Revisiting October's Bottom Five NHL Goaltending Tandems One Month Later

The state of NHL goaltending is about as erratic as it’s ever been, but one thing’s for sure – it was clear in the pre-season which teams would struggle with their netminding. 

We published a story about a month ago in which we discussed our picks for the five worst goaltending tandems entering the season, and for the most part, we haven’t changed our mind at this point in the year. 

Let’s look at each of the five teams from that ranking – not re-ranking the bottom five but revisiting October's list – and see where they’re at (hint: the answer to that question is “not great”):

Top two goalies: Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord

Current goals-against average: 3.56 in 17 games, tied for 25th overall

Breakdown: The Kraken have struggled in the weak Pacific Division in part because their goaltending has been subpar. Grubauer (.891 save percentage in nine games) and Daccord (.899 SP in eight games) have not delivered above-average netminding, and Seattle’s offense – fourth-worst in the league at 2.53 goals-for per game – has not been able to pick up the slack.

The 31-year-old Grubauer and 27-year-old Daccord are both under contract through the end of next season, and Grubauer has a no-trade clause in his deal, per PuckPedia. But Kraken GM Ron Francis would move either one of them in a deal to upgrade between the pipes. Seattle’s defense corps isn’t the most efficient in the NHL, so they need their goalies to do some heavy lifting. So far, that hasn’t happened, and until that changes, the Kraken’s chances at a playoff berth will be slim.

Top two goalies: Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram

Current goals-against average: 3.07 GAA in 15 games, tied for 12th overall

Breakdown: Arizona is the biggest surprise of these five teams, getting close to the top 10 teams with their GAA. Vejmelka was pegged as their starter this year, but he’s struggled compared to Ingram, who has posted a 5-1-0 record, 2.87 GAA and .911 SP in seven games. Vejmelka has a 2-5-2 mark in nine appearances, as well as a .906 SP and 3.06 GAA. 

At age 27, Vejmelka is a year older than the 26-year-old Ingram, and Ingram’s $1.95-million salary cap hit is less than Vejmelka’s $2.725-million hit, so you can see a scenario in which Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong trades Vejmelka to a true Stanley Cup contender and rides Ingram as long as possible.

Arizona is still in the early stages of a long rebuild, so Armstrong needs to be cognizant of his asset base and move veterans for younger, longer-term players. He’s getting a better-than-average performance from his netminders, and he can use one of them to speed up the rebuilding process.

Top two goalies: Kaapo Kahkonen and Mackenzie Blackwood

Current goals-against average: 4.44 in 16 games, 32nd overall

Breakdown: It’s been an all-around nightmare year for the Sharks, and their goaltending has been about as expected. The 27-year-old Kahkonen is being paid as the team’s starter, but his .875 SP and 0-5-0 are far from elite.

The 26-year-old Blackwood is 2-8-1 this year and has held his own with a .898 SP considering the team around him, but he and Kahkonen are not the kind of top talent between the pipes who will make Sharks fans forget about the rest of their abysmal year. They’re going to have terrible numbers the rest of the season, Sharks GM Mike Grier won’t be trading them (or trading for any other goalie), and San Jose’s tank job will last at least for this season. The less said about these two, the better.

Top two goalies: Elvis Merzlikins and Spencer Martin

Current goals-against average: 3.56 in 16 games, 27th overall

Breakdown: This season has been disappointing yet again for Columbus, and their netminding stats reflect that. Starter Merzlikins has a 3-4-3 record, 3.24 GAA and .901 SP, while Martin has a 1-4-1 record, 3.26 GAA and .905 SP. Martin is signed only through this season, but Merzlikins’ contract lasts through the 2026-27 campaign. If you’re looking for a candidate to have his contract bought out, you should look no further than Merzlikins. He isn’t solely responsible for his subpar numbers, and his stats are better than last season with some impressive outings, but the defense corps keeps changing for the Blue Jackets, and the goaltending results haven't improved enough. Five of his 11 appearances resulted in a save percentage of less than .900.

The Blue Jackets have about $4.95 million in cap space, and that number would increase if they buy out Merzlikins, but that won’t happen until next summer at the soonest. For now, they need to figure out a short-term solution to give them a shot at the post-season, and Merzlikins just doesn’t look like he can be that short-term solution.

Top two goalies: Petr Mrazek, Arvid Soderblom

Current goals-against average: 3.46 in 13 games, 23rd overall

Breakdown: It’s been a tale of two goalies in the Windy City, as Mrazek has overachieved (4-3-0, 2.84 GAA, .921 SP), and Soderblom (1-5-0, 3.99 GAA, .881 SP) has underachieved. The Blackhawks have played the fewest games in the league, so we may see Mrazek regress and Soderblom improve, but this duo has been about as terrible as we expected.

Mrazek is in the final season of his current contract, and no matter how well he plays, we don’t see the Hawks signing him to a long-term extension. They hope Soderblom will be the long-term solution in net, and Mrazek will likely go to market to see what teams want to gamble on him. He’s left much to be desired through most of his current deal, so it’ll be a case of buyer beware.

But as for the Blackhawks as a group, we can’t forget they’re still in a massive rebuild, so the long-term answer in net may not be in peak form for many years. Twenty-one-year-old Drew Commesso, drafted 46th overall in 2020, has the draft pedigree to be in line for that starter’s job, but not for the next year or two at least. Regardless, it’s likely the Blackhawks will be a goalie-unfriendly squad for the foreseeable future.