That should not be a question since only very few can really do it. The regular season is so long and means not much. It's all about the playoffs and you should keep your goalie fresh for the playoffs. So why exhausting your goalie you pay much money for in the regular season.
There are goalies who played less games but better than Andersen and for less money. A look at last season:
nhl.com EVsave% with more than 30 games played
#1 .938 Reimer played 40 games
#4 .934 Elliott 42 games
#6 .933 Greiss 41 games
#12 .930 Neuvirth 32 games
#15 .928 Andersen 43 games
Any combination of Reimer, Elliott, Greiss and Neuvirth is cheaper than Andersen and his backup. Reimer was a UFA this year, the other 3 will be next year and also Greiss and Neuvirth were UFA last year.
I'm excited for the comparables, Andersen and his backup against any combination of those 4.
Even if we say that EVS% is an effective measurement of skill, which I don't think it is even if it's the best we've got, you miss one big factor there.
Goaltending value is tied up in one thing above all else. Ability to give
consistently competitive numbers. In that respect, only Elliott looks better than Andersen and that's if you completely buy that he's taken a last development step, not just protected by the Blues system.
If you look at Adjusted Fenwick save percentage, which compares save percentage with what would be expected with the type and location of shots against, over the last four years, the guys you mention rank like this:
Greiss 0.92 in 92 games
Elliott 0.74 in 143 games
Andersen 0.69 in 125 games
Neuvirth 0.22 in 92 games
Reimer 0.21 in 144 games
