Is it more valuable to have one dominant goaltender or two very good ones?

It depends on the time of year. Come the postseason, there’s a correlation between trusting one bellcow starter and winning the Stanley Cup. Since 2000, 17 of the 26 championship teams had one goalie notch all 16 of their wins. The regular season is a different story, however. With the position more physically demanding than its ever been, it’s advantageous if you can get strong puck stopping between two or even three goalies across 82 games. Only five goalies started 60 or more games last season. Most teams count on someone other than their No. 1 to start 20, 30 or even 40 games a year.

I try to look at the entire picture, then, when ranking goalie tandems for the 2025-26 season. Having a star-level stopper factors into the ranking, but teams with wobbly insurance policies behind their studs are penalized, as it’s not like the Marty Brodeur heyday when his backup would start eight games. Overall, I’m grading the duos (and trios) by what quality of goaltending I project across 82 games.

1. WINNIPEG JETS: Connor Hellebuyck & Eric Comrie

The Jets have the best regular-season goalie of this generation in Hellebuyck, who has won three Vezina Trophies, including the past two, and even took home the Hart Trophy as league MVP last season, becoming the first netminder in 10 years to do so. Hellebuyck never starts fewer than 60 games a year – he has 10 more starts than any other goalie in the past five seasons – and thus has a huge influence on the ranking playing roughly three quarters of his team’s games. But Comrie is an excellent backup, too; in his 39 appearances as Hellebuyck’s backup across 2021-22 and last season, he grades out as better than many starters. The best starter plus a strong backup put Winnipeg atop the puck-stopping mountain…in the regular season.

2. NEW JERSEY DEVILS: Jacob Markstrom & Jake Allen

The Devils are one of the few teams that can boast two starting-caliber netminders, albeit both are in their mid 30s and could show signs of decline soon. Markstrom already has in the sense that he struggled to stay healthy last year. But he bookended a month-long absence with strong play before his knee injury and during the Devils’ quick Round 1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Allen graded out as a top-three goalie in the league in per-game performance in terms of goals saved above expected per 60. The Devils are in safe hands no matter which Jake patrols their crease.

3. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS: Anthony Stolarz & Joseph Woll

The only team in the NHL to place two goalies in the top 10 of goals saved above expected per 60 last season: the Leafs. Stolarz placed first, outperforming even Hellebuyck on a per-game basis, and Woll was seventh. The career sample size remains small for both, but the Leafs have their best goaltending in two decades. Woll took a leave of absence this week to handle a family matter, but we haven’t gotten any indication yet that he’ll miss regular-season games, so I’ve ranked the Leafs as if he returns in early October.

4. WASHINGTON CAPITALS: Logan Thompson & Charlie Lindgren

Lindgren was a star for the Caps two seasons ago, leading the NHL in shutouts. He ceded the 1A work to Thompson last season, and Thompson played the best hockey of his career. He faltered a bit in the last couple months, but he was probably a top-two goalie in the league from October through January. Thompson has faced some durability problems in the past, so his start total will likely remain below 50, with Lindgren starting give or take 45 percent of the games.

5. DALLAS STARS: Jake Oettinger & Casey DeSmith

The Stars’ setup mirrors Winnipeg’s in that Dallas has an elite No. 1 netminder protected by one of the stronger backups in the league. I spoke with Oettinger a couple weeks ago about what’s holding him back from putting together that wire-to-wire dominant season, and he believes it will come down to finding his consistency. If he does, he’s going to win his first Vezina one of these years. Given its central location, Dallas usually has one of the toughest travel schedules in the NHL, and GM Jim Nill thus has always prioritized having a solid No. 2. De Smith was fourth in the NHL in goals-saved above expected per 60 last year.

6. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING: Andrei Vasilevskiy & Jonas Johansson

The Bolts are a tough team to rank. Vasilevskiy returned to his elite form last season, proving 2023-24 was an outlier caused by his recovering from back surgery. He finished as the Vezina runner-up in 2024-25. Just as importantly, he started an NHL-high 63 games – 76.8 percent of Tampa’s total. But I can’t place the Bolts in the top five given they employ Johansson, one of the NHL’s weakest backups. Over his 80 career appearances, he’s allowed roughly 32 more goals than a league-average goalie would. Last season alone, Vasilevskiy prevented roughly 36 more goals than a league-average goalie. The chasm between starter and backup on this team is enormous. That should make Bolts fans nervous given the mysterious reports about Vasilevskiy sitting out scrimmages in 2025-26 camp.

7. DETROIT RED WINGS: John Gibson & Cam Talbot

Gibson and Talbot both vastly outperformed their surface numbers last season. Both netminders played on bad defensive clubs and were forced to bail them out. The Ducks and Red Wings would’ve had far worse records without Gibson and Talbot last season. Now they’re tandem mates in Detroit and, given how little GM Steve Yzerman did to improve his team this summer, both will have to shoulder significant burdens in terms of the quality and quantity of the scoring chances they face.

8. NY RANGERS: Igor Shesterkin & Jonathan Quick

Throw Shesterkin’s “bad” 2024-25 season out the window. His .905 SV% and six shutouts were minor miracles on a freefalling Blueshirts team. Only one goalie faced more expected goals against. He’s the same elite, athletic tendy he’s always been. But Quick is faltering at 39, even in a backup role. His winning record was a fluke last season, as he actually allowed more goals than he should have relative to the scoring-chance difficulty. He’s still a seasoned pro with a high floor and can give Shesterkin a rest, which he needs from time to time given his taxing playing style.

9. COLORADO AVALANCHE: Mackenzie Blackwood & Scott Wedgewood

Last season, Blackwood answered the question many asked over the years: “What could he do if you put him on a great team?” Blackwood posted a .913 save percentage after the Avs acquired him and has established himself as a bona fide No. 1 goalie. He’s already nursing a lower-body injury to open the season, however. Good thing the Avs have insurance in Wedgewood, a reliable veteran who has been solidly above average in three of his past four NHL seasons and belongs in the high-end backup tier.

10. OTTAWA SENATORS: Linus Ullmark & Leevi Merilainen

Ullmark’s 2022-23 Vezina season with the Bruins was historically amazing and will be tough to replicate. But even if he’s only 80 percent as good as that season for the rest of his career, that makes him a solid starter and upgrade in Ottawa’s net. Merilainen was one of the best backups – scratch that, best goalies – in the NHL across his 12-game sample size last year. The Sens were impressed enough to let Anton Forsberg leave in free agency and anoint Merilainen their long-term No. 2. If he can continue his stellar play, this ranking will prove too low, but he remains relatively unproven.

11. LOS ANGELES KINGS: Darcy Kuemper & Anton Forsberg

Count me among the people who didn’t see Kuemper’s 2024-25 coming. I know he was joining a defensively elite Kings team, but he’d struggled so badly the season prior in Washington that I wasn’t sure he’d recover. He finished as a Vezina finalist. The Kings appear to have backslid defensively on paper this offseason, losing Vladislav Gavrikov and doing some serious subtraction by addition with Cody Ceci joining their D-corps, so Kuemper will be tested more this season. He gets some quality support from Forsberg, who had some nice seasons in Ottawa when his health cooperated.

12. NEW YORK ISLANDERS: Ilya Sorokin, David Rittich & Semyon Varlamov

The Islanders sunk into irrelevance last season. Sorokin therefore didn’t post his usual All-Star numbers but, like Shesterkin, he was still darn good if you look deeper at his goals saved above expected per 60. The winning record and .907 SV% on a bad team were real accomplishments. After the Isles dealt top defenseman Noah Dobson, they could hover near the bottom of the Metro Division this season as they break in sensational rookie defenseman and No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer, assuming he makes the team. Sorokin will once again have to steal games for the Isles to win. Varlamov is working his way back from knee surgery but, at 37, is hardly a lock to recapture his ‘Luxury 1B’ form. ‘Big Save Dave’ Rittich makes for an experienced safety net who can handle backup duties while Varlamov rehabs with no set return date.

13. FLORIDA PANTHERS: Sergei Bobrovsky & Daniil Tarasov

Bobrovsky’s career trajectory has inverted. He was once the dominant regular-season goalie who couldn’t succeed in the playoffs. Now he’s a back-to-back Stanley Cup champ who provides merely good rather than great regular-season work on a Panthers team that seemingly knows when to throttle up or down. The backup spot behind him has been a revolving door the past few seasons. Can Tarasov, Bobrovsky’s good friend and fellow ex-Blue Jacket, form a strong apprenticeship and get his career back on track? Since Tarasov’s performance isn’t easy to project, I’ve ranked the Panthers conservatively, but I wouldn’t bet against Florida fixing him. It’s more likely to happen than not on such a great defensive club.

14. ST. LOUIS BLUES: Jordan Binnington & Joel Hofer

Binnington hasn’t come close to matching his legendary 2018-19 rookie season in which he was probably the best goalie in the league from the moment he took over the Blues’ crease and helped them win the Cup. But he’s still a serviceable battler and an incredible puckhandler. Hofer carries the reputation as one of the better backups in the league, a youngster with upside who could start someday, though it’s worth noting he regressed in his sophomore season. Still, he’s one of the more exciting No. 2 options, someone capable of going on a run if Binnington gets hurt.

15. CAROLINA HURRICANES: Frederik Andersen & Pyotr Kochetkov

Andersen performed well in his limited duty last season, but his year-to-year health has become a question mark. Kochetkov is the more durable goalie of the two, but he hasn’t performed well enough in his opportunities to seize control of Carolina’s net. Is he still the Canes’ goalie of the future? They only entrusted him with two starts last postseason compared to 13 for Andersen.

16. MONTREAL CANADIENS: Sam Montembeault & Jakub Dobes

Don’t be surprised if the Habs make a big jump between now and next season’s rankings. Montembeault faced more expected goals than any NHL goalie last season on the league’s youngest team, and he kept them in games. Dobes had some impressive flashes in his limited duty. Both netminders have the upside to build on last season’s performances if the team around them matures. Adding Dobson to the blueline should help.

17. VANCOUVER CANUCKS: Thatcher Demko & Kevin Lankinen

When Demko’s extension kicks in next season, the Canucks will be paying their tandem a combined $13 million. Is that money well spent? Demko is an elite all-around talent who can be one of the best five goalies in the league when healthy, but he has to show he can still handle a 1A workload. Lankinen, on the other hand, is being paid top-end 1B money at $4.5 million despite more or less being a league-average goaltender for Vancouver. These two aren’t going to lose the Canucks games…but are they going to win them enough to justify that combined price tag?

18. MINNESOTA WILD: Filip Gustavsson & Jesper Wallstedt

The Wild probably deserve a better rank given Gustavsson has been outstanding in two of his past three seasons. Am I penalizing them too much for their No. 2 situation? Wallstedt, long considered one of the sport’s elite prospects, didn’t just languish in the AHL last year; he struggled in the AHL. That doesn’t inspire confidence that he’ll magically level up into an NHL-grade backup this season. He’s a true wild card, talented as he is.

19. CALGARY FLAMES: Dustin Wolf & Ivan Prosvetov

Wolf just had arguably the best full season from a rookie goalie since Steve Mason’s 2008-09. Wolf is undersized, but that doesn’t seem to matter. All the kid has done is flourish at every level, and he takes a ton of pride in proving people wrong. What do we think of Calgary’s backup situation, though? Prosvetov didn’t turn heads in his previous NHL stints, but he had a pretty outstanding 2024-25 in the KHL. He’s built like the anti-Wolf with a huge 6-foot-5 frame. Prosvetov could be a strong backup option, but since he remains a relative unknown, I’m keeping Calgary’s rank modest.

20. NASHVILLE PREDATORS: Juuse Saros & Justus Annunen

This feels like an extreme vote of non-confidence for Saros coming off a down year. He’s only a season removed from being a perennial Vezina candidate and one of the league’s top workhorses. But when we factor in how poorly Annunen played last year, the middle of the pack feels about right. Both netminders graded out as backup-tier or worse in goals saved above expected per 60 last season.

21. VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS: Adin Hill & Akira Schmid

Can Hill, a Stanley Cup winner, 4 Nations Face-Off goalie and probable Olympian, really slot this low? He’s been mostly good to great as a starter – but his durability is questionable. He’s quietly topped 35 starts in a season just once, albeit it was last season when he reached 50. Having walked away from Ilya Samsonov in free agency, Vegas for now will turn to Schmid as a shaky backup. He had a moment with the Devils a few years back, struggled horribly the year after, then impressed in limited duty with Vegas last season. Which one is the real him? Ideally, he’d be the Golden Knights’ No. 3 and they’d find a veteran No. 2 for insurance behind Hill.

22. BOSTON BRUINS: Jeremy Swayman & Joonas Korpisalo

Swayman finds himself in a similar situation to Saros’ – coming off a poor season and playing on a team trending in the wrong direction. We could blame a protracted contract negotiation that delayed Swayman joining the team last September – but Swayman was actually worse after the 4 Nations break than before it, cratering at an .878 SV%. Korpisalo “outplayed” him but wasn’t much better. He’s had that one great 2020 bubble playoff run, and a stellar stretch after the Los Angeles Kings acquired him at the 2022-23 Trade Deadline, but he’s been mostly subpar for the past half decade.

23. ANAHEIM DUCKS: Lukas Dostal, Petr Mrazek & Ville Husso

The cerebral Dostal keeps getting better. He had a breakout 2024-25 campaign, masked by the fact Anaheim’s horrific defensive play suppressed his overall numbers. Dostal was one of the best goalies in the NHL relative to his workload difficulty and is ready to become a true starter with Gibson gone. Behind him on the depth chart, however, it gets icky in a hurry. Mrazek and Husso have struggled in recent seasons and don’t inspire much confidence.

24. SEATTLE KRAKEN: Joey Daccord & Philipp Grubauer

Daccord has established himself as one of game’s most underrated netminders. Over the past two seasons, among goalies with 50 or more appearances, only four have a higher SV% than Daccord. But the quality of Seattle’s goaltending nosedives when Grubauer mans the crease. Consider that the Kraken, despite having an above-average starter, still finished 20^th overall in team SV% last season. They’d be better off turning Daccord into a 60-start bellcow.

25. UTAH MAMMOTH: Karel Vejmelka & Vitek Vanecek

Vejmelka belongs in the same bucket as Montembeault and Dostal: a good goaltender who elevated a team that played subpar defense last season. Among goalies with at least 25 games played last year, Vejmelka sat 19^th in goals saved above expected per 60, sandwiched between Gustavsson and Blackwood. With Connor Ingram waived, Vanecek slides in as the No. 2. He’s been solidly below average since his one breakthrough season as a pseudo starter with New Jersey in 2022-23. He’s one of the poorer backups in the league.

26. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS: Spencer Knight & Arvid Soderblom

Do the Hawks have their long-term No. 1 in Knight? His numbers dipped after the Hawks acquired him last winter, but team in front of him obviously paled in comparison, so that was understandable. And the truth is he performed pretty well; across his final 10 games of last season, he graded out as above-average relative to expected goals against. Combine that with his elite first-round prospect pedigree and there’s reason to believe Knight can be a strong backbone for Chicago this season. Soderblom has shown some flashes in his young NHL career but not enough to rise above the standard of “backup on bad NHL team.”

27. EDMONTON OILERS: Stuart Skinner & Calvin Pickard

We can at least say Skinner and Pickard are good enough to get Edmonton to the playoffs and the Stanley Cup Final – twice in a row. But it is possible this duo also cost Edmonton two Cups? The Oilers were one of the few teams in the league that got below-average goaltending from their No. 1 and No. 2 last year. Each of the teams listed above arguably has a better starter than whomever the Oilers trot out on any given night. I can at least award Skinner and Pickard points for their ability to get hot for extended stretches of time. On the whole, though, it continues to baffle me that a team so hellbent on winning – and keeping superstar Connor McDavid happy – doesn’t worry about its goaltending more.

28. BUFFALO SABRES: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Alex Lyon & Alexandar Georgiev

Luukkonen rose up as one of the top goalie prospects in the game in the years after being drafted in 2017, and so did trade acquisition Devon Levi, so it’s a shame the Sabres haven’t built up an elite goalie stable by now. ‘UPL’ seemed to have figured it out with an excellent 2023-24 season but regressed badly last season. Lyon, one of the better backups of the past several years, will push him for starts and could seize a bigger piece of the pie than expected since Luukkonen is battling an injury in training camp. Georgiev is mere insurance if UPL misses the start of the regular season

29. COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS: Jet Greaves & Elvis Merzlikins

If we graded this tandem based on Greaves’ April 2025, they jump to No. 1. Greaves was out of his mind during Columbus’ late-season playoff push, going 5-0-0 with a .975 SV%. He deserves a long look as the Blue Jackets’ starter; Merzlikins has six seasons with the franchise and hasn’t played well since 2021-22, so what does Columbus have to lose handing the keys to Greaves?

30. SAN JOSE SHARKS: Yaroslav Askarov & Alex Nedeljkovic

We can all agree Askarov is an extremely exciting prospect. But we can’t just hand him “good NHL starter” status. He has 16 career games to his name. The upside is undeniable for a netminder with his frame and athleticism, so there’s a great chance he makes good on his potential. But it won’t necessarily happen this season. As for Nedeljkovic: he struggled so badly last season that he openly criticized his own play. Landing on a tanking Sharks team feels like his rock bottom.

31. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS: Dan Vladar & Samuel Ersson

The Flyers had not one, not two, but three of the NHL’s absolute worst goaltenders last season. The good news is two of them are out of the equation; they dealt Ivan Fedotov to the Blue Jackets and plan to use Aleksei Kolosov in the AHL. The bad news is that one of them, Ersson, is still part of their NHL duo. No goalie who appeared in 30 or more games last season performed worse than Ersson, who allowed an NHL-high 19.9 goals above expected. Dan Vladar thus has the best opportunity of his career to seize a starting role. The two-year, $3.35-million-AAV deal he earned in the offseason suggests the Flyers will give him a large share of starts.

32. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS: Arturs Silovs & Tristan Jarry

Jarry’s 2024-25 was a hellish fever dream in which he allowed a goal on the first shot he faced six times in 22 games before the Pens waived and demoted him. To call him a volatile option would be a gross understatement. Silovs hasn’t flourished as a regular-season NHLer but does carry some prospect pedigree and did help Vancouver filling in for injured Demko and DeSmith in the 2023-24 playoffs. It still feels like these two are mere seat fillers before the prospects take over: Sergei Murashov and, to a lesser extent, Joel Blomqvist.

Advanced stats courtesy of Money Puck

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