Hey Guys,
I've been working on this for a bit now, and I've put together a ranking for all 30 teams based off of their goaltending prospects depth chart. Hopefully this seems somewhat realistic too you, but if there are any blaring mistakes please let me know.
#1 San Jose Sharks – (Stalock, Sexsmith, Anderson+) I don’t think the Sharks have one prospect in their system that isn’t on the rise. Sexsmith has been set back by injury, but I still believe he is capable of doing well. Stalock was great in his one NHL appearance, and even though it’s a sample size, he’s been good in the AHL as well. I included Anderson in there instead of others because I think he’s been really well this year. Although his stats may be a bit inflated because he’s on a great team, he’s still done real well, enough to get him to Canada’s World Junior camp ahead of some other guys. The Sharks still have Sateri, Greiss, Heemskerk and more to add on to the list.
#2 Florida Panthers – (Markstrom, Cheverie, Brittain+) The Panthers are in at a very close second. The Sharks don’t have a goalie as good as Markstrom, but I think their depth slightly exceeds that of Florida. Brittain has had a great year in the NCAA, and he’s looking to lead his team all the way to the title. Not bad for a first year goalie. Marc Cheverie has been off to a bit of a slow start, but he was great in the NCAA last year, and he is by no means a bad goalie, he just needs to adjust slightly. It is kind of a logjam in their system so he’ll have to do really well in the ECHL before he gets his chance to prove himself.
#3 Los Angeles Kings – (Bernier, Jones, Berube) Bernier has done very well in his first real pro season. He’s been able to hold his ground and get his share of starts, and he’s performed. With Quick continuing to do well though, there are talks of him being traded. If that happened it would most likely be too a team where he would be the starter, so we’d be able to see if he can handle it. I think he’s shown that he’s capable though, and I’d love to see how he would do. Martin Jones has had a remarkable first pro year in the AHL. He’s been one of the top goalies in the league, and will look to continue into the playoffs. A lot of people thought that he looked good in the WHL because he was playing on a great Calgary team, but I think he’s definitely proven himself. Berube has had a great year as well, top 5 in the QMJHL. He’s currently leading Montreal to a good start in the playoffs, and it looks like they may go far. LA only has 4 prospects in their system (Zatkoff) but they’re all doing pretty well.
#4 Vancouver Canucks – (Schnieder, Lack, Cannata) Schnieder is getting fairly close to not being considered a great prospect, but one of the top goalies in the league. He’s been outstanding this year, and will only look to improve. I might be wrong on this, but I think he’s gotten the most playing time behind Luongo out of any of their backups, and there’s a good reason for it. Who knows if he stays with Vancouver, but wherever he goes he’ll be able to challenge to be a #1. Eddie Lack has been great in the AHL, and he surprised a lot of people. Pretty much no one had heard of him at the start of the year, but he’s been a fan favorite in Manitoba, and for good reason. 25 wins, and a 928-sv% are great numbers for someone no one knew of at the start of the year. Cannata has been someone who’s really emerged as well. He was pretty much the main reason why Merrimack made it as far as they did, and I’m sure he’ll look to lead them farther next year.
#5 Toronto Maple Leafs – (Reimer, Rynnas, Scrivens) Optimus Reim has been a pleasant surprise for the Leafs, and the main reason why they have even a slight chance of making the playoffs. He’s definitely their starter as of now, and we’ll have to wait and see until next year if things stay that way. But I think he’s shown he’s capable of playing in the NHL. Rynnas has been good, but not great, with the Marlies this year. I don’t think anyone really expected him to be amazing though, and I think he’ll be given time to develop. He’s shown flashes this season of being really good, and if he can work on his game and really develop, he should be a pretty good goalie. Hopefully he can come back from his injury and start off well next season. Scrivens has done really well this year in both the ECHL and the AHL. He’s been one of the top goalies in the ECHL when he’s played, and done almost equally well in the AHL with Rynnas down. I think he needs to be given time to develop as well, but he can be a real good goalie down the road.
#6 Washington Capitals – (Holtby, Grubauer, Anderson) I dropped Washington a bit because I realized Neuvirth no longer counts as a prospect, and they really don’t have a whole lot behind Holtby. I know I said I didn’t want to have a team too high based on one guy, but I’m kind of contradicting myself with Washington because I really like Holtby. I kind of view him as being better long term than Varlamov or Neuvirth right now, because he’s been brilliant with the Caps so far, and I think he can carry on with that if given the chance. He’s proved himself at the AHL level already, and with the rumors of Varlamov not being a part of the Caps future, he should get more opportunity to prove himself at the NHL level. Grubauer has had a bit of a setback year in Kingston, but he’s still proven he’s a good goalie. He had to adjust moving to Kingston from Windsor, but I think he did very well up until his illness. Hopefully he can recover fully and get back to playing next year, although that may be at the pro level. Brandon Anderson hasn’t had the year he had hoped for, but Lethbridge did struggle this year. He’s up with Hershey right now I believe, so we’ll get to see how he handles the pro game. The Caps signed him for a reason, and hopefully he can prove that.
#7 Minnesota Wild – (Hackett, Kuemper, Endras) Matt Hackett has proven himself capable in the AHL this year, being one of the top goalies. I think if he can continue to play and play well he may succeed Backstrom one day. Kuemper has really emerged as a great goalie with the Rebels this year. No question the best goalie in the WHL, he had 13 shutouts, one away from the all time record. Although Red Deer has been really good, Kuemper has been able to steal some games for them, and some of his shutouts came with a lot of shots, proving it’s not just his team. Endras had an OK season with Augsberg, but with his contract he’ll be coming over to play in the AHL. I don’t really know anything about him, but I’ve heard he may look to steal the backup spot behind Backstrom next year.
#8 Philadelphia Flyers – (Eriksson, Riopel, Kovar+) The Flyers don’t really have one great goalie, but they’ve got 4 or 5 that may be able to break the pro ranks in the future. Joacim Eriksson has had a bit of a decline this year, but he’s still considered one of the best in Europe right now. I’m not sure what the Flyers plans are for him, but he may look to come over to North America next year, which may create an even bigger logjam in the Flyers system. Riopel wasn’t all that good in Adirondack, but he’s been much better with Greenville. It’s his first real pro season so he’ll be given more time to develop, but it’ll be up to him whether that’s in the AHL or ECHL. Jakub Kovar is a little bit more long term than any other goalie in the system, but that’s fine with the Flyers. He’s been pretty good in Europe this year, and I’m sure he’ll develop there a bit more before coming back to North America. The Flyers also have Johan Backlund and Brian Stewart in their system, so they’ll have a lot of goalies to choose from in the future.
#9 St.Louis Blues – (Bishop, Allen, Karpowich) Bishop has had a good year, but Allen’s emergence has had a setback on his playing time. He’s still done very well, and he did not bad in his NHL outings. He’ll still need some time to develop, but he will probably be up with the Blues permanently very soon. Jake Allen has been a great surprise for the Blues. No one thought he would be bad, but I don’t think anyone thought he would be this good. His hot streak has worn off since the All Star Game, but he’s still been one of the top goalies in the AHL. Karpowich is the only other goalie with the blues, but I think Allen and Bishop are both good enough that Karpowich doesn’t have much of an effect. Karpowich has quietly had a good season in the ECAC, finishing with 15 wins and a .912 sv%. Im not sure what the Blues plan on doing with him, but he’ll most likely get a contract eventually with no other goalies in the system.
#10 Nashville Predators – (Lindback, Dekanich, Smith) Lindback has done very well this year with the Preds, and it looks like he’ll be another good goalie off the Preds carousel. I believe at the start of the year people thought Dekanich would be the back up, but Lindback stole it from him, and he’s proved why. He’s got more wins and a better sv% than fellow prospect Jonathan Bernier, and he looks like he’ll be a good fit for the Preds. Mark Dekanich has been great once again in the AHL, and if not for Lindback he would definitely be up in the NHL. I don’t really know what to say about him because he’s proven at the AHL level, and he should be a good back up, even possible starter in the NHL, whether or not that’s with the Predators. Jeremy Smith has taken advantage of Pickard’s poor season, and pretty much leap-frogged him on the depth chart. He’s got 13 wins and a .923 sv% behind Dekanich, showing that he can be good if needed.
#11 Atlanta Thrashers – (Kangas, Carrozzi, Pasquale)
#12 Colorado Avalanche – (Pickard, Aittokallio, Millan+)
#13 Tampa Bay Lightning – (Tokarski, Desjardins, Janus+)
#14 Dallas Stars – (Campbell, Bachman, Krahn+)
#15 New York Islanders – (Poulin, Nilsson, Koskinen)
#16 Chicago Blackhawks – (Salak, Carruth, Simpson+)
#17 Edmonton Oilers – (Bunz, Roy, Pitton)
#18 Boston Bruins – (Gothberg, Hutchinson, Khudobin+)
#19 Phoenix Coyotes – (Visentin, Climie, Lee+)
#20 Buffalo Sabres – (Enroth, Leggio, Knapp+)
#21 Anaheim Ducks – (Pielmeier, Bobkov, Cousineau)
#22 Pittsburgh Penguins – (Thiessen, Curry, Killeen)
#23 Ottawa Senators – (Lehner, Brodeur, Brust)
#24 Columbus Blue Jackets – (York, Wesslau, Corbeil-Theriault)
#25 New Jersey Devils – (Wedgewood, Frazee, Clermont)
#26 Detroit Red Wings – (Mrazek, Pearce, McCollum)
#27 Carolina Hurricanes – (Murphy, Peters, Andersen)
#28 New York Rangers – (Johnson, Talbot, Stajcer)
#29 Calgary Flames – (Irving, Ortio, Keetley)
#30 Montreal Canadiens – (Ramo, Delmas, Simila)
updated with feedback
I've been working on this for a bit now, and I've put together a ranking for all 30 teams based off of their goaltending prospects depth chart. Hopefully this seems somewhat realistic too you, but if there are any blaring mistakes please let me know.
#1 San Jose Sharks – (Stalock, Sexsmith, Anderson+) I don’t think the Sharks have one prospect in their system that isn’t on the rise. Sexsmith has been set back by injury, but I still believe he is capable of doing well. Stalock was great in his one NHL appearance, and even though it’s a sample size, he’s been good in the AHL as well. I included Anderson in there instead of others because I think he’s been really well this year. Although his stats may be a bit inflated because he’s on a great team, he’s still done real well, enough to get him to Canada’s World Junior camp ahead of some other guys. The Sharks still have Sateri, Greiss, Heemskerk and more to add on to the list.
#2 Florida Panthers – (Markstrom, Cheverie, Brittain+) The Panthers are in at a very close second. The Sharks don’t have a goalie as good as Markstrom, but I think their depth slightly exceeds that of Florida. Brittain has had a great year in the NCAA, and he’s looking to lead his team all the way to the title. Not bad for a first year goalie. Marc Cheverie has been off to a bit of a slow start, but he was great in the NCAA last year, and he is by no means a bad goalie, he just needs to adjust slightly. It is kind of a logjam in their system so he’ll have to do really well in the ECHL before he gets his chance to prove himself.
#3 Los Angeles Kings – (Bernier, Jones, Berube) Bernier has done very well in his first real pro season. He’s been able to hold his ground and get his share of starts, and he’s performed. With Quick continuing to do well though, there are talks of him being traded. If that happened it would most likely be too a team where he would be the starter, so we’d be able to see if he can handle it. I think he’s shown that he’s capable though, and I’d love to see how he would do. Martin Jones has had a remarkable first pro year in the AHL. He’s been one of the top goalies in the league, and will look to continue into the playoffs. A lot of people thought that he looked good in the WHL because he was playing on a great Calgary team, but I think he’s definitely proven himself. Berube has had a great year as well, top 5 in the QMJHL. He’s currently leading Montreal to a good start in the playoffs, and it looks like they may go far. LA only has 4 prospects in their system (Zatkoff) but they’re all doing pretty well.
#4 Vancouver Canucks – (Schnieder, Lack, Cannata) Schnieder is getting fairly close to not being considered a great prospect, but one of the top goalies in the league. He’s been outstanding this year, and will only look to improve. I might be wrong on this, but I think he’s gotten the most playing time behind Luongo out of any of their backups, and there’s a good reason for it. Who knows if he stays with Vancouver, but wherever he goes he’ll be able to challenge to be a #1. Eddie Lack has been great in the AHL, and he surprised a lot of people. Pretty much no one had heard of him at the start of the year, but he’s been a fan favorite in Manitoba, and for good reason. 25 wins, and a 928-sv% are great numbers for someone no one knew of at the start of the year. Cannata has been someone who’s really emerged as well. He was pretty much the main reason why Merrimack made it as far as they did, and I’m sure he’ll look to lead them farther next year.
#5 Toronto Maple Leafs – (Reimer, Rynnas, Scrivens) Optimus Reim has been a pleasant surprise for the Leafs, and the main reason why they have even a slight chance of making the playoffs. He’s definitely their starter as of now, and we’ll have to wait and see until next year if things stay that way. But I think he’s shown he’s capable of playing in the NHL. Rynnas has been good, but not great, with the Marlies this year. I don’t think anyone really expected him to be amazing though, and I think he’ll be given time to develop. He’s shown flashes this season of being really good, and if he can work on his game and really develop, he should be a pretty good goalie. Hopefully he can come back from his injury and start off well next season. Scrivens has done really well this year in both the ECHL and the AHL. He’s been one of the top goalies in the ECHL when he’s played, and done almost equally well in the AHL with Rynnas down. I think he needs to be given time to develop as well, but he can be a real good goalie down the road.
#6 Washington Capitals – (Holtby, Grubauer, Anderson) I dropped Washington a bit because I realized Neuvirth no longer counts as a prospect, and they really don’t have a whole lot behind Holtby. I know I said I didn’t want to have a team too high based on one guy, but I’m kind of contradicting myself with Washington because I really like Holtby. I kind of view him as being better long term than Varlamov or Neuvirth right now, because he’s been brilliant with the Caps so far, and I think he can carry on with that if given the chance. He’s proved himself at the AHL level already, and with the rumors of Varlamov not being a part of the Caps future, he should get more opportunity to prove himself at the NHL level. Grubauer has had a bit of a setback year in Kingston, but he’s still proven he’s a good goalie. He had to adjust moving to Kingston from Windsor, but I think he did very well up until his illness. Hopefully he can recover fully and get back to playing next year, although that may be at the pro level. Brandon Anderson hasn’t had the year he had hoped for, but Lethbridge did struggle this year. He’s up with Hershey right now I believe, so we’ll get to see how he handles the pro game. The Caps signed him for a reason, and hopefully he can prove that.
#7 Minnesota Wild – (Hackett, Kuemper, Endras) Matt Hackett has proven himself capable in the AHL this year, being one of the top goalies. I think if he can continue to play and play well he may succeed Backstrom one day. Kuemper has really emerged as a great goalie with the Rebels this year. No question the best goalie in the WHL, he had 13 shutouts, one away from the all time record. Although Red Deer has been really good, Kuemper has been able to steal some games for them, and some of his shutouts came with a lot of shots, proving it’s not just his team. Endras had an OK season with Augsberg, but with his contract he’ll be coming over to play in the AHL. I don’t really know anything about him, but I’ve heard he may look to steal the backup spot behind Backstrom next year.
#8 Philadelphia Flyers – (Eriksson, Riopel, Kovar+) The Flyers don’t really have one great goalie, but they’ve got 4 or 5 that may be able to break the pro ranks in the future. Joacim Eriksson has had a bit of a decline this year, but he’s still considered one of the best in Europe right now. I’m not sure what the Flyers plans are for him, but he may look to come over to North America next year, which may create an even bigger logjam in the Flyers system. Riopel wasn’t all that good in Adirondack, but he’s been much better with Greenville. It’s his first real pro season so he’ll be given more time to develop, but it’ll be up to him whether that’s in the AHL or ECHL. Jakub Kovar is a little bit more long term than any other goalie in the system, but that’s fine with the Flyers. He’s been pretty good in Europe this year, and I’m sure he’ll develop there a bit more before coming back to North America. The Flyers also have Johan Backlund and Brian Stewart in their system, so they’ll have a lot of goalies to choose from in the future.
#9 St.Louis Blues – (Bishop, Allen, Karpowich) Bishop has had a good year, but Allen’s emergence has had a setback on his playing time. He’s still done very well, and he did not bad in his NHL outings. He’ll still need some time to develop, but he will probably be up with the Blues permanently very soon. Jake Allen has been a great surprise for the Blues. No one thought he would be bad, but I don’t think anyone thought he would be this good. His hot streak has worn off since the All Star Game, but he’s still been one of the top goalies in the AHL. Karpowich is the only other goalie with the blues, but I think Allen and Bishop are both good enough that Karpowich doesn’t have much of an effect. Karpowich has quietly had a good season in the ECAC, finishing with 15 wins and a .912 sv%. Im not sure what the Blues plan on doing with him, but he’ll most likely get a contract eventually with no other goalies in the system.
#10 Nashville Predators – (Lindback, Dekanich, Smith) Lindback has done very well this year with the Preds, and it looks like he’ll be another good goalie off the Preds carousel. I believe at the start of the year people thought Dekanich would be the back up, but Lindback stole it from him, and he’s proved why. He’s got more wins and a better sv% than fellow prospect Jonathan Bernier, and he looks like he’ll be a good fit for the Preds. Mark Dekanich has been great once again in the AHL, and if not for Lindback he would definitely be up in the NHL. I don’t really know what to say about him because he’s proven at the AHL level, and he should be a good back up, even possible starter in the NHL, whether or not that’s with the Predators. Jeremy Smith has taken advantage of Pickard’s poor season, and pretty much leap-frogged him on the depth chart. He’s got 13 wins and a .923 sv% behind Dekanich, showing that he can be good if needed.
#11 Atlanta Thrashers – (Kangas, Carrozzi, Pasquale)
#12 Colorado Avalanche – (Pickard, Aittokallio, Millan+)
#13 Tampa Bay Lightning – (Tokarski, Desjardins, Janus+)
#14 Dallas Stars – (Campbell, Bachman, Krahn+)
#15 New York Islanders – (Poulin, Nilsson, Koskinen)
#16 Chicago Blackhawks – (Salak, Carruth, Simpson+)
#17 Edmonton Oilers – (Bunz, Roy, Pitton)
#18 Boston Bruins – (Gothberg, Hutchinson, Khudobin+)
#19 Phoenix Coyotes – (Visentin, Climie, Lee+)
#20 Buffalo Sabres – (Enroth, Leggio, Knapp+)
#21 Anaheim Ducks – (Pielmeier, Bobkov, Cousineau)
#22 Pittsburgh Penguins – (Thiessen, Curry, Killeen)
#23 Ottawa Senators – (Lehner, Brodeur, Brust)
#24 Columbus Blue Jackets – (York, Wesslau, Corbeil-Theriault)
#25 New Jersey Devils – (Wedgewood, Frazee, Clermont)
#26 Detroit Red Wings – (Mrazek, Pearce, McCollum)
#27 Carolina Hurricanes – (Murphy, Peters, Andersen)
#28 New York Rangers – (Johnson, Talbot, Stajcer)
#29 Calgary Flames – (Irving, Ortio, Keetley)
#30 Montreal Canadiens – (Ramo, Delmas, Simila)
updated with feedback
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