The Goalie Report: Risers & Fallers

Trending Up

Jack Campbell, Oilers (Past 5 starts: 5-0-0, .922 Sv%, 2.20 GAA)

We shall have to see how long this streak lasts. We know Campbell can get hot, as he did for the Leafs last season, but the issue with him is that it never seems to last very long. His winning streak coincided with Stuart Skinner taking a leave of absence for the birth of his child, but now Skinner has re-joined the team and was also voted into February's All-Star Game.

The smart money's on Skinner because he's been the far more consistent goalie. Fantasy managers who already have Skinner might want to roster Campbell for insurance, and those who've already rostered Campbell should hang onto him for just a little longer to see how things shake out. According to tankathon.com, the Oilers have the third-easiest schedule for the rest of the season, no doubt helped by a very weak Pacific Division.

It's also worth noting that top winger Evander Kane has returned from injury, and it's believed that management is making a big push to bolster their roster before the playoffs. The big question is how they'll handle the workload going forward; with Skinner back in the fold, look for a 50/50 split again until one of them emerges. Either way, based on their goal support and strength of schedule, there should be plenty of wins to go around for Campbell and Skinner by the end of the season.

Jeremy Swayman, Bruins (Since Dec. 17: 6-0-2, .941 Sv%, 1.72 GAA)

Dec. 17 was the day the Bruins went back to their timeshare. Since then, Swayman and Vezina front-runner Linus Ullmark have received eight starts apiece, and while both have been brilliant, Swayman does have the better numbers (.941 Sv% vs. .934 Sv% and 1.72 GAA vs. 2.02 GAA). As long as Swayman plays like this, the Bruins seem okay with operating a timeshare. If Swayman is available in your league, based on his play and workload, he's a must-roster as the 1B on one of the best teams ever in the cap era.

Ilya Samsonov, Maple Leafs (Since Jan. 1: 3-1-1, .921 Sv%, 2.12 GAA)

Samsonov's numbers in 2023 have been good, but most importantly, he's been outplaying Matt Murray (2-2-0, .883 Sv%, 3.69 GAA) by a significant margin. He even had to bail out Murray against the Panthers when Toronto fell behind early. Samsonov's recent run has pulled him ahead of Murray in their season-long numbers, with both having played 19 games. The Leafs knew they were getting two extremely streaky goalies when they signed them this summer, so it's tough to say if Samsonov can keep this up. But if we're to only consider the recent stretch of games, Samsonov should start to get more starts, taking the top job from Murray, who came into the season as the 1A and started the opener.

The Leafs defense is still missing a lot of experience with T.J. Brodie and Jake Muzzin injured, but up front they've managed to stay healthy for most of the season, and Conor Timmins seems to have finally overcome numerous injuries to serve as a quality depth defenseman.

Frederik Andersen, Hurricanes (Since returning from injury: 3-0-0, .944 Sv%, 1.67 GAA)

Andersen's been fantastic even though he hadn't seen action in months. He's the clear No. 1 now with Pyotr Kochetkov re-assigned to the minors, and Antti Raanta has yet to see action since a shootout loss to the Jackets on Jan. 7. Ability was never the concern with Andersen, but his health certainly was. He's one of the few goalies who's worth holding onto despite numerous stints on injured reserve, especially when the Canes are once again a Cup contender.

The Canes were not afraid to lean on Kochetkov or Antti Raanta (when both Andersen and Kochetkov were hurt), which means that they're unlikely to treat Andersen with white gloves. Andersen should get the vast majority of the starts going forward and fantasy managers should play him at every opportunity. As for Kochetkov, while Andersen and Raanta have extensive injury histories, he has literally no value while playing in the minors. Unless your league has an NA slot to stash him in, drop Kochetkov and just make sure you have quick fingers should an injury to Andersen or Raanta occur.  

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Sabres (11-5-1, .896 Sv%, 3.38 GAA)

Luukkonen's stats betray how good he's been for the Sabres this season. The development of a young goalie is never smooth, but he's displaced Eric Comrie as one of Buffalo's top two goalies. The Sabres have been shuttling Luukkonen back and forth from the minors to save cap space — cap hits are accrued daily and based the number of days the player is with the parent club, regardless of whether or not they play — which may make it too unwieldy of a situation for leagues that have daily transactions and for fantasy managers looking for streaming options. When Luukkonen is with AHL Rochester, he cannot be assigned to IR slots on Yahoo, which means it can be a potential headache if fantasy managers have few roster spots to spare.

Long-term, Luukkonen is the goalie of the future for the Sabres, but it's not going to happen this season. With five losses in their past seven games, the Sabres' playoff hopes are also fading. Luukkonen will be a matchup-dependent streaming play the rest of the season.

Trending Down

Martin Jones, Kraken (Past week: 2-1-0, .867 Sv%, 4.31 GAA)

Told ya this would happen. Jones is far too dependent on the Kraken offense to win games, and note the Kraken have one of the best shooting percentages in the cap era. The wins will continue to come by virtue of playing in the weakest division in the league, but those save percentages and goals-against averages will be ugly. That's without mentioning that Philipp Grubauer has been playing much better recently, and the Kraken were always meant to be his team as a former Vezina finalist. Grubauer is a speculative add at this juncture while Jones remains a No. 2 or No. 3 option in most standard leagues.

Ville Husso, Red Wings (Since Jan. 1: 3-4-0, .874 Sv%, 3.79 GAA)

First, the bad news. Even though Moritz Seider is playing much better with his new defensive partner, Jake Walman, the Wings defense still has not been particularly good and they've lost six of their past nine games. Husso is going through the worst slump of the season, and he's ceding playing time to Magnus Hellberg, who was claimed off waivers earlier in the season.

Now, the good news: Husso looked much better in his most recent start, stopping 33 shots in a road game against Vegas to snap a personal two-game losing streak. Hellberg, who won two of four starts in late December, has also struggled lately (0-1-1, .875 Sv%, 2.92 GAA since Jan. 1) and is not a threat to take over the starting job. Fantasy managers should stick with Husso, but note the Wings seem unlikely to make the playoffs.