Great Goalie Usurpers 2026-27: Five NHL backups who could steal starting jobs
There is no such thing as absolute certainty when it comes to NHL goaltenders. The likes of Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy are the exceptions; it’s more common to see heroes become zeros and vice-versa every season. A year ago, for instance: Anthony Stolarz and Filip Gustavsson had signed fresh extensions as the No. 1 goalies on Stanley Cup contender teams; Darcy Kuemper was the Vezina Trophy second runner-up; and Jordan Binnington was a 4 Nations Face-Off winner and probable Olympic starter for Canada. None of those netminders was his team’s starter by the end of last season.
Due to performance fluctuations, health or simply being outplayed by a batterymate, plenty of good NHL netminders are usurped every year.
Who are the top candidates to steal No. 1 or at least 1A work within their duos or trios in 2026-27? Consider these five. And for you end-of-season receipt collectors: note that I’m not outright predicting they will take over starting jobs – merely identifying them as players who could.
(Also note the exclusion of the Colorado Avalanche’s Mackenzie Blackwood. He’s started the team’s first two games over Scott Wedgewood, so the usurping is already underway).
Adin Hill, Vegas Golden Knights
Carter Hart was wildly inconsistent last season. When he was on, he looked like an All-Star. He ended the regular season on a heater and was good in spurts during the playoffs. But he imploded in the Stanley Cup Final and perhaps left the door open for Hill, Vegas’ 2022-23 Stanley Cup-winning starter, to earn back a significant workload after an ugly 2025-26 performance. Hart has started two games to Hill’s one so far, with Hill looking superior. Hill also missed 38 games with a lower-body injury last season, so maybe he’ll positively regress if his body co-operates and allows him to establish a better rhythm this season.
Pyotr Kochetkov, Carolina Hurricanes
As the Stanley Cup-winning goalie of record, having posted a .931 save percentage against Vegas in four games to close out the Final, Brandon Bussi owns the starter’s chair in Carolina. But for how long? Kochetkov, one year younger, might still have a higher ceiling. He’s healthy now after missing most of last season with a hip injury that required surgery, and he’ll likely play almost as much as Bussi. That Bussi started two consecutive games to open the season tells us he’s still the 1A, but Kochetkov just signed a two-year extension at a $3.95-million AAV, more than double Bussi’s pay rate. The Canes won’t think twice about flip-flopping their roles if Kochetkov outplays Bussi early, just as they had no problem making Bussi the starter, then giving the reins to Frederik Andersen to open the playoffs last year. They’re a “what have you done for me lately?” operation.
Sergei Murashov, Pittsburgh Penguins
By walking away from Stuart Skinner, the Penguins made it clear they didn’t want to block Murashov any longer. He has excelled at one level after another over his past couple seasons, transitioning smoothly from the KHL to the ECHL to the AHL. He was one of the latter league’s best players in 2025-26, posting a .919 save percentage in the regular season and dominating at a .931 mark in the postseason. He’s ready for the NHL. He begins the year as Arturs Silovs’ 1B, but I’d bet on Murashov overtaking him for the 1A by December. Silovs profiles as a dutiful backup goaltender capable of getting hot for extended stretches as a spot starter, but Murashov’s ceiling is much higher. Silovs started and won the Pens’ first two games of the season, but he’s saving -0.197 goals above expected per 60 so far. They’re winning in spite of him, not because of him. Murashov’s time will come soon enough. He impressed his his debut Monday night vs. the Winnipeg Jets, stopping 31 of 34 shots. He took a shutout into the third period before his defense let him down in a 3-2 defeat.
Akira Schmid, Florida Panthers
The Panthers are surely hoping their elite all-around play driving will make Markstrom’s workload easy, but we can’t rule out the idea he’s done being an effective NHL goaltender. He’s 36, his save percentage has declined in consecutive seasons, and he’s having an increasingly difficult time staying healthy. Don’t sleep on the $2 million the Panthers are paying Schmid for each of the next two years. They likely expect they’ll need him to play prominent minutes at some point this season. Markstrom has started two of Florida’s first three games, recording a shutout, so his grip on the 1A gig is secure for now. But it remains to be seen how his body holds up across the 84-game season.
Joseph Woll, Philadelphia Flyers
Signing longtime Calgary Flames backup Vladar and giving him his first real shot as a starter proved a genius move from Flyers GM Danny Briere last season. Vladar was an absolute stalwart in Philly’s crease, posting a .906 SV%, winning 29 games and finishing sixth in the Vezina vote. He was even better in the playoffs, posting an NHL-best .922 SV%. His five-year extension, signed at a $5.5-million AAV July 1, was well earned. But it did not constitute “definite 1A” money. Woll, acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs over the summer, has the talent to push Vladar for starts in a way Samuel Ersson could not. After Vladar dinged up his shoulder in the preseason and got torched for seven goals in his regular-season debut, Woll was outstanding in consecutive appearances, posting a .929 SV% and saving 3.2 goals above expected. Though Vladar lost again in his second start of the season Monday night, he was much better, turning aside 32 of 35 Tampa Bay Lightning shots. We’re not in a full goalie controversy by any means, but Woll seems destined to at the very least play more than most 1Bs, with upside to grab an even larger share of work.
Honorable mentions: Devon Levi, Oilers; Darcy Kuemper, Kings; Colten Ellis & Alex Lyon, Sabres
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