Where does Connor Hellebuyck now rank?

[Michael Farkas]

Never said Andersen is elite. I said it's Helle, Vasi and Bob. Then started listing off the rest that are close. Maybe should have put a break in there before continuing on the rest of the list.

Compared to Helle? Yeah I'd say Shesterkin is less consistent. One season of play that is truly elite and then kinda spotty since.

Edit: As far as Bob goes for this generation he's been good. Since Helle has entered the league he's been playing well won a Vezina and a Cup but age looks like it's catching up.

Edit #2: I should have also said this is all about the time Helle has been in the league so really since about 2016 or so. It's really only Helle, Bob, Vasi at the top with a few guys who have been somewhat consistent or had an elite season here or there. If you have a rebuttal to that let's hear it.

Apologies. You're right, I misread that.

I think Hellebuyck and Shestyorkin are on the same level. The top level. I don't think the Rangers get enough discredit for how bad they are defensively a lot of nights. Not that the Jets are always darlings either, but they've had better team defense than New York for my money.

Bob is one of the least consistent goalies post-lockout. I'd certainly put Igor ahead of Bob in every way.

Bobrovsky is probably the most mentally weak goalies I've seen. He wears his mental framework on his sleeve...and by sleeve, I mean in his technique. Once he feels the pressure or the game starts to slip away from him, his game flat out changes. That's why his playoff career has been such a disaster (recency bias aside, of course. But neither of those runs were anything super special).

From a perspective of talent, "MVP goalie-ing", and consistency...Igor is a tier or two above Bobrovsky. Not to be social media-y about this but...basically Igor is everything Bobrovsky wants to be. Like, that's his absolute ceiling, which Bobrovsky doesn't bring to the table nearly enough over any span of time that can be flagged in Bobrovsky's career...

 

[Daximus]

Apologies. You're right, I misread that.

I think Hellebuyck and Shestyorkin are on the same level. The top level. I don't think the Rangers get enough discredit for how bad they are defensively a lot of nights. Not that the Jets are always darlings either, but they've had better team defense than New York for my money.

Bob is one of the least consistent goalies post-lockout. I'd certainly put Igor ahead of Bob in every way.

Bobrovsky is probably the most mentally weak goalies I've seen. He wears his mental framework on his sleeve...and by sleeve, I mean in his technique. Once he feels the pressure or the game starts to slip away from him, his game flat out changes. That's why his playoff career has been such a disaster (recency bias aside, of course. But neither of those runs were anything super special).

From a perspective of talent, "MVP goalie-ing", and consistency...Igor is a tier or two above Bobrovsky. Not to be social media-y about this but...basically Igor is everything Bobrovsky wants to be. Like, that's his absolute ceiling, which Bobrovsky doesn't bring to the table nearly enough over any span of time that can be flagged in Bobrovsky's career...

Honestly that's on me it's been a long night/morning just got off night shift. Should have been a bit more clear on what I was trying to convey.

Yeah I can agree with that. Bob can look really shakey when things aren't going his way. Guys like Helle and Shesterkin just have that nothing can phase me attitude that makes elite goalies. Just need to see more of him. It's really only his 4th season as a full fledged starter in the league. A few more seasons of this and he likely gets there. Oettinger and Gustavsson also seem like they can get there as well. Both of them seem to be the next generation of likely high end Vezina level goalies. Thought Knight would be there by now but he's still young.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Knight has had his battles. Hopefully he's on the way up. Big fan of Otter.

Lost in all this is how good Juuse Saros is too. Sometimes there are guys that you go, "if you want to learn how to play the game...watch this guy." - Juuse Saros is that for me. I don't know how to shoehorn him into this discussion exactly, but it'd feel incomplete without him...even though his team isn't....uhhh...participating.

 

[Daximus]

Knight has had his battles. Hopefully he's on the way up. Big fan of Otter.

Lost in all this is how good Juuse Saros is too. Sometimes there are guys that you go, "if you want to learn how to play the game...watch this guy." - Juuse Saros is that for me. I don't know how to shoehorn him into this discussion exactly, but it'd feel incomplete without him...even though his team isn't....uhhh...participating.

Yeah Saros has been solid and would probably look even better on a more consistent team. The Preds really started to trend down as he took the reigns from Rinne. Now they are just in a tailspin and he's stuck there with a big new contract and a team that is full of past their prime players and if things don't go right could be entering a rebuild soon. Hopefully he has the good sense to abandon ship and try and land himself on a contender if they do but I think he probably likes being in Nashville.

 

[Daximus]

That feels about right. Not necessarily the order, but those five together post-Brodeur.

I like Hellebucyk's game. Very hard to rate him all time but I doubt I could come up with 30 or 40 goaltenders I would want more. Steady, high level goaltending. In terms of the typical markers that people look for in terms of goaltenders greatness, a big playoffs followed by a Stanley Cup in WInnipeg would probably shoot him up very high for many, thinking above Parent at least.

Have to wonder how another Vezina season alone does for his legacy. We haven't seen a back to back Vezina since Brodeur in 07 and 08. But Brodeur had the playoff performances to back them up. I'm not even going to think about a Cup because it's damn hard to win a Cup these days. I think if the Jets were more keen on resting him up he'd have a better shot to really play his A game in the playoffs but he seems hell bent on playing every single game he possibly can.