The top 5 NHL goaltenders of 2024

Credit: Oct 4, 2024; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) makes a save against the Calgary Flames during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

With the final days of 2024 ahead, I figured what better way to celebrate then by highlighting some of the best performances that we’ve witnessed in the calendar year.

Over these last few days of the year, I’ll look at the best players at all five positions (goaltender, defense, right wing, left wing, and center) from 2024, which includes the January to April months of the 2023-24 season, the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the October to December months in the 2024-25 season.

Today, we’ll be looking at goaltenders. It was an interesting year at the position, as it was one that saw a lot of the usual suspects considered to be the best in the crease struggle, and plenty of surprise candidates take a step forward in their place. However, the best of the best won’t provide too much shock value.

Let’s look at a few honourable mentions before kicking off the countdown:

Honourable Mentions

Sergei Bobrovsky – While a poor start to the 2024-25 regular season prevented Bobrovsky from cracking the top five, I’d be hard pressed to not mention him at all, considering he won a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers and played a big part in that. He was one of the favourites for the Conn Smythe Trophy before the blown 3-0 series lead for a reason, and the Panthers will want to see him return to that form if they want a chance at repeating in 2025.

Sam Montembeault – There was a lot of conversations surrounding Team Canada’s goaltending and how it doesn’t stack up to the other big countries in hockey, but it should bode well for Canada that not only is Montembeault showcasing that he’s one of the best goalies in the league right now, he also isn’t the only Canadian goalie you’ll see on this list. Montembeault’s boxcar stats don’t exactly pop out, but his underlying numbers are quite good when you adjust for his performance behind a weak Montreal Canadiens squad, so he at least deserved a shout-out.

Anthony Stolarz – In the calendar year of 2024, no one with at least 15 regular season games played had a higher save percentage than Stolarz’s .928%. If he had a larger sample size to go off of, he probably could have challenged for the top spot, but considering how many other goalies put up similarly strong numbers this year with more games played, he only gets an honourable mention.

5. Lukas Dostal

Regular Season: 47 GP, 0.912 Sv%, 22.6 5v5 GSAx, 2 SO
Playoffs: N/A

Entering the 2023-24 season as a backup goalie for the Anaheim Ducks, Dostal not only fit well in that role, but even played so well that it left the Ducks with no choice but to have him and John Gibson play more as a tandem pairing by the end of the season. So when it was announced that Gibson would miss the first several weeks of the season due to appendicitis, how the Ducks would do in net without him wasn’t a concern with Dostal right behind him.

Not only did Dostal play well with Gibson out, he’s been playing like one of the best goaltenders in the league. His 20.74 goals saved above expected this season is second only to Connor Hellebuyck, and his .916% save percentage is fifth behind Stolarz, Hellebuyck, Filip Gustavsson and Karel Vejmelka. On top of that, this performance comes behind a Ducks squad that allows the most expected goals against per 60 minutes this season – and the third-most since the stat started to be recorded in 2007-08.

Dostal’s play this season alone is what secures him a spot on the list, although his performance in the second half of the 2023-24 season was also quite excellent. Regardless, he’ll certainly earn some Vezina votes this season if he continues this play, and if the Ducks make any noise down the stretch, it will certainly be because of him.

4. Jordan Binnington

Regular Season: 56 GP, 0.911 Sv%, 31.71 5v5 GSAx, 3 SO
Playoffs: N/A

Binnington is the second goaltender selected to Team Canada’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off to make this list, and considering the 2023-24 season that he had, it’s easy to see why. His .913% save percentage that season doesn’t quite jump off the page, but his 29.74 GSAx was the second-best in the league behind Hellebuyck, performing exceptionally well behind a St. Louis Blues team that allowed the fifth-most expected goals per 60 minutes. From January 1st onwards, Binnington was actually better than Hellebuyck, with his 28.53 GSAx in that stretch being 6 more than Hellebuyck.

However, what holds him back is that, like Dostal, his top-five caliber play was only seen in one half of the year. It’s not that he’s been bad in the second half, as his 3.18 GSAx from October to December is still more than fine, but it blends in a lot more with the pack of goalies in the league. The three goalies ahead of him at this point were either consistently really good all year, or had multiple stretches of elite play.

3. Joey Daccord

Regular Season: 50 GP, 0.915 Sv%, 23.05 5v5 GSAx, 3 SO
Playoffs: N/A

The Seattle Kraken saw something in Joey Daccord’s game when they claimed him from the Ottawa Senators in their expansion draft in 2021, and while it took a couple of seasons to develop that, he’s now become one of the top goalies in the league. He had stretches in the 2023-24 season of elite play, but at the very least, he had established himself as a starter. However, this season has seen him taken another big step, and it makes sense why Team Canada was so desperate to get his passport situation figured out in hopes that he could play for them.

Much like Binnington, Daccord’s .913% SV% this season doesn’t stand out as incredible play, but it’s his 12.94 GSAx that really showcases what he’s done this year. And this is a common theme so far, but Daccord’s excellent play also comes behind a Kraken team that’s tied for the eighth-worst 5v5 expected goals against per 60. His impact on the team isn’t just shown there, as they’re 12-8-2 with him in the net, and 3-10-0 without him (although that’s also because of the play of Philipp Grubauer. He’s the reason the Kraken are anywhere close to a playoff spot, and that’s why he takes the bronze medal in 2024.

2. Igor Shesterkin

Regular Season: 57 GP, 0.913 Sv%, 27.37 5v5 GSAx, 5 SO
Playoffs: 16 GP, 0.927 Sv%, 15.62 5v5 GSAx, 0 SO

You can’t say that Shesterkin isn’t worth his shiny new contract when he keeps playing like this. It’s not just the fact that he has the ability to play at a top level (and sometimes like the best goalie in the league), it’s that he does it on a consistent basis, and that’s what earns him the second spot. He actually didn’t have too many stretches this year where he was the best goalie in the league, but he was always really good, whether it was the back half of 2023-24 season, the 2024 playoffs, or up until now in the 2024-25 season. And yes, that includes this current nightmare stretch that the New York Rangers are in.

From January to April in the regular season, his 7.59 GSAx was 23rd in the league. From October to now, his 19.78 GSAx was third. But in the 2024 playoffs, his 15.62 GSAx was first among goalies. Across the year of 2024, his collective GSAx of 42.99 was second among all goalies, and only 0.32 behind Hellebuyck for first. He made a 2023-24 Rangers team that was middling defensively look like a Cup contender, and he’s currently making a team that allows the fourth-most 5v5 expected goals per 60 still hang around in the playoff race despite how bad they currently are. With a Vezina to his name already, it’s no surprise that he can be one of the best in the league, and he probably would be the best if not for one other person.

1. Connor Hellebuyck

Regular Season: 61 GP, 0.925 Sv%, 49.78 5v5 GSAx, 8 SO, Vezina
Playoffs: 5 GP, 0.870 Sv%, -6.47 5v5 GSAx, 0 SO

Was this really a surprise? Every time I used a stat to talk up the play of another goalie on this list, the words “behind Hellebuyck” were usually followed. He was lights out in the 2023-24 season, which helped him capture his second Vezina Trophy, and now to start 2024-25, he’s still far and away the best goalie in the league, and may even get back-to-back Vezinas by season’s end.

People often talk up the Winnipeg Jets‘ defense, but they’re usually mediocre at best and bottom-10 at worst at allowing expected goals. It’s because of Hellebuyck’s play year-in, year-out that their defense looks much better than it is, and it’s why I even gave him a first-place vote for the Hart Trophy in our first-quarter awards last month. He makes the Jets look a lot better than the actually are, and usually is a big reason why they make the playoffs when they do.

To make that even more evident, when Hellebuyck struggles, the Jets crash-land, and unfortunately, that always comes in the playoffs. This season, that was an even bigger example, as the Colorado Avalanche picked him apart and the Jets had no answer, losing in five games in the first round. If there’s anything that’s holding Hellebuyck back from truly claiming the title of the best goalie in the league, it’s his playoff performance, and you just hope that at some point the Jets can be a team good enough to help him add a Stanley Cup to his ever-growing trophy case. Maybe that season is this one, but only time will tell.