Are we in a lull of NHL goaltending talent?

[Freaky Styley]

I can't remember a time where there have been so many unproven guys in starter's roles. There's a lot of young talent trying to assert itself (Blackwood, Hart, Shesterkin, Samsonov, Sorokin) and a lot of the old staples are on the decline or retired (Anderson, Lundqvist, Quick, Crawford, Fleury, Rinne), but a bit of a void of talent in the middle during this passing of the reigns.

To me, these are the only bonafide #1 goalies:

Hellebuyck
Vasilevsky
Rask
Gibson
Varlamov
Andersen
Lehner
Markstrom
Holtby
Price
Bishop (hurt?)

That's 1/3 of the league with guys who have played in the position long enough and proven they can handle the workload. Of course, there are a lot of other really talented goalies, but none that have proven to be able to handle a starter's role for more than one season. Guys like

Grubauer
Kuemper
Binnington
Mrazek
Murray
Korpisalo

Still need to prove that they can put up numbers consistently. Meanwhile, some teams are running with very little experience or talent in either one of their netminders. Seems like this has to be the most wide-open and varied the goaltending position has been in recent memory.

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[Brown Cat]

No Hart?

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

You can take Holtby off that list, he hasn't cracked .900 sv% since 2018-2019.

 

[Bowski]

Ben Bishop looks to be overpriced done garbage now, so definitely no #1 stats there.

A bunch of other mediocre tenders on your "bonafide #1 goalies" list.
Vasilevsky for sure, Rask close...the others have won F all in decades. (Holtby yes, but he's on a career decline now).

 

[Freaky Styley]

Ben Bishop looks to be overpriced done garbage now, so definitely no #1 stats there.

A bunch of other mediocre tenders on your "bonafide #1 goalies" list.
Vasilevsky for sure, Rask close...the others have won F all in decades. (Holtby yes, but he's on a career decline now).

For sure, I was giving the 'benefit of the doubt' to a few guys - even someone like Varlamov who was widely inconsistent before heading to the Islanders. If anything, just reinforces the point. There's only like 8 bonafide starters in the whole league.

 

[Freaky Styley]

No Hart?

I mentioned him under the young talent that hasn't yet asserted themselves. Guys like Saros, Demko, Korpisalo and Merzlikins can be added to that list

 

[Brown Cat]

Trolling? I mentioned him under the young talent that hasn't yet asserted themselves. Guys like Saros, Demko, Korpisalo and Merzlikins can be added to that list

Harts' not established?

 

[Non Player Canadiens]

Somehow, how the position is played has evolved such that an 'average joe' goalie's effectiveness is not that far off from those who are considered the best. Just strap some pads onto any reasonably athletic 6'6 dude and teach him the butterfly and you're good to go.

End result: the gap between the #30 goalie in the league's effectiveness and #1 is not that big. Now compare that to say MacKinnon and the 30th best center and the gap in effectiveness is HUGE.

 

[Bowski]

For sure, I was giving the 'benefit of the doubt' to a few guys - even someone like Varlamov who was widely inconsistent before heading to the Islanders. If anything, just reinforces the point. There's only like 8 bonafide starters in the whole league.

Agree with that, the talent is spread apart/thin on many teams.
We may have been too spoiled with so many B2B goalie legends in the 80/90/2000(s) (Roy/Belfour/Brodeur/Hasek), and so many other franchise ones (Lundqvist/Luongo/Price/Joseph?/etc...)

But, no (Roy/Belfour/Brodeur/Hasek) look to be coming around anytime soon, so we may just be waiting for the next one indefinitely.

 

[aufheben]

Harts' not established?

He’s played 78 games and can’t stop a beach ball on the road.

 

[Freaky Styley]

Harts' not established?

He's played 78 NHL games. Not even 2 full seasons in a starting role.

 

[Melrose Munch]

yes.

have been for 5 years.

 

[BlueMed]

Somehow, how the position is played has evolved such that an 'average joe' goalie's effectiveness is not that far off from those who are considered the best. Just strap some pads onto any reasonably athletic 6'6 dude and teach him the butterfly and you're good to go.

End result: the gap between the #30 goalie in the league's effectiveness and #1 is not that big. Now compare that to say MacKinnon and the 30th best center and the gap in effectiveness is HUGE.

I can tell you've never actually played hockey.

 

[kingsholygrail]

What's the criteria for a #1 goalie?

 

[Freaky Styley]

What's the criteria for a #1 goalie?

over 2 years of a starter's load? (~55 games)

 

[Bounces R Way]

Pekka Rinne won a Vezina a couple years ago so I would say yes we certainly are. Think the age of the truly elite goaltender is dead and gone.

 

[Non Player Canadiens]

I can tell you've never actually played hockey.

I haven't, outside of peewee when I was kid, but am I wrong?

 

[wabagee]

Somehow, how the position is played has evolved such that an 'average joe' goalie's effectiveness is not that far off from those who are considered the best. Just strap some pads onto any reasonably athletic 6'6 dude and teach him the butterfly and you're good to go.

End result: the gap between the #30 goalie in the league's effectiveness and #1 is not that big. Now compare that to say MacKinnon and the 30th best center and the gap in effectiveness is HUGE.

The goalie is a way harder to play at a vezina pace. A decent goalie is not hard to find a really good one is almost impossible.

 

[BlueMed]

I haven't, outside of peewee when I was kid, but am I wrong?

Yeah I mean, there's more to goaltending than size and athleticism. That may have been the case in the 1970s and 1980s, but there is a lot of technique nowadays. Goaltenders have to be able to read shooters and interpret very subtle changes in a player's body language very quickly. Players can also shoot quickly and accurately as well. This is why Wayne Gretzky's breakaway moves would rarely work in today's game.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

We're in the opposite of it.

Goaltending and the coaching behind it is better than ever.

All the video, huge pads, and coaching means a lot of great goaltenders, and maybe a couple outliers who are genius at it, which you can argue about amongst yourselves.

 

[Bigb47]

He’s played 78 games and can’t stop a beach ball on the road.

Lol just not true, he had a string of 4 or 5 games where he let in 4 or 5 goals a game, his road stats went down dramatically becuase he only has 80 games in total starting, hes been steady on the road otherwise

 

[wabagee]

From a Jets fan since the early 80s it took us 40 years to finally get a good starter. A good consistent goalie is a diamond in the rough.

 

[Hollywood3]

Somehow, how the position is played has evolved such that an 'average joe' goalie's effectiveness is not that far off from those who are considered the best. Just strap some pads onto any reasonably athletic 6'6 dude and teach him the butterfly and you're good to go.

End result: the gap between the #30 goalie in the league's effectiveness and #1 is not that big. Now compare that to say MacKinnon and the 30th best center and the gap in effectiveness is HUGE.

I remember this comparison back in the Ken Dryden era.

 

[Hollywood3]

From a Jets fan since the early 80s it took us 40 years to finally get a good starter. A good consistent goalie is a diamond in the rough.

Not a fan of Pokey and the Bandit? Or Pavelic?

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

Agree with that, the talent is spread apart/thin on many teams.
We may have been too spoiled with so many B2B goalie legends in the 80/90/2000(s) (Roy/Belfour/Brodeur/Hasek), and so many other franchise ones (Lundqvist/Luongo/Price/Joseph?/etc...)

But, no (Roy/Belfour/Brodeur/Hasek) look to be coming around anytime soon, so we may just be waiting for the next one indefinitely.

How can you point out a few guys OP maybe put in the wrong category and then not put Henrik into the legends category?

Unless that difference is solely bc he's still not retired. But I didn't need Brodeur or Roy to officially retire before labeling them legends.