Montreal Canadiens: Ranking The Canadian Division’s Goaltenders
Matt Murray and Marcus Hogberg
It is not often a team has the ability to acquire a 26 year old goaltender who has two Stanley Cups on his resume. If the opportunity does arise, you would expect it to cost more than just a second round pick. And you definitely wouldn’t expect to have the worst goaltending in your division if you were able to pull that deal off.
However, the Ottawa Senators were able to acquire Matt Murray for a second round pick this offseason, and look to have the worst goaltending tandem in Canada.
Murray was excellent in two playoff runs for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017. The problem is, he hasn’t been very good at all since then.
After taking the Pens to two Stanley Cup titles and finally taking over as the undisputed number one goalie with Marc-Andre Fleury headed to Vegas in 2017, Murray’s numbers took a downward turn. He had a 2.92 goals against average and a .907 save percentage in 49 games for the 2017-18 season.
The Thunder Bay, Ontario native followed that up with a better season, posting a 2.69 GAA and .919 SV% in 2018-19 in 50 games. This past season was Murray’s worst, finishing the year with a 2.87 GAA and a .899 SV%.
Now, his teams predicted to be the worst in its division instead of the Cup contender he was on. Oh and it has Erik Gubranson on the top defence pairing.
His backup is Marcus Hogberg who has played 28 career NHL games with a 3.25 GAA and a .901 SV%. There is a lot to like about the way the 2025-26 Ottawa Senators are shaping up, but the 2020-21 version will go through a very long shortened season.
Mikko Koskinen and Mike Smith
Mikko Koskinen and Mike Smith splits the start in goal for the Edmonton Oilers last season and it wasn’t the most fantastic goaltending tandem in the league.
Goals against aren’t always to blame on the netminder, but the Oilers allowed over three goals per game last season. Koskinen was solid, but he is 32 years old and has only two NHL seasons under his belt. He played 55 games two years ago and looked worn out by the end of the season and had his ups and downs in 38 starts a year ago.
Smith started 39 games last season, finishing with a 2.95 GAA and a .902 SV%. The Oilers were so enthused about it that they exhausted all of their options before deciding to re-sign Smith for this season. The 38 year old will now try to dial the clock back once again after failing to do so in each of the past two seasons.
With the condensed schedule and lengthy road trips that are on the docket for the upcoming season, I think we will see the Oilers scrambling on many nights to figure out which of its two struggling goaltenders to put in goal.
Thatcher Demko and Braden Holtby
Thatcher Demko and Braden Holtby could both have excellent NHL careers by the time they each retire. The problem for the 2021 Vancouver Canucks is Demko’s best years are well into the future and Holtby’s best hockey is well in the past.
Demko is a 25 year old who has paid his dues in the college ranks and American Hockey League. He looked great in those leagues, but struggled in his first NHL campaign. As the team’s backup to Jacob Markstrom last season, Demko played 27 games and finished with a 3.06 GAA and a .902 SV%.
He had four excellent starts against the Vegas Golden Knights in the postseason, but it will be difficult to replicate his 0.64 GAA and .985 SV% from the Edmonton bubble.
He has terrific pedigree as a former goaltender of the year in NCAA and he played in an AHL All-Star Game. However, he didn’t look great at the NHL level in last year’s regular season. He can probably outplay Matt Murray and stay on par with Mikko Koskinen, but the rest of the starters in the Canadian Division are a step above Demko.
Holtby is a big name in the NHL. He has won the Vezina Trophy and a Stanley Cup but those days appear to be in the past. He has barely kept his GAA below three over the past three seasons and just isn’t going to be contending for any more Vezina Trophy’s. He will prove to be a great mentor for Demko, and that will help the young goalie in the future.
However, it isn’t quite time for Demko to carry his team and the time for Holtby to be a number one guy is in the past.
Frederik Andersen and Jack Campbell
The Toronto Maple Leafs paid a heavy price to acquire Frederik Andersen four years ago but he was remarkably consistent for his first three seasons in Toronto. His SV% for each of those three years was .918, .918 and then .917. The Leafs also consistently lost in the first round of the playoffs those years but it hardly seems necessary to take a shot at them for that right now…
Andersen’s play dipped a bit last season as he posted the worst numbers of his Maple Leafs career. His GAA was 2.85 and his SV% dropped slightly to .909. He has consistently been a top ten goaltender in the league during his stint with the Leafs, but never quite good enough to be a Vezina Trophy finalist.
At 31 years old and heading into a contract year, Andersen should have another strong season in 2021.
His backup will be Jack Campbell who only played six games with the Leafs last season but proved to be a huge upgrade on Michael Hutchinson. Campbell was a high draft pick but took a long time to become a full-time NHL goalie. His first full season was with the Los Angeles Kings in 2018-19 as he put up a 2.30 GAA and a .928 SV%. He followed that up with a more pedestrian 2.85 GAA and .900 SV% before the Leafs dealt for him.
If he played like he did in 2018-19, the Leafs have a tremendous tandem. If he puts up numbers like he did with the Kings last season, he might not be able to shoulder enough of a load to give Andersen sufficient rest.
Jacob Markstrom and David Rittich
The Calgary Flames have had a difficult time finding consistent goaltending since Miikka Kiprusoff retired. They’ve tried Karri Ramo, Jonas Hiller, Brian Elliott, Joni Ortio, Joey McDonald, Cam Talbot, Mike Smith, David Rittich and on and on the list goes.
Goaltending just hasn’t been a strength of this team for a decade or more, but that might be about to change.
When free agency opened on October 9, the Flames targeted Jacob Markstrom and lured him in with a six-year contract. The Swedish netminder was a second round pick in 2008 and was one of the best prospects in the world shortly thereafter. However, he didn’t develop as quick as the Florida Panthers would have liked and he was eventually traded to the Vancouver Canucks for Roberto Luongo.
Markstrom finally became a workhorse goalie for the Canucks over the past three years. He has played the 7th most minutes of all goaltenders in the past three seasons combined and has solid stats with a 2.74 GAA and a .914 SV% in that time.
David Rittich will take on the number two role for the Flames this season. While he has been good the past two seasons, he wasn’t quite good enough to take over the starting role and run with it. He would have good stretches from time to time but follow that up with a rough patch.
He wasn’t quite consistent enough to be a starting goaltender on a strong NHL team, but he should be a really good second option that can give Markström rest throughout the approaching chaotic season.
Connor Hellebuyck and Laurent Brossoit
There isn’t much more that needs to be said other than Connor Hellebuyck just won the Vezina Trophy. He had a 2.57 GAA and an excellent .922 SV% last season, while posting six shutouts and a 31-21-5 record.
All this after losing Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba, Ben Chiarot and Tyler Myers in the previous offseason. In fact, Hellebuyck was much better after losing most of his defence and being forced to play behind a suspect group all season.
Hellebuyck has been the starter for the past four seasons and in that time only Frederik Andersen and Sergei Bobrovsky have played more minutes. He has solid numbers in that time – a 2.67 GAA and a .917 SV%. The 27 year old appears to be getting better each year and should be one of the best goaltenders in the league this season.
Laurent Brossoit was brilliant as Hellebuyck’s backup two years ago, but struggled quite a bit last season with the much younger defence in front of him. He had a 3.28 GAA and a .895 SV% last season after posting a 2.52 GAA and .925 SV% in 2018-19. If Brossoit can split those numbers down the middle, he will make a terrific partner for Hellebuyck.
Carey Price and Jake Allen
Carey Price was once the undisputed best goaltender in the world. He was winning Hart Trophy’s, Vezina Trophy’s, Ted Lindsay Awards and gold medals at the Olympic Games. Those days are four and five years in the past, but we have some recent examples of terrific work from the Habs starting goaltender as well.
At one time, Price could lead the leagues in games played, minutes and shots faced and it wouldn’t slow him down. Lately, it has become apparent he could use a little breather from time to time.
Price hasn’t had a reliable backup goaltender for years. Keith Kinkaid, Charlie Lindgren and Antti Niemi have all struggled to fill the role in the past few seasons. As a result, Price has been forced to play more minutes than he can handle at his age. He is now 33 years old but he has the most games and minutes played of any goalie in the world over the past two seasons.
This has led to him struggling down the stretch each season. However, after taking a long break due to Covid-19 in the spring, Price returned to the Habs crease in August to face the heavily favoured Pittsburgh Penguins. He was excellent in knocking them off in four games and was up to the task against the Philadelphia Flyers as well, but the Canadiens couldn’t find any offence and lost in six games.
Price had a 1.78 GAA in those ten games and a .936 SV%. He shut the door against the Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin led Penguins in the play-in round and held the Habs in every game against the Flyers as well. A little rest went a long way for Price getting ready and being dominant in that postseason.
Having Jake Allen in town should allow Price to stay rested throughout the season. Allen was with the St. Louis Blue last season and had a 2.15 GAA and a .927 SV% as Jordan Binnington’s backup. Taking on 20 or so starts to give Price sufficient rest all season will ensure Allen stays sharp all season and Price remains at the top of his game.
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Either goaltender can steal a game on any given night, and the combination will give the Canadiens the best goaltending tandem in the Canadian Division.