The Goalie Report: Risers & Fallers

Three weeks ago, I highlighted Dustin Wolf as a goalie to watch considering the Flames' struggles. That became a reality after Jacob Markstrom was hurt, prompting the call for Wolf. Despite being tagged with the loss, Wolf looked very good, stopping 34 of 38 shots without getting much help.

You wonder if Wolf remains with the team when Markstrom returns since Dan Vladar has proven to be unreliable. Should Wolf remain, he might be a valuable fantasy asset for saves and some wins. Keep in mind, though, that the Flames are sellers right now with Nikita Zadorov requesting a trade, Chris Tanev already in the rumor mill and Noah Hanifin likely to join him if he doesn't re-sign.

Calvin Pickard was the other notable call up after Jack Campbell was waived. Campbell's path back to the NHL looks bleak; he's allowed eight goals in two games in the AHL with a .826 save percentage. Stuart Skinner is the goalie to roster only because he's going to get a large portion of the starts, and only out of necessity.

Here's this week's Goalie Report.

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Stuart Skinner, Oilers (2-5-1, 3.53 GAA, .861 Sv%)

It's almost painful to put Skinner in this section, but the reality is he's the Oilers' undisputed No. 1. It's very difficult to see Calvin Pickard catching fire like Pheonix Copley did last season, and the upside is when you hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up. That's the good part about the Oilers' prospects, and perhaps they get a bump from the new coach in Kris Knoblauch. Skinner is worth holding in fantasy without Jack Campbell competing for starts, but perhaps staple him to the bench until the Oilers turn it around.

Pyotr Kochetkov, Hurricanes (Last start: 23-save shutout vs. Lightning)

It was perhaps the easiest shutout of Kochetkov's career, facing few shots against a Lightning team that was missing Nikita Kucherov (illness). Kochetkov and Antti Raanta will likely split the starts for the rest of the season, assuming Jaroslav Halak isn't signed; if Halak is signed, all bets are off and Kochetkov may return to the AHL — with the Lightning's farm team, ironically, since the Canes don't have one. Kochetkov has oodles of potential, but he hasn't been particularly good this season. Again, you're going for quantity and not quality starts, though the Canes are a much better team than the Oilers.

Sergei Bobrovsky, Panthers (Last week: 4-0-0, 3.01 GAA, .888 Sv%)

The save percentage and goals against are proof that Bobrovsky still isn't that good, but he can be a reliable source of wins. The Panthers got Sam Bennett back and will likely see the return of Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad soon. That's going to help them win even more games, giving Bobrovsky more fantasy value. Among mid-tier goalies, Bobrovsky is at the top of the list, and the wins he provides will be important with so many teams opting for tandems.

Connor Ingram, Coyotes (5-1-0, 2.87 GAA, .911 Sv%)

Ingram and Karel Vejmelka are basically operating a timeshare, except Ingram's been doing the better job of stopping pucks. At this current pace, if the Coyotes are serious about fighting for a playoff spot — which they certainly have the ability to do — Ingram might take over as the 1A. It's still early in the season, but fantasy teams that are short on goalies can stream or stash Ingram.

Joel Hofer, Blues (3-1-0, 2.50 GA, .918 Sv%)

Hofer was a popular zero-G pick early in the season as someone who could potentially take over the starting job. Those ideas were derailed when Jordan Binnington got off to a hot start, but with the Blues struggling to win games consistently, Hofer has been consistently excellent since allowing six goals in his season debut. Discounting that start, he's allowed only four goals on 80 shots (.950 Sv%), and the Blues might start thinking about rotating Binnington and Hofer going forward one of them really stands outs.

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Jonas Johansson, Lightning (Last week: 0-2-1, 5.13 GAA, .842 Sv%)

We knew it wouldn't last. Johansson has never been particularly reliable in his career — look how many teams passed on him — and with the amount of shots the Lightning have been allowing lately, it was only a matter of time before they started going in. With Andrei Vasilevskiy close to returning, we've likely passed Johansson's peak fantasy value, and it's unlikely he'll fetch anything valuable in return in fantasy.

Ville Husso, Red Wings (Last week: 1-1-0, 4.63 GAA, .833 Sv%)

We're looking a possible timeshare with James Reimer, who has outperformed Husso this season. It's nice that Husso's getting the wins, but he's posted a save percentage higher than .910 just twice this season. You can't stop less than 85 percent of the shots and expect to win consistently and, at some point, Derek Lalonde is going to just roll with Reimer. Keep in mind that the Wings are carrying a third goalie in Alex Lyon.

Juuse Saros, Predators (4-8-0, 3.24 GAA, .894 Sv%)

At the very least, Saros should provide an excellent save percentage, but he hasn't been able to do that this season. He's allowed 18 goals in his past four starts, leading the league in losses but not in saves or shots against. The Predators' season started off somewhat promising but they look like they're headed to the lottery without quality depth on the roster. Where Saros was previously the excellent goalie on a mediocre team that fantasy managers could count on for the occasional win and great peripheral stats, we're now looking at an underperforming goalie on a not-very-good team. There's not much fantasy value in that, and at this rate, Saros is not going to live up to his average draft position of 46.8.