The age-old debate when it comes to any sport, any league, any team:who arethe best of the best?
With the NHL's preseason on the horizon, let's takes a look at the top 25 players at each position right now: forward, defenseand goalie. This list takes into account both recent NHL performance including goals saved above average (GSAA) and what is expected from the playerin the year to come.
"Dobby" may haveplayedthe best hockeyof his career last season in Dallas. Even though he split time with 2019 Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop, Khudobin played in 41 games more than he ever had in one year before. Dallas deployed its goaltenders at a near-even split last season (Ben Bishop appeared in 46 games)andseemedto benefit heavily from both goalies getting rest throughout the year, ultimately finishing second in total goals against (200).
Wow, Anton Khudobin. That's nasty.: NHL
Yahoo Sports NHL (@YahooSportsNHL)
Khudobin is anNHL veteran by now and owns an affable, laid-back reputation, but his career has been a series of ups and downs. The 33-year-old hasnever quite established himself as a starter but has succeeded in different stints with Boston, Carolinaand now Dallas. Hehas perhaps found an ideal situation in the Lone Star State.
DALLAS STARS:
24. Carter Hart, Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia's hopes and dreams rest in the puck-stopping skills oftheir 21-year-old netminder whomade his NHL debut on Dec. 18. Just two years prior, he was thefirst goalie selected in the NHL Draft (48th overall)and turned heads with anoutstanding performance 1.81 goals-against average, .929 save percentage in six games for Canada atthe 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Good with the glove is a skill Carter Hart po se ses.
NHL (@NHL)
Hart played out a succe sful first NHL season, collectinga 16-13-1 record and .917 save percentage and mannedan eight-game winning streak in January.The Flyers have committed to his development by bringing in veteran Brian Elliott to platoon withand mentor the young Sherwood Park, Alta., native. Philadelphiahasnot advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2012 and while goaltending hasn't always been the strongest position for the Flyers, Hart could be the goaltender that brings them back to postseason succe s.
MORE:
23.Thomas Grei s, New York Islanders
One half of the Islanders' terrific goalie tandem alongside Robin Lehner last season, Grei s went 23-14-2 with a 2.28 GAA, .927 save percentage and five shutouts. His efforts gave him a share of the William M. Jennings Trophy with Lehner after compiling a league-low 2.33 GAA. A perennial backup, the 33-year-old suited up in 43 games, the most he's played in since 2016-17 (51).
Thomas Grei s coming in hot with the Save of The Year! Congrats Grei ser!
New York Islanders (@NYIslanders)
Grei s appears destined to play out his last season under contract in New York as a backup or "1B" option, again, after the Islanders signed Niko Goodrum Jersey Semyon Varlamov to a four-year deal in July.Hissolid track record makes him a perfectly capable goalie when he's not forced to carry a heavy workload.
MORE:
22.Martin Jones, San Jose Sharks
Jones is among the top five goalies in games played over the last three seasons. Unfortunately, that heavy workload has not worked for him. Two of those seasonsfeature respectable goaltending numbers;last season his play nosedived. His save percentage (.896) was 51 out of 54 totalgoaltenders who played 25-plus games in 2018-19.
Martin Jones has been sharp.Another big one here late in the second.
NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports)
The postseason really did not prove better for San Jose's goalie. While the Sharks took the eventual Stanley Cup championBlues to the Western Conference finals sixth game, Jones struggled despite facingmore than 30 shots against in only eight of 20 playoff games.
Chalk it up as one poor season in an otherwise steady career, but Jones is under contract for five more seasons and if he can't bounce back it could be a long season in San Jose.
SHARK WEEK 2019:
21. Semyon Varlamov, New York Islanders
Varlamov's eight- James McCann Jersey year tenure in Colorado came to an end after playing 49 games last season witha.909 save percentage to boot as Philipp Grubauerstarted for the Avalanche in the playoffs. With Grubauer slated to be the team's starter moving forward, Varlamov signed with the Islanders in July.He shouldcapable ofmore than he showed last season, although hehas only played more than 50 games once in the last three seasons.
The 31-year-old enters perhaps an idealscenario asNew York excelled with a two-goalie tandem last season. Perhaps Varlamov will find his gameon Long Island as Lehner, a 2019 Vezina Trophy finalist, did last season.
NHL FARM SYSTEM RANKINGS:Top prospect pipelines for the 2019-20 season
20.Petr Mrazek, Carolina Hurricanes
Mrazek played an important rolein one of the best succe s stories last season, helping backstop the Hurricanes all the way to the Eastern Conference finals. However, the season was not an immediate succe s story on Jan. 1, the Hurricanes were outside the playoff picture. The 27-year-old netminder's commanding play in the final half of the season (15-5-1, .924save percentage after Jan. 13) helped Carolina earn a wild card spot.
Just look at how quickly Petr Mrazek's glove moves
NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports)
In the postseason, Mrazek was in goal for Leonys Martin Jersey the Hurricanes upset ofthe No. 2 seeded Washington Capitals in seven games. He got hurt in the next round but did return for the conference finals where he faltered in net. Now healthy, he'll lead Carolina in net and they'll surelyneed him again next spring.
19. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings
The 2018-19 season was certainly the worst season of Quick's 12-year career in 46 games he had a losing record with a 3.38 GAA, .888 save percentage and just19 quality starts. Why does he appear at No. 19 on this list, then, and not at the end? Should he be on it at all?
Los Angeles' was the league's second-worst team last season (31-42-9, 71 points), so it's not all on the goalie. While the franchise has plenty of work to do to get back to competing,Quick's season was an extreme deviation from the norm.Perhaps the 33-year-old Connecticut native isno longer th
The age-old debate when it comes to any sport, any league, any team:who arethe best of the best?
With the NHL's preseason on the horizon, let's takes a look at the top 25 players at each position right now: forward, defenseand goalie. This list takes into account both recent NHL performance including goals saved above average (GSAA) and what is expected from the playerin the year to come.
MORE: |
Here Jose Iglesias Jersey are the top 25 NHL goaliesfor the 2019-20 season:
25. Anton Khudobin, Dallas Stars
"Dobby" may haveplayedthe best hockeyof his career last season in Dallas. Even though he split time with 2019 Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop, Khudobin played in 41 games more than he ever had in one year before. Dallas deployed its goaltenders at a near-even split last season (Ben Bishop appeared in 46 games)andseemedto benefit heavily from both goalies getting rest throughout the year, ultimately finishing second in total goals against (200).
Wow, Anton Khudobin. That's nasty.: NHL
Yahoo Sports NHL (@YahooSportsNHL)
Khudobin is anNHL veteran by now and owns an affable, laid-back reputation, but his career has been a series of ups and downs. The 33-year-old hasnever quite established himself as a starter but has succeeded in different stints with Boston, Carolinaand now Dallas. Hehas perhaps found an ideal situation in the Lone Star State.
DALLAS STARS:
24. Carter Hart, Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia's hopes and dreams rest in the puck-stopping skills oftheir 21-year-old netminder whomade his NHL debut on Dec. 18. Just two years prior, he was thefirst goalie selected in the NHL Draft (48th overall)and turned heads with anoutstanding performance 1.81 goals-against average, .929 save percentage in six games for Canada atthe 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Good with the glove is a skill Carter Hart po se ses.
NHL (@NHL)
Hart played out a succe sful first NHL season, collectinga 16-13-1 record and .917 save percentage and mannedan eight-game winning streak in January.The Flyers have committed to his development by bringing in veteran Brian Elliott to platoon withand mentor the young Sherwood Park, Alta., native. Philadelphiahasnot advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2012 and while goaltending hasn't always been the strongest position for the Flyers, Hart could be the goaltender that brings them back to postseason succe s.
MORE:
23.Thomas Grei s, New York Islanders
One half of the Islanders' terrific goalie tandem alongside Robin Lehner last season, Grei s went 23-14-2 with a 2.28 GAA, .927 save percentage and five shutouts. His efforts gave him a share of the William M. Jennings Trophy with Lehner after compiling a league-low 2.33 GAA. A perennial backup, the 33-year-old suited up in 43 games, the most he's played in since 2016-17 (51).
Thomas Grei s coming in hot with the Save of The Year! Congrats Grei ser!
New York Islanders (@NYIslanders)
Grei s appears destined to play out his last season under contract in New York as a backup or "1B" option, again, after the Islanders signed Niko Goodrum Jersey Semyon Varlamov to a four-year deal in July.Hissolid track record makes him a perfectly capable goalie when he's not forced to carry a heavy workload.
MORE:
22.Martin Jones, San Jose Sharks
Jones is among the top five goalies in games played over the last three seasons. Unfortunately, that heavy workload has not worked for him. Two of those seasonsfeature respectable goaltending numbers;last season his play nosedived. His save percentage (.896) was 51 out of 54 totalgoaltenders who played 25-plus games in 2018-19.
Martin Jones has been sharp.Another big one here late in the second.
NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports)
The postseason really did not prove better for San Jose's goalie. While the Sharks took the eventual Stanley Cup championBlues to the Western Conference finals sixth game, Jones struggled despite facingmore than 30 shots against in only eight of 20 playoff games.
Chalk it up as one poor season in an otherwise steady career, but Jones is under contract for five more seasons and if he can't bounce back it could be a long season in San Jose.
SHARK WEEK 2019:
21. Semyon Varlamov, New York Islanders
Varlamov's eight- James McCann Jersey year tenure in Colorado came to an end after playing 49 games last season witha.909 save percentage to boot as Philipp Grubauerstarted for the Avalanche in the playoffs. With Grubauer slated to be the team's starter moving forward, Varlamov signed with the Islanders in July.He shouldcapable ofmore than he showed last season, although hehas only played more than 50 games once in the last three seasons.
The 31-year-old enters perhaps an idealscenario asNew York excelled with a two-goalie tandem last season. Perhaps Varlamov will find his gameon Long Island as Lehner, a 2019 Vezina Trophy finalist, did last season.
NHL FARM SYSTEM RANKINGS:Top prospect pipelines for the 2019-20 season
20.Petr Mrazek, Carolina Hurricanes
Mrazek played an important rolein one of the best succe s stories last season, helping backstop the Hurricanes all the way to the Eastern Conference finals. However, the season was not an immediate succe s story on Jan. 1, the Hurricanes were outside the playoff picture. The 27-year-old netminder's commanding play in the final half of the season (15-5-1, .924save percentage after Jan. 13) helped Carolina earn a wild card spot.
Just look at how quickly Petr Mrazek's glove moves
NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports)
In the postseason, Mrazek was in goal for Leonys Martin Jersey the Hurricanes upset ofthe No. 2 seeded Washington Capitals in seven games. He got hurt in the next round but did return for the conference finals where he faltered in net. Now healthy, he'll lead Carolina in net and they'll surelyneed him again next spring.
19. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings
The 2018-19 season was certainly the worst season of Quick's 12-year career in 46 games he had a losing record with a 3.38 GAA, .888 save percentage and just19 quality starts. Why does he appear at No. 19 on this list, then, and not at the end? Should he be on it at all?
Los Angeles' was the league's second-worst team last season (31-42-9, 71 points), so it's not all on the goalie. While the franchise has plenty of work to do to get back to competing,Quick's season was an extreme deviation from the norm.Perhaps the 33-year-old Connecticut native isno longer th