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As far as best NHL goalies 2023-24 go, there are many great candidates to be among the top of the league this upcoming season. There are a few big names that have been in the conversation for many years now, but there are others that have come out of nowhere and had an incredible season last year.
Top 10 best NHL goalies 2023-24
A great goaltender is key if a team wants to have a successful season. Goalies that can stand on their heads and steal games for their team are incredibly valuable and are often the difference between winning and losing in the postseason.
The talent of current goaltenders in the league is deep. There is no clear best goaltender right now as it seems to change from year to year. Some have performed at the highest level for a long time, while others need to prove they belong at the top with another strong season this upcoming year.
None of the goaltenders on this list are currently regarded as one of the greatest goalies in league history, but they are currently the best netminders in the game today.
10. Thatcher Demko
Thatcher Demko did not have the season he hoped for in 2022-23, playing in just 32 games after missing a big chunk of time due to a groin injury.
Demko did have a good ending to the season though. In his final 17 games coming back from injury, Demko went 11-4-2 with one shutout. He had a good year in 2021-22, finishing seventh in Vezina Trophy voting after posting a 2.72 goals-against average and .915 save percentage.
At just 27 years old, Demko has plenty of good years left with the Vancouver Canucks. He should be a top-10 goaltender in the league if he is able to stay healthy this upcoming season.
9. Juuse Saros
A 28-year-old from Finland, Juuse Saros is the starting goaltender for the Nashville Predators. He has spent his entire career thus far with the team, appearing in 286 NHL games.
Saros has been a major workhorse for the Predators the last couple of seasons. He has led the league in games played for the past two years, appearing in 67 games in 2021-22 and 64 games last season.
Saros has a career goals-against average of 2.58. He had 33 wins this past year, which was seventh most among all goaltenders.
8. Filip Gustavsson
Filip Gustavsson looks to be the Minnesota Wild’s goaltender for the future.
At just 25 years old, he was excellent in the 37 games he started in 2022-23. Gustavsson had a goals-against average of 2.10, which was the second-best in the entire league. His save percentage of .931 was also second among all goalies.
It will be interesting to see if Gustavsson can keep playing at a high level this season. He has only started 60 games in his career so far, so there may be some bumps in the road. However, the talent and skill are already there, and this may just be the start of a very successful career.
7. Connor Hellebuyck
Connor Hellebuyck has been one of the top goaltenders in the league for a while now.
Hellebuyck is a former Vezina Trophy recipient, winning the award in 2020. He has also come second, third, and fourth in Vezina voting across three separate seasons, which included finishing third this past year.
Hellebuyck started 64 games with the Winnipeg Jets in 2022-23. He had 37 wins, and his .920 save percentage was good enough for fifth-best among all goaltenders. He also had a 2.49 goals-against average last season, which is the third lowest of his career.
6. Alexandar Georgiev
Alexandar Georgiev went from going undrafted to playing for one of the best teams in the NHL.
The current Colorado Avalanche netminder started 62 games for the team last season. His 40 wins were tied for the most in the league. He posted a 2.53 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.
Georgiev began his career with the New York Rangers before being traded to the Avalanche during the 2022 offseason. The move proved to be a good one for Colorado, as they appear to have found their goaltender for the next while.
5. Linus Ullmark
The Boston Bruins were one of the best teams in NHL history throughout the regular season last year. A big part of their success was the play of Linus Ullmark.
Ullmark posted a 1.89 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage, which led the league in both categories. He ran away with the Vezina Trophy, as there was no debating who was the best goaltender in the league last season.
It is unlikely that Ullmark will be able to replicate his performance from last year again this season. However, if his level is anywhere close to where it was a season ago, he will definitely find himself rising higher up on this list.
4. Jake Oettinger
Jake Oettinger is only 24 years old and is already making a name for himself in the league.
The 2017 first-round pick had his best season yet in 2022-23. His production rose significantly as he started 61 games for the Dallas Stars. He finished in the top seven among goaltenders in both save percentage and goals-against average.
Oettinger had a record of 37-11-11 last season. He finished fifth in Vezina Trophy voting, and it will be only a matter of time before he wins it.
3. Igor Shesterkin
Igor Shesterkin did not have his best season last year but is still one of the best NHL goalies 2023-24 has to offer.
Shesterkin is still fairly new to the league, appearing in just 158 games in his career so far. He had the biggest workload of his career last season, starting 58 games. He had a record of 37-13-8 and had three shutouts.
It has not even been two years since Shesterkin had his incredible Vezina Trophy-winning season. The discussion for the best goaltender is currently very tight, and if Shesterkin has a year similar to the one he had in 2021-22, he could be regarded as the league’s best goalie by the end of the season.
2. Ilya Sorokin
Ilya Sorokin has only been in the league for two full seasons but has already done enough to be regarded as one of the NHL’s best.
In 2021-22, Sorokin finished sixth in Vezina Trophy voting after posting a 2.40 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. His level improved in 2022-23, finishing with the sixth-lowest goals-against average and the third-highest save percentage. Sorokin’s stellar play in goal was acknowledged around the league, as he finished in second for the Vezina Trophy.
Sorokin already has 16 shutouts in his career. His 13 shutouts in the previous two seasons are the most of any goaltender in that span.
1. Andrei Vasilevskiy
The best goaltender heading into the 2023-24 season is Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Vasilevskiy has been among the league’s elite for many years now. He has been in the top six in Vezina Trophy voting every season since 2017-18. He won the Vezina Trophy in 2019 and also has two Stanley Cups and a Conn Smythe Trophy to his name.
EA Sports appears to agree that Vasilevskiy is the best currently, ranking him as one of the top goaltenders in NHL 23. Vasilevskiy has led the league in wins in five of the previous six seasons and has 65 career playoff victories.
