Masked Men: Available HDSV% Leaders

How are the squads looking out there? Hopefully they are warmer than it has been in Canada of late. Goaltending is the one position I never truly feel comfortable with over the course of a season.  Due to the small number of goalies rostered, your team could go from a goaltending mecca to rent-a-goalie in the blink of an eye just with one guy getting injured and another going on a cold streak. Always be on the lookout for who could be getting into a groove or better situation. As we are just a few weeks before the Olympic break, I figured now would be a good time to re-assess who the Kings of the Crease are. We will take a look at some of the league’s best goalies with a lens on High Danger SV% (HDSV%) with the caveat we will be looking at those who may actually be found on your league’s waiver wire. We have something for everyone today, including 2 deep dives (<10% owned)

ILYA SOROKIN – Our King of the Crease, Sorokin has overcome a somewhat slow start and has cemented himself among the league’s elite netminders on a surprisingly exciting Islanders team. He has an .883 HDSV%, good for 1^st in the league. His 5 shutouts also lead the league. Sorokin is pretty well universally owned, but we can look to his crease mate as a potential add. David Rittich (12%) has had a career resurrection on Long Island, with 11 wins, a 2.57GAA, and a .902SV%. He sits 24^th league wide for HDSV% (0.836). He unfortunately has experienced a bad stretch lately, starting only 2 of the Isles last 7 games and posting some ugly numbers (8 goals allowed, SV% less than .800). However, in this compressed Olympic schedule, I can see coach Patty Roy turning to Rittich a bit more frequently to hopefully keep Sorokin fresh for the stretch run and playoffs. Big Save Dave is worth an add in medium-deep leagues for those who need goaltending help.

PHILLIP GRUBAUER – Did Grubby find a time machine? He’s giving me flashbacks to Colorado Grubauer with his play of late. He has a HDSV% of 0.864, good for 9^th league wide. His Yahoo ownership sits at only 27%, a bit low for his play of late. Over the last month he has 5 wins a 2.21 GAA & 0.925 SV%. While the Kraken are certainly far from an offensive juggernaut, there’s value to be had with this tender. If you need goalie help in medium depth leagues (10-12 teamers I’d say), I would be rolling the dice on Gru, aka Little Schnitzel. Veal or pork? Doesn’t matter, both sound good.

JET GREAVES – The Blue Jackets and the Jet are looking re-invigorated after bringing in head coach Rick “Bones” Bowness. While it has mildly cut into Jet’s playing time that may be a good thing. Under former coach Dean “Creed” Evason, Greaves had started 14 of a possible 15 games. While that kind of deployment is heroic in its own right, the quality of Jet’s starts were starting to be affected. Greaves shutout the Stars last week and owns a .866 HDSV% (7^th league-wide). His ownership has rightly surged over the past several weeks, sitting at 63%. For anyone out there in 10+ team leagues where he may be available, I would look to rectify that situation. On the year he’s got 16 wins, a 2.68 GAA & .908 SV%. The Jackets are 5-1 since Bones has taken over. I have been burned in the past by Elvis Merzlikins (7%), so I would very hesitatingly recommend him if you are in a deeper (14+) league with serious goaltending needs. But I would sprinkle in a healthy amount of skepticism with any Elvis pickup (you’ve been warned…I sound like a scorned lover).

ANTON FORSBERG – We are starting to get deep here folks. Deeper than most care to plunder to. With the Olympic year theme and “load management” at the forefront of our minds let’s look to LA-LA land for some potential goalie help. While Kings’ starter Darcy Kuemper is the #1, I wouldn’t put Frosberg that far behind him. He has been especially good over the last month, notching 3 wins, 2.14 GAA, & .923 SV%. Why should those in 12 teamers consider this tender? Well Kuemper has never been the model of durability (57GP is the highwater mark in 21/22 & 22/23), he also finds himself on Canada’s Olympic team. We could speculate that the Kings may try to keep him fresh as a result. The other reason I’m recommending ForsieBergie is because the Kings are one of the better teams in an underwhelming Pacific division. They still play the Canucks/Flames/Kraken 8 more times this season, teams I wouldn’t think twice about firing up a

goalie against.

DEVIN COOLEY – Ok this is one for the deep sea divers. The ones in those Mariana’s trench leagues. The biggest league I have participated in was a 16 teamer which was obviously jarring being in a 12 team league the year prior. Regardless, Cooley has put up good numbers on a Flames team that is likely to get worse by season’s end as a result of trading some solid NHLers to build for the future. He has been alternating starts over the last 9 games with starter Dustin Wolf, but it’s Cooley who has been better. Over these 4 starts he has 2 wins and the lowest SV% he has posted is 0.938. He’s 13^th in HDSV% (0.857). Now the disclaimer I have with Cooley is that the sample size is small (17GP), but it has been good. Sitting at 8% owned, I have to imagine that number will rise if Wolf and Cooley continue to alternate starts. Beat the rush and add him in any deeper leagues (15+) where you may need some help in the crease.

Goalies eh? Can barely live with them, can’t win a fantasy championship without them. There’s a lot of voodoo when it comes to the masked men of the crease. It’s nearly impossible to not experience some degree of goaltending hiccup throughout the course of a fantasy season. Stay armed and up to date with all goaltending situations so you can pounce on the hot hand when one of your bros inevitably gets injured or cold. This article employed HDSV% to potentially find some goalie values for the reader, but the ultimate tell is the eye test. Watch as much hockey as possible and you will find those underappreciated, under rostered gems. Till next time folks