High Noon 2026: Ranking the NHL’s top 30 goaltenders
Goaltending is an enigma in today’s NHL.
The four teams that reached the Conference Finals this past spring? They were led by a struggling, perpetually injured 36-year-old (Frederik Andersen), a 24-year-old with 144 minutes of prior playoff experience (Jakub Dobes), a 33-year-old journeyman backup (Scott Wedgewood), and a former prospect that missed the entire 2024-25 season awaiting a criminal trial (Carter Hart).
Remarkably, only one of this year’s top 22 goalies in High Noon won a playoff series as a starter in 2026. Was this an anomaly or a roster revolution where passable goaltending is enough for postseason success?
With that in mind, we arrive at the third and final instalment of the 2026 High Noon series: the top 30 goaltenders. The methodology uses a three-year weighted average to systematically rank the league’s best by position — hockey’s version of the individual player rankings used globally in golf and tennis.
If you missed Part 1 (Forwards) or Part 2 (Defensemen) in the series, be sure to catch up.
Today, we’ll list the top 30 netminders, crown a new #1, investigate the surprises, highlight the biggest rises and falls, and check in on respected veterans and past high draft picks.
🕛 High Noon Background
For goaltenders, High Noon got a major overhaul this season. Save percentage is at the core of goalie point shares, so High Noon had always treated every shot on goal equally. But we know that’s not that case: some teams insulate their goaltenders while others bleed high-danger chances. Since the 2007-08 season — the start of the analytics era — we’ve had access to public information that identifies how difficult a goalie’s workload is versus league average.
Using HockeyStats.com‘s expected goals model, High Noon has been recalibrated to add a shot quality adjustment. The change was long overdue as part of the natural evolution of modern goalie evaluation. Now, a goaltender’s score reflects the proper context of their team’s defense. HockeyStats.com’s model uses more than 50 features including location, pre-shot movement, type, and game state to measure shot quality. This allows us to recast High Noon for the last 19 seasons, resulting in improved rankings.
The core calculation for goalies has not changed. Like with skaters, High Noon uses a weighted three-year average: 2025-26 is 50%; 2024-25 gets one-third (33%); 2023-24 is one-sixth (17%).
Some tweaks were made to games played thresholds to ensure that rookies or backups aren’t getting over-credited for small bodies of work. It’s become extremely rare in today’s NHL for goaltenders to play at a consistently high level with a starter’s workload. How rare, you ask? In the last three seasons, only Connor Hellebuyck, Igor Shesterkin, and Jake Oettinger have both: (i) started at least 50 games; and (ii) provided above-average goaltending each season. So, High Noon 2.0 sets a seasonal divisor of 52 games to reward goalies playing heavy minutes over those in breezier 1A/1B tandems.
👑 The Top 30
How to Read the Rankings: Juuse Saros’ score in the High Noon system below is 8.4, ranking him the #15 goalie in the NHL. The Change column (-1) shows his drop from #14 last offseason. Saros’ career peak (his High Noon) is #1 — his highest ever ranking (2023).
JUST MISSED: Kevin Lankinen (#31); Cam Talbot (#32); Jordan Binnington (#33); Alex Lyon (#34); Alex Nedeljkovic (#35)
1️⃣ Who’s #1?
After Connor Hellebuyck ranked #1 for five of the last six years, a new ringmaster has entered the goaltending circus. A vanilla season by Hellebuyck opened the door for fresh blood at the top. Ilya Sorokin, the New York Islanders‘ low-maintenance brick wall, takes the top spot for the first time with a score of 10.77. That narrowly edges crosstown rival and perennial High Noon groomsman Igor Shesterkin (10.69), who has ranked #2 for a remarkable five consecutive years. Washington‘s 29-year-old rising star Logan Thompson (10.67) leapt an impressive 18 spots to #3 after comfortably leading the NHL in GSAx (35.6).
Most would have assumed that one of recent Vezina Trophy winners Andrei Vasilevskiy (2025-26) or Hellebuyck (2023-24 and 2024-25) would sit atop the hierarchy. But High Noon’s changes to reflect shot quality hurt the scores of both future Hall of Famers. Each gets hit with downward shot quality adjustments reflective of their favorable team defensive conditions. Ultimately, the duo sits fourth and fifth, respectively, as part of a tightly separated five-pack of the best goalies in the NHL. Each of the five goaltenders has a credible case for #1.
High Noon Top 5 Goalies, Last 2 Seasons
| Goalie 🔽 | 2024-25 GSAx | 2025-26 GSAx | Expected SV% | Actual SV% |
| #1. Sorokin | +11 | +28 | .894 | .907 |
| #2. Shesterkin | +17 | +21 | .896 | .908 |
| #3. Thompson | +19 | +36 | .891 | .911 |
| #4. Vasilevskiy | +23 | +24 | .902 | .917 |
| #5. Hellebuyck | +33 | +1 | .900 | .911 |
The degree of difficulty of the top five’s respective workloads stands out. Among the 16 goalies that have played at least 100 games over the last two seasons, Vasilevskiy (.902) has the second-highest expected save percentage behind only Filip Gustavsson (.903). Hellebuyck (.900) is fifth behind a surprisingly steady Winnipeg defense. That’s an 11-point gap in expected save percentage between Vasilevskiy and Thompson (.891), an eye-opening figure that shows the limits of raw save percentage without context.
In High Noon, it’s Sorokin that delivered the best combination of goal prevention and workload while navigating a high level of shot difficulty on an Islanders’ team that struggled mightily in front of him lately.
High Noon: Top 5 Goaltenders, Last 5 Years
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
| #1 (# of times) | Hellebuyck (3rd) | Saros (1st) | Hellebuyck (4th) | Hellebuyck (5th) | Sorokin (1st) |
| #2 | Shesterkin | Shesterkin | Shesterkin | Shesterkin | Shesterkin |
| #3 | Vasilevskiy | Hellebuyck | Sorokin | Oettinger | Thompson |
| #4 | Saros | Vasilevskiy | Saros | Montembeault | Vasilevskiy |
| #5 | Demko | Sorokin | Ullmark | Sorokin | Hellebuyck |
⬆️ Too High?
Lukas Dostal (#8), Anaheim: Dostal’s ordinary season (-1.3 GSAx) doesn’t scream top-eight goalie in the world. His first postseason series win also masked a ghastly .869 playoff SV%. He currently sits 13th in public goalie voting. But High Noon is in love with Dostal’s 2024-25 season when he thrived in front of the NHL’s worst defense by every possible measure. Dostal is still riding that big year but will drop in 2027 if he can’t return to an elite level.
Stuart Skinner (#9), Winnipeg: Skinner’s postseason inconsistency remains nightmare fuel for Oiler fans. But the reason he got a lot of opportunity and rope in Edmonton was because he’s been a solid NHL goalie for a while, albeit an inconsistent one. Since 2023-24, only 11 goalies have played 150 games or more and provided above-average goaltending. Skinner is one of them, stopping 12.4 goals above expected. Still just 27, he’s an affable workhorse with 26 career playoff victories.
Jet Greaves (#11), Columbus: Just 25 years old and 73 starts into his career, Greaves has quietly performed at a high level for the Blue Jackets. Listed at six feet tall, he’s tiny by today’s giant goalie standards. But over the last two seasons, Greaves sits second in the NHL in GSAx/60, suggesting he’s been one of the most efficient puck stoppers around. Greaves will need to build on a successful 2025-26 with more reps before he’s respected among the league’s best.
OTHER NOTABLES: Karel Vejmelka (#13); Joey Daccord (#17); Sam Montembeault (#25)
⬇️ Too Low?
Andrei Vasilevskiy (#4), Tampa Bay: The two-time Stanley Cup champion won the Vezina last season and was runner-up in 2024-25. High Noon is tough on Vasilevskiy because his poor 2023-24 season is still part of his score and because he plays on an excellent defensive team that isn’t overly reliant on him. Playoff disappointment aside, Big Cat’s been excellent the last two regular seasons. Both he and Hellebuyck have lasted in High Noon’s top 10 for eight straight years now.
Connor Hellebuyck (#5), Winnipeg: After a pokey start, we were reminded what Hellebuyck is capable of at the Olympics where he stole gold with a scintillating, 41-save performance. Despite the noise of an injury last season, past playoff failures, and a trade request, Hellebuyck is still regarded as The Best Goalie in the World. His ordinary 2025-26 season (+1.0 GSAx) nudges the 2024-25 Hart Trophy winner down four spots, but his High Noon score remains only 0.5 back of #1. It will be fascinating to see how Hellebuyck’s trade drama plays out and how he rebounds in a potential new home at 33 years old.
Scott Wedgewood (#30), Colorado: Wedgewood came fifth in Vezina voting last season, an impressive and well-deserved feat for a career backup that made only 43 starts. But High Noon covers three seasons. Wedgewood needs a bigger portfolio to bump his ranking among the perennial starters. The jury is out on whether he was merely great sharing a net with Mackenzie Blackwood on a defensive powerhouse or a late bloomer that found a new gear. Here’s hoping for the latter.
OTHER NOTABLES: Jakub Dobes (#23); Jesper Wallstedt (#37); Frederik Andersen (#46)
📈 Trending Up
Three Biggest Jumps Into the Top 25:
- 1. Jet Greaves, Columbus: +52 spots (from #63 to #11)
- 2. Jakub Dobes, Montreal: +41 spots (from #64 to #23)
- 3. Spencer Knight, Chicago: +24 spots (from #38 to #14)
Three Biggest Jumps Into the Top 50:
- 1. Jesper Wallstedt, Minnesota: +60 spots (from #97 to #37)
- 2. Arturs Silovs, Pittsburgh: +34 spots (from #83 to #49)
- 3. Daniel Vladar, Philadelphia: +27 spots (from #54 to #27)
📉 Trending Down
Six Biggest Drops Among Last Year’s Top 40:
- T1. Pyotr Kochetkov, Carolina: -31 spots (from #27 to #58)
- T1. Petr Mrazek, Free Agent: -31 spots (from #30 to #61)
- 3. Jordan Binnington, St. Louis: -23 spots (from #10 to #33)
- T4. Sam Montembeault, Montreal: -25 spots (from #4 to #25)
- T4. Adin Hill, Vegas: -21 spots (from #24 to #45)
- 6. Charlie Lindgren, Washington: -18 spots (from #25 to #43)
⌛ Legend(?) Watch
Timeline of active goalies aged 32 or older that have reached top-three status in High Noon
With skaters in this section, we confidently called any veteran that reached the top three in High Noon a legend. With goalies, we can’t quite make that same distinction given the frequent fluctuation in performance at the position. John Gibson, Cam Talbot, and Frederik Andersen have had nice careers but relatively brief stays among the NHL’s elite. Here are the career paths of the old guard of NHL netminders.
Hellebuyck’s five spins at #1 in High Noon are the seventh-most all-time, third-most since expansion, and most in the 21st century. He’s quietly moved among the best to ever occupy an NHL crease.
- 1. Tony Esposito (1971-81), 9x
- T2. Glenn Hall (1957-66), 7x
- T2. Bill Durnan (1944-50), 7x
- T4. Dominik Hasek (1995-2000), 6x
- T4. Terry Sawchuk (1951-56), 6x
- T4. Clint Benedict (1919-24), 6x
- 7. Connor Hellebuyck (2020-25), 5x
- 8. Roberto Luongo (2004-08), 4x
⏳ Future Watch
High Noon progression of the goaltenders taken earliest in the 2017 to 2021 NHL Entry Drafts
The chaotic and unpredictable paths of goaltenders is showcased when we look at the first goalie selected in past drafts. Keep in mind that these are drafts that happened five to nine years ago. Oettinger is the only former prospect to emerge in the top 10 of High Noon to date, with Spencer Knight a possibility in the near future. Despite a wealth of scouting and data, the position remains difficult to project at the NHL level, let alone with teenagers in junior or college hockey.
Thanks for following the 2026 High Noon series.
Data from Hockey-Reference; HockeyStats.com
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