Rank the 31 projected goalie tandems

[GrkFlyersFan]

We do this every year, and now with a new team, 2 more goalies have jobs. As always, in some cases we don't know who the starter is, like my Flyers. For Carolina, I will have Ward as the starter as there have been 2 attempts on his job, and he survived both, so Darling is just the next challenger. Anyway, here we go. Don't like mine? Give your own.

1. MTL, Price/Montoya(Price is the best, Montoya's not bad, best pair)
2. WSH, Holtby/Grubauer(Hotlby won a Vezina and just got another nomination, Grubauer is solid)
3. CBJ, Bobrovsky/Korpisalo(Based on last year, Bob is elite, Korpisalo should be adequate)
4. NYR, Lundqvist/Pavelec(Lundqvist isn't top 3 anymore but still great, and I think Pavs will do fine)
5. CHI, Crawford/Berube(This is all about Crawford, guy's a stud, Berube is a weak backup though)
6. PIT, Murray/Niemi(Murray has nerves of steel and has finally pushed Fleury out, but he has trouble staying healthy, and Niemi had a rough couple years in Dallas)
7. ANA, Gibson/Miller(Gibson still has room to grow, but I like this combo a lot, Miller will help)
8. OTT, Anderson/Condon(Worked very well off each other last season)
9. SJ, Jones/Dell(Jones has become well established and Dell quietly had a solid rookie season)
10. BOS, Rask/Khudobin(Tuukka's not elite anymore, but this is still a top 10 tandem)
11. EDM, Talbot/Brossoit(Talbot looked more like a starter last year, we'll see about Brossoit)
12. NSH, Rinne/Saros(Rinne's stock is back up some after that run, only some, and Saros? Ehhh)
13. TOR, Andersen/McElhinney(Andersen was just what the young Leafs needed, McBackup did ok when he got to Toronto)
14. LA, Quick/Kuemper(Quick's health is a concern, and I don't know about Kuemper)
15. DAL, Bishop/Lehtonen(Bishop will prove himself one way or the other on this team, no faith in Kari anymore)
16. MIN, Dubnyk/Svedberg(Dubnyk's proven now, but didn't Svedberg flame out as Boston backup?)
17. TB, Vasilevskiy/Budaj(We'll see what Vasilevskiy does with the keys to the car, Budaj earned his way back into the NHL last year)
18. NJD, Schneider/Kinkaid(Schneider's stock fell hard, Kinkaid is ok)
19. FLA, Luongo/Reimer(Luongo's old, Reimer might even steal the job this year)
20. STL, Allen/Hutton(Allen needs to be more consistent, Hutton does nothing for them)
21. WPG, Mason/Hellebuyck(Mason I think will play with a chip on his shoulder, but he can be fragile, Hellebuyck proved not ready to be a starter last year)
22. VGK, Fleury/Pickard(Not great, and yet probably the best aspect of that team)
23. DET, Mrazek/Howard(Mrazek fell off hard last year, and only started because Howard couldn't stay healthy)
24. NYI, Greiss/Halak(Just a meh tandem, maybe Halak takes his job back)
25. PHI, Elliott/Neuvirth(Oh look, another mediocre Flyers tandem)
26. CGY, Smith/Lack(Smith can be good, but he comes with a lot of risk, and Lack won't help if he does falter)
27. CAR, Ward/Darling(Ward is inconsistent anymore, and how will Darling look away from Chicago?)
28. COL, Varlamov/Bernier(Varly better stay healthy, although Bernier wasn't THAT bad last year)
29. BUF, Lehner/Johnson(Lehner is a low end starter, and Johnson is a career backup)
30. AZ, Raanta/Domingue(Raanta's first go at being a starter, with not much of a safety net behind him)
31. VAN, Markstrom/Nilsson(Not buying Markstrom as a starter, Nilsson's ok, but this is your worst tandem)

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[Ace]

Buffalo in 29th when they finished tie for 4th in save percentage last year. Wow the perceived downgrade in journeyman backups is strong. I wonder how many of the non low end starters Lehner outperformed last year. At least half. Perhaps you were rating the defenses in front of them.

 

[EXTRAS]

Dubnyk has a vezina nomination and was leading the vezina race for most of ghe past season before the last month, in the last 3 years. No idea how he is ranked 17th. Closer to top 5 than 17th.


Also bernier was one of the best backups last season. Saying he wasn't that bad is ridiculous.

 

[Dogewow]

Buffalo at 29th

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

Dubnyk has a vezina nomination and was leading the vezina race for most of ghe past season before the last month, in the last 3 years. No idea how he is ranked 17th. Closer to top 5 than 17th.


Also bernier was one of the best backups last season. Saying he wasn't that bad is ridiculous.

Well it's about the tandems in total. Dubnyk is way higher than the 17th best goalie.

Edit: And I had them 16th

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

Buffalo at 29th

How many teams would Lehner start for?

 

[EdJovanovski]

1. Nyr
2. Cbj
3. Wsh
4. Ana
5. Pit
6. Lak
7. Nsh
8. Bos
9. Dal
10. Edm
11. Ott
12. Tbl
13. Sjs
14. Mtl
15. Njd
16. Min
17. Fla
18. Stl
19. Vgk
20. Chi
21. Det
22. Col
23. Phi
24. Az
25. Tor
26. Nyi
27. Wpg
28. Cgy
29. Car
30. Buf
31. Van

 

[Seedling]

How many teams would Lehner start for?

2. Buffalo and Arizona.

 

[izzy]

lehner is good

 

[Zorf]

OP started out well ranking just the pairings, and then lost focus and it fell apart around #7.

Seems like you started ranking team defences rather than pure strength of the goaltending tandems after the top 6 or 7.

 

[enthusiast]

I'm not going to bang the drum that hard for Lehner but his save percentage over the last three years is comparable to Schneider, Bishop, Quick, Fleury, Lundqvist, Rinne, etc.

That doesn't reflect issues he has wrt his technique but he isn't trash-tier

 

[ickie*]

lehner is not good

 

[Zorf]

2. Buffalo and Arizona.

And these team too:

Philly
Vancouver
Carolina
Winnipeg
Detroit
NYI
Calgary

 

[Zorf]

lehner is not good

Lehner is good until the game gets to shootout.

 

[clunk]

How far we've fallen. From easily the best tandem in Luongo-Schneider to the worst in just a few years.

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

2. Buffalo and Arizona.

I would add Vancouver to that, but yeah

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

OP started out well ranking just the pairings, and then lost focus and it fell apart around #7.

Seems like you started ranking team defences rather than pure strength of the goaltending tandems after the top 6 or 7.

If that were true, I would have STL higher, and Carolina actually had very good defense, just weak in goal.

 

[Digitalbooya]

Dubnyk and Stalock will likely be the Minnesota tandem. They should be right around #8-10.

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

Dubnyk and Stalock will likely be the Minnesota tandem. They should be right around #8-10.

Stalock and not Svedberg?

 

[Zorf]

If that were true, I would have STL higher, and Carolina actually had very good defense, just weak in goal.

Well then some of your rankings make no sense

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

Well then some of your rankings make no sense

I explain all of them, what else do you disagree with?

 

[Zorf]

Teams that are too low:
Boston, Dallas, LA, Minnesota, TB, NJD, Buffalo, Colorado

Teams that are too high:
Ottawa, WPG, Detroit, NYI, Philly, Calgary.

How Philly isn't 29th or 30th is beyond me.

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

Teams that are too low:
Boston, Dallas, LA, Minnesota, TB, NJD, Buffalo, Colorado

Teams that are too high:
Ottawa, WPG, Detroit, NYI, Philly, Calgary.

How Philly isn't 29th or 30th is beyond me.

Well ok. Boston, like I said, Tuukka isn't a top tier goalie anymore. He's still very good, and Khudobin doesn't really add much. Dallas is a big variable because we don't know how Bishop will look behind that weak defense, and Kari has trouble staying above .900. LA, I think I respect Quick more than many do here anymore, I don't think his stock has fallen as much as some think, but he comes off an injury-riddled season, and if that persists, well how much do you trust Kuemper? Minnesota I have middle of the road. Dubnyk is proven as I said, but whoever the backup is severely brings down their average. TB has an unproven starter and an ok backup. I can't put them higher until I see Vasilevskiy prove capable over an entire season. Schneider fell off a cliff last year. After that, I will say a lot of the lower ones are interchangeable. I think Vancouver is solidly last, Arizona is solidly second to last, and 21-29 is all very fluid. As a Flyers fan, maybe I am being kind a little bit. I think changing out Mason for Elliott actually downgrades us some, but Elliott's not horrible and I think Neuvirth will bounce back some.

 

[Wild-Sabres]

I'd put the Rangers at #1.

 

[wildandwoolly]

Buffalo at 29th & 30th is LOL

How many teams would Lehner start for?

This about performance or desirability? Cuz last year he was somewhere in the upper-middle (14th?) with prob one of the worst D in the league. He may be inconsistent - but it's silly to think he's not good. He'll be improved next year - given the offseason improvements they've made (Housley, Defense upgrades, healthy Jack). I'm expecting somewhere in the top 7-12.