Compared with the other teams in the Atlantic Division, the Ottawa Senators have mediocre goaltending.
Out of 8 teams in the division last season, the Senators ranked 5th in save percentage as a unit. Craig Anderson and Andrew Hammond will split time in net again, but the amount of playing time each gets is yet to be determined.
Anderson has proven to be vastly inconsistent throughout his career, with glimpses of brilliance followed by frustrating performances.
Hammond looked incredible during his rookie season, but injuries last season may have played a factor in his statistical decline.
The Florida Panthers had the highest save percentage in the division last season, and primary starter Roberto Luongo will be in net for them again.
Although he’ll turn 37 this April, Luongo isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. His .922 save percentage this past season was his best since 2010-2011, and the 3rd highest single season total of his career.
He was tied for 4th in the NHL in wins, 4th in goalie point shares, 6th in goals saved above average, tied for 8th in shutouts, and 9th in save percentage.
James Reimer is going to be his new backup. Reimer ranked 7th in the NHL in save percentage and 12th in goals saved above average last season. That’s an extremely formidable duo.
Tampa Bay also sports impressive talent in net. Former Senators goalie Ben Bishop has become one of the star goaltenders in the league since leaving Ottawa.
Bishop lead the league in goals against average last season, and it wasn’t just a product of Tampa Bay giving up the 9th least shots per game. Bishop ranked 2nd in the league in save percentage.
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At 6’7’’, Bishop has so much range in the net. His 61.7% quality start rate last season was impressive. He also had only 4 really bad starts last season in 60 total starts, defined as a game with a save percentage below 85%.
He has started at least 59 games in each full season he has been in Tampa Bay. He is a model of consistency and strong play.
Andrei Vasilevskiy is his backup. The young goaltender might not be as big as Bishop, but he stands at 6’3’’ and possess great lateral quickness.
The potential is there, but in 34 career starts, he has an abysmal quality start percentage of 41.2%. Bishop can carry most of the weight in this duo, and he always makes Tampa Bay a difficult team to score against.
The Buffalo Sabres also feature a former Senators goalie in net. Robin Lehner has never started more than 30 games in a season, but he looks like he’s going to get the opportunity to be Buffalo’s primary netminder next season.
He stands tall at 6’5’’ and has nice quickness, but still has some problems controlling rebounds. He has potential, and it’ll be interesting to see if he seizes this chance.
He had an impressive save percentage of .924 in 21 starts last year, and a very good 61.9% quality start percentage.
Anders Nilsson is the leading candidate to be Lehner’s backup, and he has never started more than 24 games in a season.
His career save percentage is only .900, and he has 9 really bad starts in his 44 career starts. His quality start percentage is just 43.2%, so if Buffalo has to lean on him for extended playing time, it won’t be very reassuring.
In increased playing time for the Detroit Red Wings last season, Petr Mrazek improved nearly all his major stats.
His quality start percentage of 63.3% last season was his career best in seasons with more than 10 starts, and his career quality start percentage of 61.4% gives the Red Wings a very stable presence in net.
Jimmy Howard is a great backup. Anytime a team can boast that their 2nd option in net has finished in the top 8 in Vezina Trophy voting in 2 out of their 6 seasons in which they started at least 42 games, it makes for a strong duo in the crease.
Tuukka Rask had an uncharacteristically poor season last year, but still has an intimidating track record.
Rask has started at least 22 games in 7 seasons. In 5 of those 7 seasons, he finished with a save percentage better than .922 and a goals against average of 2.30 or lower.
In 4 of those 5 seasons mentioned above, Rask’s goals against average was an amazing 2.05 or lower. This past season was the worst of his career, but it could very well end up being an outlier.
Only Cory Schneider tops Rask on the NHL’s all time save percentage list for a career. Boston can feel secure in the overall statistical history of Rask.
He has a great career quality start percentage of 63.9%, and seems poised to get back on track after a relatively lackluster season.
His backup figures to be Anton Khudobin, who is swift in net, but very inconsistent. During the 2014-2015 season, he registered 9 really bad starts out of 32 total starts. It’s very hard to develop rhythm as a team when the netminder is that prone to imploding on any given night.
Frederik Andersen combined to win the William M. Jennings Trophy with John Gibson in Anaheim last season, and will now be the top option for the Toronto Maple Leafs next season.
His quality start percentage of 64.9% last year was great, but his save percentage of .919 was middle of the pack.
Garret Sparks will likely be his primary backup. His rookie season featured a save percentage of just .893, and only 35.3% quality start rate in 17 starts.
Sparks is still young, but until he tightens his game up somewhat, they’ll need to rely more on Anderson.
Carey Price missed most of last season for the Montreal Canadiens, and they’ll be glad to get him back for 2016-2017.
The Hart Memorial Trophy and Vezina Trophy winner in 2014-2015 is one of the premier goaltenders in the NHL. Before he got injured last season, Price had a .934 save percentage through 12 games, which was even better than the total he had to lead the league in his Hart season.
He has finished in the top 5 in Vezina voting 3 times in 8 seasons where he has started at least 35 games. That number expands to 5 out of 8 for top 10 finishes.
Al Montoya will back him up next season. Montoya had a quality start percentage of 63.6% last season for Florida, which is just what a team wants to see out of their backup.
He can give Price the occasional breather without the team feeling as though they are severely sacrificing by doing so.
All in all, I’d probably rank the goaltending units in the division as follows: Montreal, Tampa Bay, Florida, Boston, Detroit, Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo.
Price, Bishop, Luongo, and Rask belong in the upper tier. We can separate the units they lead from the rest of the division.
Mrazek is coming off his best season yet for Detroit, and Howard serves as a great backup for him.
Ottawa is counting on Hammond to bounce back to his rookie level, and Anderson is capable of great play. It’s a decent unit, but comes with some question marks.
Toronto has a reigning Jennings Trophy winner in net, but Andersen is going from a Ducks team that allowed the 4th fewest shots per game to a Maple Leafs squad that allowed the 10th most. It’ll be an adjustment for him.
Buffalo has too many inexperienced options, although Lehner had a solid season last year in his 21 starts. Chad Johnson started 40 games last year for them, but he’s now in Calgary. The Sabres’ unit has a lot to prove next season.
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Ottawa right now is middle tier in the division in terms of their goaltending unit, but if Hammond gets more starts and bounces back, they could rise up those rankings.