV% for the season. It considers the number of shots he faced and measures it against the league average save percentage on the same number of shots. GSAA is a statistical calculation of a goaltender’s performance as compared with his peers. Two metrics were given primary emphasis: goals saved above average (GSAA) and quality start percentage (QS%). Goalies who have performed at a high level for longer will receive the benefit of the doubt, whereas goalies with great numbers who are relative newcomers may sink a spot or two accordingly.Ī number of statistics were considered. Where two goalies are more or less equal, their track record will become a factor in determining a final position. With that said, it would be ludicrous to ignore history or overemphasize a six-month run. Methodologyīecause of the fleeting nature of goaltender success, our rankings prioritize numbers from the most recent season, in this case, the 2020-21 season. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the methodology for our evaluation. Because of changes like that, we regrade goalies regularly. Goalies change teams and lose their jobs more frequently than many others. As such, it is a difficult position to evaluate, which is why it is vital to do so frequently.Īt The Hockey Writers, we evaluate goaltenders several times a season, accounting for the instability of the position.

It is a solitary and often thankless task, where one night can be a shutout and the next day can be a nightmare.

#Goalie start nhl professional
The job of an NHL goalie is one of the hardest in all of professional sport.
