Great Goalie Usurpers 2025-26: Five NHL backups who could steal starting jobs

Oct 14, 2025, 08:12 EDTUpdated: Oct 14, 2025, 08:13 EDT

Credit: Apr 29, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; New Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen (34) comes off the ice after the warmups before the game against the Carolina Hurricanes in game five of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images

It’s not quite “Connor Hellebuyck, Andrei Vasilevskiy and the rest,” but it’s remarkable how inconsistent goaltending is year to year in the NHL. The other runner-up finalist behind those two in the Vezina Trophy vote last year: Darcy Kuemper, who was, naturally, one of the worst goalies in the league the season prior. Fourth behind Kuemper? Logan Thompson, who opened the year as the Washington Capitals’ 1B behind Charlie Lindgren and slowly wrested 1A status from him. The best goalie in the NHL on a per-start basis? The Toronto Maple Leafs’ Anthony Stolarz, who left his backup job with the Florida Panthers for 1B work in Toronto behind Joseph Woll, only for the two to flip roles by season’s end.

The position is so fickle that we can pretty much expect some starter-backup dynamics to reverse on multiple teams every season. Who are the Great Goalie Usurpers of 2025-26? Here are some backups to watch closely. Note the exclusion of the Philadelphia Flyers’ Dan Vladar, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Jet Greaves and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Arturs Silovs; all three were in open competitions, started their teams’ first games and thus have already done the usurping on their respective depth charts.

Jake Allen, New Jersey Devils

Jacob Markstrom played well before his knee injury and, after taking a while to find his game again, in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Allen was actually the better goalie overall for New Jersey last season. His surface numbers seemed merely decent (13-16-1, 2.66, .906) but he finished top-three in the NHL in goals saved above expected per 60. The Devils are committed to Allen, 35, five more seasons at a lovely $1.8 million cap hit, whereas Markstrom, 36, enters the final season of his deal. The net remains his to lose, but the two veteran stoppers are close enough in their skill and performance that it’s not inconceivable the Devils commit to Allen should Markstrom struggle with his consistency again. Allen left Monday’s game with cramping, but Markstrom appeared to be shaken up after finishing the game in relief, meaning the window for an Allen takeover may have opened, assuming he’s feeling relatively OK.

Pyotr Kochetkov, Carolina Hurricanes

Kochetkov landed on my Usurper list last year, too. As I assume the Canes do as well, I keep waiting for the full breakout to happen. But 36-year-old veteran Freddie Andersen remains coach Rod Brind’Amour’s more trusted stopper when healthy, tapped on the shoulder for 13 starts in Carolina’s 15 playoff games last season. Still, Andersen’s contract expires next summer, and he’s a near lock to miss significant chunks of time every year, Kochetkov is just 26 and only has 116 regular-season games under his belt, so it’s not too late for him to blossom as a starter. He actually outplayed Andersen on a per-game basis in the 2024-25 regular season. If Kochetkov can find a way to play his best hockey during one of those Andersen absences, do the Canes finally commit? Kochetkov only has one season left on his own deal after this one, so it’s time to find out if he can be The Guy on a Stanley Cup contender. Well, maybe not yet, as Kochetkov has to navigate a lower-body injury injury for the next couple weeks, landing on injured reserve.

Alex Lyon, Buffalo Sabres

Carrying a .902 career save percentage, Lyon is one of the league’s more trusted backups and has stolen starter duty for extended stretches during hot streaks here and there. Remember when Lyon snatched the Florida Panthers’ net from Sergei Bobrovsky and opened the 2022-23 playoffs as their No. 1? In Buffalo, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen nurses a lower-body injury and Devon Levi develops in the AHL, Lyon has the net along with Colten Ellis. If Lyon plays well enough to relegate UPL to 1B duty upon his return, that’s a good problem to have for a Sabres team as desperate as any to make the playoffs, mired in a league-record drought of 14 seasons. Given Luukkonen is fresh off such a disappointing 2024-25 campaign, it’s not like he’s owed the net back if Lyon stands on his head this month.

Cam Talbot, Detroit Red Wings

John Gibson was one of the best goalies in the league in 2024-25, especially when you juxtapose his numbers with his expected goals against on a bad Anaheim Ducks team. But last season was his only good one in a six-year stretch. Gibson thus isn’t a lock to dominate on a Detroit team with defensive woes of its own. Talbot was also a solidly above average goalie last season; among 61 of them who appeared in at least 20 games, Gibson ranked sixth in goals saved above expected per 60, but Talbot was a respectable 18^th. The desperation level in Hockeytown is rising as the Red Wings look to avoid a 10^th consecutive playoff miss, so they’ll lean on whichever stopper looks like the better option to start the majority of their games. Gibson only has two years left on his contract, so it’s not like Detroit is all-in on a long-term commitment to him. He was pulled in his Detroit debut lat week after allowing five goals on 13 shots…

Joseph Woll, Toronto Maple Leafs

Stolarz led all goalies in goals saved above expected per 60 last season, but Woll was seventh. Both were darn good. Both also have checkered injury histories and both have relatively small sample sizes of NHL success. Stolarz has earned the starter’s chair and is the calmer, more consistent netminder than Woll, but there’s a reason they’re earning almost the same cap hits on their contract extensions. The Leafs know things can flip between them at any time, just as they did twice last year when Stolarz had long injury layoffs. The more athletic Woll arguably shows a higher ceiling than Stolarz, too, when Woll is in a rhythm and on one of his heaters. Woll is away from the team right now as he tends to a personal family matter, but don’t be surprised if this terrific tandem continuously flip-flops 1A and 1B status over the course of their contracts.

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