With league staples between the pipes nearing the end of their careers, it is time for the next generation of netminders to show if they can be the next men up. Do they have what it takes?
The next wave of young NHL netminders seems to be on the way. With NHL staples such as Marc-Andre Fleury, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Jonathan Quick reaching the end of their careers and all-time greats like Carey Price, Henrik Lundqvist, and Tuukka Rask retiring in recent years, it’s time for the younger generation to make their marks.
A few younger netminders have already made their mark. Igor Shesterkin (27) has won a Vezina and looks to be the perfect successor to Lundqvist in the Rangers’ crease. Ilya Sorokin has made the already stout crease of the Islanders even more difficult to score on. Then there's Jake Oettinger who has been a monster in net for the Dallas Stars.
With that said, those players will be the elder statesmen of the next generation of NHL netminders. Let’s take a look at the players who are looking to establish their place in the league or looking to work their way from the AHL to the NHL over the next year.
Jesper Wallstedt, Iowa Wild (Minnesota Wild)
The 20th overall pick in 2021, Wallstedt has had a solid start to the season. An AHL all-star last season, he is looking to build off of that this year as he aims to earn a bit more of an NHL look. Although his most recent start wasn’t great when he allowed six goals on 25 shots, he’s been very good to start this season. The game prior he recorded a 31-save shutout performance.
Wallstedt’s technically sound game is built off an advanced ability to read the play and stay a step ahead of the play. Rarely does he look out of position but when he does, he is more than capable of making the athletic save. His .903 save percentage is a bit of a victim of one bad outing early in the year so we should see that rebound. With Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson locked into NHL roles for at least this season, Wallstedt will likely be relegated to the AHL for the majority of the season unless there is an injury, but that should give him time to get ready to take the reigns from Fluery as the back-up next season.
Yaroslav Askarov, Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville Predators)
Through three games, Askarov looks like the stud we’ve all thought he could be. He has a .929 save percentage and has only allowed more than one goal once. Askarov is a bit of a foil to Wallstedt stylistically. Although he has good technique, Askarov’s strength comes from his ability to use his athleticism to make every save. He is a great skater in the crease and his ability to react to bounces or find a way to make a save through traffic is impressive.
Askarov has a path to NHL games this season if Kevin Lankinen falters behind all-world netminder Juuse Saros. The young Russian may find himself in some NHL games this year and could be a difference-maker for the Predators. If he can form a tandem with Saros in the second half of the year, the Predators may find a way to challenge for a playoff spot in a Western Conference that has a bit of a weaker middle tier.
Dustin Wolf, Calgary Wranglers (Calgary Flames)
The back-to-back AHL Goalie of the Year and reigning AHL MVP hasn’t quite been himself through three games – which is saying a lot considering that he is sporting a .910 save percentage early in this season. He allowed six goals in his most recent game, something he didn’t do once in the regular season last year. With his track record, we can safely assume that the poor performance was a fluke and he will make up for it with a shutout in a game that the Wranglers shouldn’t even be in soon enough.
The Flames could have justified having Wolf on the NHL roster to start the season and with the results that the NHL club has produced to this point, maybe they should have kept him. Jacob Markstrom has been average at best and Dan Vladar hasn’t instilled much confidence in him. If the Flames can figure out how to move Vladar, Wolf should find his way into the NHL. Wolf has accomplished everything and more than he could have hoped at the AHL level. Wolf is ready for the next challenge.
Devon Levi, Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres young goalie started four games to open the season and then he was out of the lineup with a lower-body injury that is still lingering. It may have been a blessing in disguise as he will get the chance to reset after a bit of a rough start to the season. The Sabres had hoped that Levi could solidify their goaltending the way he did at the tail end of last season but he hasn’t played at the same level.
Levi has quickly developed a great deal of fanfare going back to his World Junior Championship performance for Team Canada in 2021. He followed that with a few exceptional seasons in the NCAA and then a hot start to his NHL career last season. With the Sabres already being one of the most exciting young teams in the NHL, adding Levi to the fold made perfect sense. Unfortunately, the Sabres didn’t do much to bolster the goaltending behind him which has forced him into the lead role a bit before he was ready. With that said, when he gets back, he could be in line for plenty of opportunities to get his year back on track.
Spencer Knight, Charlotte Checkers (Florida Panthers)
After going into the Players Assistance Program last year to deal with spiralling Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Knight has returned to the ice in the AHL and he has been solid in his return. Knight has played in 57 NHL games going back three years and now the 22-year-old is working his way back to the NHL but starting in the AHL to acclimate himself to the game is a necessary first step.
Knight has posted a .904 save percentage through three games and looked good in the process. He has been moving well and looking like the goalie we saw at the NDTP: USA Hockey National Team Development Program and at Boston College. Knight is going to get back into NHL games in all likelihood this season as Anthony Stolarz is currently the Panthers backup and his hold on the job isn’t secure. It will be interesting to track just how long it takes for Knight to get back to the NHL.
Sebastian Cossa, Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit Red Wings)
After a bit of an up-and-down season last year before finally settling in at the ECHL level, Cossa looks far more ready for the AHL than he did last season. Cossa’s development was seen to have taken a bit of a step back last year as he was inconsistent and looked as if he was trying to just keep his head above water in his first year of pro hockey. There was concern that the Red Wings made a major blunder in taking Cossa over Wallstedt in the 2021 draft.
Cossa’s start to this year has quieted the worries of Red Wings fans and analysts alike. He has posted a .931 save percentage to start the season while facing an average of 34 shots per game. The 6-foot-6 netminder’s ability to deal with a heavy workload and look good doing it just a year after posting a save percentage of .783 at the AHL level is incredibly encouraging. It will be on Cossa to put together a full season at the AHL level this year if he has any hope of pushing for an NHL roster spot over the next few years.
Lukas Dostal, Anaheim Ducks
After a couple of seasons playing at a high level in the AHL with a few cups of coffee in the NHL, Lukas Dostal is taking full advantage of his first shot at a full-time gig in the NHL. Despite currently being listed as the backup goalie to long-time starter John Gibson, he has outperformed him in similar opportunities. Dostal is boasting a .929 save percentage despite facing greater average shots against per game than Gibson who is sporting a .905.
There are already whispers that Dostal and Gibson could be sharing the workload a bit more this season and if Dostal keeps outpacing the veteran, the 23-year-old Czech netminder could be the lead dog by season’s end. Dostal has shown a youthful athleticism that has endeared him to Ducks fans. If he can play at a high level, there is an opportunity to become a fan favorite.
Pyotr Kochetkov, Carolina Hurricanes
The situation in Carolina right now is a bit murky because of their lack of an AHL affiliation. That required them to loan their AHL players to various other AHL organizations or send them back to Europe to continue their development. Kochetkov was sent to the Tampa Bay Lightning-affiliated Syracuse Crunch to start the season but was recalled to the Canes last week before returning to the Crunch this weekend.
Kochetkov has been a very good goalie over the last few years and they have been waiting for him to assert himself and take the reigns in Carolina, but he hasn’t done that yet. His three-game run with Carolina this year wasn’t encouraging and now that the netminders in Carolina are healthy again, it may be a bit before Kochetkov is given another shot. When he does, he needs to take the chance and run with it.