The Goalie Report: Risers and Fallers

We highlight the top netminding performances and some of the poorest efforts, as we provide a barometer of the weekly fluctuations at this position around the NHL. The success of these risers is best highlighted in comparison to some of their partners in goal.

Trending Up

Sam Montembeault, Canadiens (2-1-0, .964 Sv%, 1.00 GAA)

After struggling during recent games, Montembeault rebounded with a solid week, in backstopping the Habs to a pair of wins over his three starts. He was aided by a teamwide, concerted effort to keep the shots allowed under control, with Montreal allowing just 83 over the three games. The best news for young Montembeault is that he has been established as the unquestioned primary starter in goal, so he's not facing the pressure of losing this role at the moment. He's a lock to continue getting the majority of the starting assignments here.    

Joey Daccord, Kraken (3-0-0, .940 Sv%, 1.67 GAA)

Daccord has built upon last season's breakout with a great start to his 2024-25 campaign. His perfect record last week extended a personal four-game win streak, during which he's allowed only eight goals against. His 8-3-1 record is a strong indication that he's distanced himself in the goalie pecking order in Seattle. His tandem partner, Philipp Grubauer, is struggling with a 1-6 mark, along with an ordinary 3.11 GAA and .881 Sv%.    

Karel Vejmelka, Utah (1-1-0, .933 Sv%, 2.34 GAA)

Vejmelka has worked alongside Connor Ingram during the past three seasons. The starting assignments have been favoring Ingram throughout last season and early this year, a contrast to their first year and a half together, when Vejmelka had the dominant role. The Czech native has once again looked the more impressive of the two, in recent weeks, and may be in line for a larger share of the Utah netminding role, particularly as Ingram is on IR now. He's hoping to build on his last four starts, which have seen him limit opponents to a total of only 8 goals against.

Elvis Merzlikins, Blue Jackets (2-1-0, .917 Sv%, 2.35 GAA)

The Blue Jackets were expected to struggle this season, but they've been more competitive than we thought, largely because of Merzlikins efforts in goal. He's sporting a .905 Sv% and 2.72 GAA, over ten appearances, for a team many predicted would be the league doormat. His numbers are clearly superior to his partner, Daniil Tarasov, who has a record that includes an .899 Sv% and 3.17 GAA. As Merzlikins has topped 41 games played only once in his career, it remains to be seen if he's up to the challenge of a larger workload, but the early returns are fairly positive.     

Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning (3-0-0, .958 Sv%, 1.00 GAA)

Vasilevskiy is as close as there is to a goalie who is a lock to play at least 60 games once again this season. In fact, he appears poised to add one of the best seasons to his 11-year career, with the lowest GAA (2.13) and an impressive .919 Sv% through 15 games played. He's enjoying a reduction of shots on goal, only seeing more than 30 once over his last 6 starts. That's going to be a big factor in assisting his durability. The fact that his backup, Jonas Johansson, has struggled (.866 Sv%, 4.52 GAA), is a bit of a concern. At some point, this busy starter is going to need a breather.     

Filip Gustavsson, Wild (2-1-0, .952 Sv%, 1.35 GAA)

The Minnesota Wild's successful start has to rank as one of the biggest surprises this season. A big part of their good start is the outstanding play of Gustavsson. He's taken on an increased workload in each of his first four seasons as a pro and is on track, at his current pace, to do that again. Coming off a subpar season, he also seems intent on continuing a trend of alternating an outstanding year with an ordinary one. The competitive Central Division, featuring powerhouses in Colorado, Dallas and Winnipeg, will require him to keep it up if the Wild are to remain in playoff contention.  

Trending Down

Jeremy Swayman, Bruins (1-2-0, .841 Sv%, 4.67 GAA)

After a tumultuous contract negotiation was resolved on the eve of the regular season and his assumption of the clear top goalie role with the Bruins, all eyes have been on Swayman. He and his teammates have stumbled out of the gate, like nothing we've seen in the five years that Swayman has toiled for the Bruins. It's hard to say how much of the blame lies with the goalie. Through 20 games, the B's record is only 8-9-3, which would have them on the brink of playoff qualification. It's no wonder that a coaching change happened this week. Swayman, a young leader of this team, has publicly accepted his share of the blame.    

Devon Levi, Sabres (1-2-0, .855 Sv%, 4.03 GAA)

Levi entered this season as a highly touted prospect, who had been advertised as the Sabres goalie of future.  He was hoping to build on an impressive college career, a solid stint in AHL and decent effort with the Sabres last year. Unfortunately, he has taken a back seat to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who has his own plans to be the top goalie in Buffalo. UPL had started eight of nine games before a trio of starts for Levi last week. The fact that they didn't go well led to the decision to send him down to Rochester (AHL) to iron out his game and get more work away from the NHL spotlight.

Ilya Sorokin, Islanders (0-1-1, .899 Sv%, 3.50 GAA)

Sorokin was expected to be the front end of the goalie split here and, so far, he has 11 of the 19 starting assignments. However, his backup Semyon Varlamov has posted a marginally superior GAA year to date. That speaks to a likelihood that this could continue to be a fairly even split between the two veteran netminders. Within the context of the Isles' defense-first system, that should bode well for keeping both goalies fresh throughout this campaign. The expectation is that, in crunch time, Sorokin should remain the go-to option here.

Linus Ullmark, Senators (0-1-1, .800 Sv%, 4.85)

Ullmark was expected to bring some stability to the Sens' goalie position and, until this past week, the club had to pleased with the early returns. However, a pair of subpar efforts have muddied the waters in assessing his performance. He now has four games, out of his 11 starts, where he's surrendered five goal in an appearance. To put that in perspective, he had only four games like that in 39 starts with Boston last season. The truth of the matter is that Ottawa's loose defensive structure may have more to do with this than his performance, but it's a situation that suddenly bears watching.