During the two weeks the NHL has off, it's a great time to evaluate your fantasy hockey roster and make the needed changes to be ready for the stretch run.
In the net, most of your top netminders are going to be taken on rosters already. Some teams, like Nashville, Boston and Chicago, will probably be flipping between goalies for a lot of the last six weeks of the season as well. If you're fortunate enough to have depth on your roster in net, but want to make sure you're not wasting a spot on a guy that doesn't end up starting, you should check out DailyFaceoff.com. It's a great resource that updates the starting goalies, with confirmation, very quickly.
As we look toward the final six weeks, the rankings can, and should, be based on a number of factors. First, how has the goalie performed so far this year. Secondly, how has that goalie's team performed in front of him. And third, how does the goalie project down the stretch.
There are few surprises at the top of the list, including Chicago's Antti Niemi. Niemi hasn't started many games this year, but appears to be ready toa ssume the top spot on the Blackhawks' depth chart. In the last four games of the first half, three of which were won in a shootout, Niemi was superb. Yes, he allowed roughly three goals per game over the four contests, but had a save percentage of .920 and won all four. Considering that Niemi is still owned in only 26.8 percent of ESPN leagues, he is without question someone you should grab off waivers immediately if he's available.
Here are the Olympic Break rankings for goalies:
1. Ryan Miller, Buffalo - 30-14-7 2.16 GAA .930 SV%
2. Roberto Luongo, Vancouver - 31-17-2 2.35 .919
3. Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose - 34-9-9 2.26 .928
4. Antti Niemi, Chicago - 17-4-1 .216 .913
5. Tuukka Rask, Boston - 14-7-4 2.08 .928
6. Martin Brodeur, New Jersey - 34-20-3 2.32 .915
7. Craig Anderson, Colorado - 31-16-5 2.42 .924
8. Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix - 32-17-4 2.30 .920
9. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles - 35-17-3 2.53 .907
10. Tomas Vokoun, Florida - 19-21-10 2.36 .931
11. Jimmy Howard, Detroit - 21-1-8 2.28 .927
12. Miikka Kipprusoff, Calgary - 27-19-9 2.18 .925
13. Jonas Hiller, Anaheim - 26-17-2 2.70 .919
14. Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh - 29-16-4 2.65 .908
15. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers - 25-22-6 2.41 .920
16. Jaroslav Halak, Montreal - 17-10-2 2.56 .923
17. Jean-Sebastian Giguere, Toronto - 6-10-5 2.90 .907
18. Chris Mason, St. Louis - 20-17-8 2.53 .907
19. Dan Ellis, Nashville - 13-11-1 2.59 .913
20. Michael Leighton, Philadelphia - 13-7-1 2.73 .905
21. Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota - 23-18-4 2.74 .901
22. Pekka Rinne, Nashville - 20-12-4 2.80 .902
23. Brian Elliott, Ottawa - 22-13-2 2.59 .910
24. Kari Lehtonen, Dallas - N/A
25. Marty Turco, Dallas - 19-15-9 2.63 .915
