January 4, 2024 by Bob Schmidt

Every month, I will be tabulating a goaltending power rankings chart and sharing the top 10 here on the Heavy Hockey Network. This chart comes to form based on calculations stemming from 25 statistical categories from five different sources. Minimum requirement of eight games played.

1) Adin Hill, Vegas Golden Knights

December rank: 1

Season stats: 10-2-2, 1.93, .933, 2 shutouts

December stats: 0-0-0, 10.00, .667

Key December performance: 2 saves on 3 shots vs. Ottawa Senators – Dec 17

Unfortunately for Adin Hill, and the Vegas Golden Knights, the 2023 Stanley Cup winning goaltender only played a total of 6:25 in December. He suffered an undisclosed injury very early in a game against the Senators and has, as of the time of this article, missed the last six games. In that span, Vegas has gone 1-5-0 and have been outscored 25-14, an indication of how important Hill has been to the Golden Knights success so far this season. The Comox, British Columbia native still leads the league in eight of the statistical goaltending categories used to tabulate these rankings, and thankfully for Vegas fans, is expected back in the lineup possibly as soon as the first weekend in January.

2) Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins

December rank: 5

Season stats: 11-2-4, 2.22, .928, 2 shutouts

December stats: 3-1-2, 2.30, .923

Key December performance: 32 saves on 34 shots in a 3-2 overtime loss vs. New York Rangers – Dec 16

2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark (ranked 30), was the incumbent starting goalie for the Bruins to start the season given what an incredible 2022-23 season he had. Swayman had a good season himself, racking up 24 wins in his 33 starts, which helped the tandem capture the William M. Jennings trophy awarded to the team that allows fewest goals against. This season, the 25-year-old Anchorage, Alaska native won his first six games and backstopped the Bruins to collecting at least a point in his first nine appearances. Swayman’s play has been rewarded with an increased workload from being given 40% of the starts last season, to sharing the load with Ullmark with 50% of the starts this season so far, arguably making this Bruins tandem the best in the NHL.

3) Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets

December rank: 14

Season stats: 17-6-3, 2.34, .919, 1 shutout

December stats: 7-0-2, 1.88, .934

Key December performance: 32 saves on 34 shots in a 5-2 win vs. Los Angeles Kings – Dec 13

It was just a matter of time before we would see the 2020 Vezina winner, and two-time nominee, make an appearance on this list. Hellebuyck has been considered one of the top goalies in the league for the better part of six seasons now and he seems determined to be considered as such for some time to come. Impressively, the two-time NHL All Star led his team in capturing 16 of the possible 18 points available in the nine games he played in December. Four of his seven wins came against teams I have ranked in the top ten of my recently posted NHL power rankings.

4) Charlie Lindgren, Washington Capitals

December rank: 6

Season stats: 7-3-3, 2.27, .928, 2 shutouts

December stats: 2-1-3, 2.24, .922, 1 shutout

Key December performance: 31 save shutout vs. New York Rangers – Dec 9

With the underwhelming offense coming from the usual high points producers like Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov, and key long-term injuries to T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom, it’s a wonder to see the Capitals still even in a playoff race at all. How are they doing it? A lot can be said about guys like Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson stepping up to fill the need at offense, but most fingers would, or should, be pointing at their southpaw goalie, Lindgren, as the biggest reason why Washington remains in contention. The just turned 30-year-old netminder has been steadfastly challenging veteran, and 2022 Stanley Cup champion, Darcy Kuemper (unranked), for the starting goalie position for the past two seasons. This season, Lindgren has put up vastly superior numbers than Kuemper so far even though he has started three less games.

5) Cam Talbot, Los Angeles Kings

December rank: 8

Season stats: 14-7-3, 2.10, .924, 2 shutouts

December stats: 4-3-2, 2.22, .917, 1 shutout

Key December performance: 24 save shutout vs. Montreal Canadiens – Dec 7

I don’t think many hockey observers, myself included, expected this kind of bounce back season from a 36-year-old goaltender who last season looked like was fading towards a should-probably-retire-very-soon situation. The signing of Talbot in the off-season by General Manager Rob Blake was met with a lot of speculation and concern from many Kings fans. Thus far, the 11-year veteran has given those same fans more reasons to cheer than fear. He has carried the majority of the workload between the pipes so far, having started 23 of the 33 games, and has helped his team become one of the top teams in the NHL. I have them ranked at number three in my recently posted NHL power rankings. It will be interesting to see if Talbot can sustain this caliber of goaltending considering his workload and the fact that he is currently the third oldest goalie in the NHL.

6) Thatcher Demko, Vancouver Canucks

December rank: 3

Season stats: 17-7-1, 2.46, .917, 3 shutouts

December stats: 6-1-1, 2.97, .897, 1 shutout

Key December performance: 36 save shutout vs. Florida Panthers – Dec 14

Thatcher Demko was my pre-season pick to win the 2024 Vezina Trophy and he is still capable of doing just that. After coming off an injury shortened 2022-23 season, the 28-year-old has already surpassed his wins total of last season. Vancouver is getting strong contributions across the board so far this season and Demko is one of those that’s leading the charge. His goals against average and his save percentage took a bit of a dive this past month, but he was second in the league in the most important stat column, wins, with six in December.

7) Connor Ingram, Arizona Coyotes

December rank: 9

Season stats: 13-7-0, 2.49, .919, 4 shutouts

December stats: 4-4-0, 2.45, .915, 3 shutouts

Key December performance: 26 save shutout vs. Washington Capitals – Dec 4

Who is Connor Ingram? Where did he come from? Brief background: a third-round pick in 2016 by the Tampa Bay Lightning, traded in 2019 to the Nashville Predators for a 2021 seventh-round pick, claimed off waivers by the Coyotes in 2022, and now a top 10 goalie in the NHL. Ingram has been Mr. Resilient in his goaltending journey having played for seven different teams in six different leagues since he was drafted. The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native has outplayed last season’s starter, Karel Vejmelka (unranked), taking over the number one role, and has the Coyotes poised to potentially make the playoffs for only the second time in the past 12 seasons.

8) Anthony Stolarz, Florida Panthers

December rank: 7

Season stats: 5-3-1, 2.05, .918

December stats: 2-2-0, 2.13, .900

Key December performance: 18 saves on 19 shots in a 4-1 win vs. Montreal Canadiens – Dec 30

Admittedly, Stolarz looks out of place on this list. The 29-year-old is clearly the backup in Florida, starting in only 24% of the games so far, behind two-time Vezina winner, Sergei Bobrovsky (ranked 28). However, in the 10 games he has appeared in, Stolarz has performed solidly and appears in the top 10 in 12 of the 25 statistical categories used to tabulate this list and leads in two of them. The towering netminder could see his workload increase a bit more as the season progresses to give the 35-year-old Bobrovsky some more rest and keep him as fresh as possible for, what the Panthers hope will be, another deep playoff run come spring.

9) Alex Nedeljkovic – Pittsburgh Penguins

December rank: 10

Season stats: 6-3-2, 2.42, .924

December stats: 4-0-2, 2.62, .915

Key December performance: 37 saves on 38 shots in a 4-1 win vs. New York Islanders – Dec 31

The Penguins tandem of Tristan Jarry (ranked 18) and Nedeljkovic are one of the strongest duos in the NHL. While Nedeljkovic is the backup, starting in 28% of the games so far, a lot of his numbers are better than Jarry’s. The soon-to-be 28-year-old has a better goals against average, better save percentage, and a higher quality starts percentage. Nedeljkovic cracked the top 10 in ten of the statistical categories used while Jarry made it into seven of them. With his continued improved play, the Penguins could end up with a 1A/1B goaltending tandem before the season is over.

10) Jonathan Quick, New York Rangers

December rank: 5

Season stats: 9-2-1, 2.41, .916, 2 shutouts

December stats: 3-2-0, 3.08, .896

Key December performance: 25 saves on 26 shots in a 4-1 win vs. Los Angeles Kings – Dec 10

Jonathan Quick has found a home in New York and looks pretty comfortable there. The Rangers are not only benefitting from his leadership and mentoring of starting goalie, Igor Shesterkin (ranked 14), off the ice, but also benefitting from his solid, and often spectacular, play on the ice. There was a stretch this season where the Rangers captured 19 of the possible 20 points in ten consecutive Quick starts. The two-time Cup winner put together a seven-game win streak that carried into mid December. Despite his last two starts being losses, his only two regulation time losses of the season so far, Quick has put together a very impressive season so far and has played a very relevant factor in the Rangers being my pick as the number one team in the NHL in my recently posted power rankings article.