Rank the 31 projected goalie tandems

[LiveeviL]

I would add Vancouver to that, but yeah

Oh yes 100%. It is easy to rank just Swedish goalies and Lehner is above both Nilsson and Markström.

 

[Go Wings]

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

I'd take all of those goalies over Lehner.

 

[wildandwoolly]

I'd take all of those goalies over Lehner.

Of course. Who wouldn't pick an elite, proven goalie, over an unproven goalie with decent stats?

The point is that he's not a bad goalie - like everyone is saying. He's been consistently in the upper-middle. Last I think he was like 14th with what was probably one of the worst defense groups in the league. He's got some flaws, but he's only 25 years old now - so about time for him to step it up, esp with the improvements the team made this offseason.

(quick example - at 25, Rinne and Bishop were playing AHL still.)

 

[MrSnrub]

I love how everyone just dumps over the OP's rankings without giving their own. I for one appreciate the effort and the thought behind the thread.

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

I love how everyone just dumps over the OP's rankings without giving their own. I for one appreciate the effort and the thought behind the thread.

Unfortunately, that seems to happen every year when I do this. Thank you, though!

 

[wildandwoolly]

I love how everyone just dumps over the OP's rankings without giving their own. I for one appreciate the effort and the thought behind the thread.

what's a message board without discussion?

 

[MrSnrub]

what's a message board without discussion?

You call this discussion?

 

[Devils Army]

Devils are way to low on these lists, Cory is an established #1 who had a down year

 

[wildandwoolly]

You call this discussion?

yep

wanna join in?

 

[MrSnrub]

CGY at 26 is LOL, just LOL!

Am I doing it right?

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

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)

So Darling who played better than Crawford last season puts Carolina as the 27th tandem, and Chicago as the 5th tandem? Crawford went from super underrated to super overrated fast. People used to say he's a system goalie, which was stupid, but now people are saying he's some elite top 5 and possibly even top 3 goalie even though Crawford's last great stretch of play was the 2015 playoffs where he started terrible.

 

[wildandwoolly]

CGY at 26 is LOL, just LOL!

Am I doing it right?

it's a nice start. why do you think they're ranked higher? (or lower)

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

So Darling who played better than Crawford last season puts Carolina as the 27th tandem, and Chicago as the 5th tandem? Crawford went from super underrated to super overrated fast. People used to say he's a system goalie, which was stupid, but now people are saying he's some elite top 5 and possibly even top 3 goalie even though Crawford's last great stretch of play was the 2015 playoffs where he started terrible.

Darling has to prove himself away from Chicago. Maybe he'll be the goalie Carolina's been looking for. Or he'll be like Khudobin and Lack, goalies who showed promise and then got to Carolina and couldn't beat out an over the hill Ward.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Darling has to prove himself away from Chicago. Maybe he'll be the goalie Carolina's been looking for. Or he'll be like Khudobin and Lack, goalies who showed promise and then got to Carolina and couldn't beat out an over the hill Ward.

I get it, but in no way would I even put Crawford/Darling as the 5th best tandem, let alone Crawford/Berube. Also Carolina shouldn't be that low.

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

I get it, but in no way would I even put Crawford/Darling as the 5th best tandem, let alone Crawford/Berube. Also Carolina shouldn't be that low.

I think we disagree the most on Crawford himself. Crawford took over as the Chicago starter in 2010, just after they let Niemi walk after winning the Cup that year. Maybe he was a system goalie those first few years, but I think in the last couple years, as the Chicago defense has deteriorated some, he's become a stud in his own right. I would put him in the elite category for sure. Points off for having JF Berube as the backup, but since I don't think he'll play much, Chicago is all set in goal.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

I think we disagree the most on Crawford himself. Crawford took over as the Chicago starter in 2010, just after they let Niemi walk after winning the Cup that year. Maybe he was a system goalie those first few years, but I think in the last couple years, as the Chicago defense has deteriorated some, he's become a stud in his own right. I would put him in the elite category for sure. Points off for having JF Berube as the backup, but since I don't think he'll play much, Chicago is all set in goal.

Crawford isn't a system goalie whatsoever, he's definitely a great goalie. But he's not a top 5 goalie, and the way you're trying to imply tandems makes it seem like you think he's a top 3 goalie, which definitely isn't the case. Crawford has faced a lot of shots the couple of seasons because his defense outside of Keith and Hjalmarsson simply isn't mobile anymore and Crawford has always been a poor puck player and has poor rebound control, even if he's been a monster at stopping pucks with a deteriorating defense. I'll see what happens if Crawford plays 70+ games and has great stats, but again we'll see. Crawford had an above average regular season, but a poor post season this season.

 

[Johnnybegood13]

it's a nice start. why do you think they're ranked higher? (or lower)

Goalie stats are also a team stat.

Calgary just finished a season with the worst goaltending not seen in Calgary in 20 years and for the new tandem to go from 14th to 26th is laughable and I will give big odds it wont happen.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

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)

You say Lundqvist isn't top 3 anymore despite the playoffs, Rask isn't elite anymore and Saros is "ehhh"? what is going on

I appreciate the effort though, overall it's good and other things I'd potentially disagree with are very subjective

 

[Hostile Offer]

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)

move up vegas and buffalo and bring down ottawa and sj and i can live with this ranking

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

And these team too:

Philly
Vancouver
Carolina
Winnipeg
Detroit
NYI
Calgary

Calgary? not a chance

 

[Legionnaire11]

I applaud the OP for taking time to put this list together and put him/herself out there by posting it. A lot of people like to tear stuff like this apart, but at least OP has the guts to post something like this and get a conversation started.

But yes in Lehner, since he became a starter two years ago, among goalies who have started 80 or more games he has the 4th highest save % in the league. The problem is shootouts, and apparently the majority of HF (even Buffalo fans) can't separate 65 minutes of actual hockey from the shootout. He's a good goalie and hes getting better. He has been dedicated in the offseasons, he slimmed down and has been working on his mobility. He still has low end mobility, but I'm certain he'll keep working on it, but his other skills are clearly more than enough to make up for it and the result of the combined package in Lehner is a middle of the pack starter. I'm very excited to see Buffalo as a team improving and how that affects Lehner and his perception around the league.

 

[canuckslover10]

I think markstrom proves himself this year but i agree with most of the ranking

 

[TychoFan]

1. MTL

Great list and effort (like, darn, that seems like a lot of time to find all of the goalie tandems)! I am echo'ing others by saying nobody else has even bothered to try to form a list. I'll try to share the fire by making one myself.
Tier 1:
1. MTL, Price/Montoya (Price is the best.)
2. WSH, Holtby/Grubauer (Holtby.)
3. NYR, Lundqvist/Pavelec(Lundqvist, I think the King is still great, stonewall'd my Habs)
4. CBJ, Bobrovsky/Korpisalo (Based on last year, Bob is elite.)
5. NSH, Rinne/Saros (Rinne's stock is back up some after that run, I think he is still a premiere goalie)
6. LA, Quick/Kuemper (Assuming Quick is healthy, I think he'll do great, a lot of questions about LA ever since other goalies have found success there (Budaj last season, I personally attribute that to the Budaj wall though))
7. DAL, Bishop/Lehtonen (Bishop was downright amazing just recently, he is only 30, did he get injured or something? If not, one of the best goalies in the league from what I've seen)
8. NJD, Schneider/Kinkaid (Did Schneider regress? He had one of the worst teams in front of him, I'd still take him over most goalies)

Tier 2:
9. ANA, Gibson/Miller (Gibson is slightly worse than Murray imo but Miller is MUCH better than Niemi so I'll rank Anaheim ahead)
10. PIT, Murray/Niemi (Murray is amazing in the playoffs but let's see if he can be consistent this season)
11. CHI, Crawford/Berube (Never been thoroughly wow'd by Crawford but this is definitely an above average goalie tandem)
12. TB, Vasilevskiy/Budaj (Maybe this is the season Vas just wows the league, but I have been waiting for it to happen for years, let's see)
13. MIN, Dubnyk/Svedberg (Dubnyk sure made an insane turnaround, I still have him under more names than most though, I don't think he is an elite goalie)
14. SJ, Jones/Dell (Jones.)
15. OTT, Anderson/Condon(Age has to catch up to Anderson eventually... RIGHT? I find it hard to call Anderson an "average" goalie, I think he has been amazing but I would rather have the above goalie tandems)
16. VGK, Fleury/Pickard (Maybe it was Fleury's will to win that got him to play great in the playoffs, but I think he can still win a lot of games (not this season with Vegas, their team is pretty bad))
17. EDM, Talbot/Brossoit (Was Talbot playing out of his mind? I don't know, but I am hoping he was)
18. BOS, Rask/Khudobin
19. AZ, Raanta/Domingue (this ranking, like OTT, is more telling of the strength of goalies around the league rather than me saying it's really weak, I think they will impress, wouldn't be surprised if the Coyotes make the playoffs)
20. FLA, Luongo/Reimer
21. STL, Allen/Hutton
22. COL, Varlamov/Bernier (Varlamov was good, wasn't he? I have no idea anymore but I'll just leave him here)
23. BUF, Lehner/Johnson (same as Colorado)
24. TOR, Andersen/McElhinney (inb4 people showing me his SV% stats and how it ranks among the league, don't care, would rather have everyone above)

Everything above this line is "average" goaltending in my opinion. The order isn't hugely important. I know that by definition of averages, that makes no sense, but all of the above is completely passable, and nowadays goaltending is just better and better, so passable isn't a bad thing. I think the difference between Price and anyone at the bottom of this "average" line isn't as big as Roy/Hasek and the "average" line back in the day (no, not saying that Price = Roy/Hasek, saying that Roy/Hasek > Price and that "average" today > "average" in the past)

The rest are all in the same tier IMO. I am sure one of these tandems will impress. And can then be considered above the "passable" line"
Tier 3:
25. WPG, Mason/Hellebuyck
26. DET, Mrazek/Howard
27. NYI, Greiss/Halak
28. PHI, Elliott/Neuvirth
29. CGY, Smith/Lack
30. CAR, Ward/Darling
31. VAN, Markstrom/Nilsson

 

[leafsfan1234]

Bobrovsky has a sub .900 SV% in the playoffs for his career, not sure how anyone has him in their top 5...

 

[SnoopDogg]

Buffalo's goaltending tandem is better than Vancouver, Arizona, Colorado, Carolina, Calgary (LMAO), Philadelphia, NYI, Detroit, Vegas, Winnipeg, St. Louis, Florida, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Dallas, LA, Toronto (LMAO), Edmonton, Boston, San Jose, and Ottawa