Finding quality in goaltending platoon more important than ever
Published
Perhaps the most interesting roster building dynamic in the National Hockey League’s modern era can be found at the goaltending position.
For decades, front offices endlessly searched for a premium workhorse goaltender. These elite puck-stoppers didn’t just have lengthy track records of outperformance, but were routinely playing in excess of 60 or 70 games in a single season. Finding the next Patrick Roy, Dominik Hasek, or Martin Brodeur was a primary focus of every franchise — having that type of goaltending advantage on a nightly basis was compelling, and typically those elite goaltenders underpinned championship runs.
But over time, and for a variety of reasons, that strategy has changed. Some of it concerns the in-flow of talent (predominantly from European countries over the last 20-years), which has created a much larger supply of available talent in net. Some of it concerns the risk appetite of franchises, as teams have learned of the dramatically negative effects high fatigue loads can create for player performance, to say nothing of the injury risk. Then there’s the inherent volatility of the position, tied to a league with a hard salary cap — teams were increasingly being burned by big contractual commitments to underperforming goaltenders. And to that end, some front offices figured spending that money on more predictable positions (i.e. forwards, now playing in a heightened scoring era environment) was better for risk management and return on investment.
But while the goaltending position has dramatically changed over time, its importance is still significant. A few teams — a la the Winnipeg Jets and Connor Hellebuyck — still have access to that entrenched, high end starter. But that’s much more an exception than the rule these days. For most front offices, the question of “Who is our starting goaltender on opening night?” has shifted to “What does our goaltending room look like this season?”
And for good reason. If you look across the NHL’s modern era (2007-24), you see a decisive long-term trend moving away from heavy starter usage rates, and towards platoon-style setups across the league:
Looking at just the 2023-24 season, only three goaltenders (Nashville’s Juuse Saros, Colorado’s Alex Georgiev, and Winnipeg’s Hellebuyck) crossed the 60-game threshold last season. For these three teams, back-up goaltenders were still soaking up 25 per cent of total minutes. And for the rest of the league (29 of 32 teams!), their goaltending room was some version of a weighted platoon.
It’s why you have seen 50 – yes, 50! – goaltenders extend contracts or sign new deals since the end of the 2023-24 regular season. As teams leverage more platoon-style setups, you see more shorter-term contracts that lend itself to more movement at the position. With that comes more attention to the developmental pipeline at the position, as teams search for goaltending talent in bulk – rather than a Hasek-like unicorn from yesteryear.
Make no mistake, goaltending is still of critical importance for chasing championships, and shoddy netminding is still the fastest way to sink a team in the standings. When your non-starters are playing nearly half of those minutes, having quality behind your starter – or having multiple starters for that matter – is mission critical.
To that end, it’s not about substituting quantity for quality at the goaltending position. It’s about ensuring you have multiple capable options at the position over the course of a regular season. And if you don’t believe me, chew on this final thought: the last four Stanley Cup winners (Tampa Bay; Colorado; Vegas; Florida) utilized 14-different goaltenders to get to the finish line.
Data via Natural Stat Trick, NHL.com, Evolving Hockey, PuckPedia