Goalie Intro

I never know what to write intro-ing my goalie rankings. Goalie evaluation is notoriously hard, and the phrase “goalies are voodoo” is standard fare. So how can I possibly explain or contextualize the rankings below? Here’s my best shot.
Goalies need to be great skaters. When in the wild, outside the crease, they need to power through the extra equipment and get to pucks or back to their crease without flailing around creating chaos.
But it’s more subtle than that. Goalies need to keep their endurance in post-to-post pushes and cuts. They need to lean into their edges to get up and down quickly for rebound shots.
More from Draft
- Florida Panthers Select Forward Matthew Wedman 199th Overall
- Florida Panthers Select Forward Greg Meireles 168th Overall
- Florida Panthers Select Forward Owen Lindmark 137th Overall
- Florida Panthers Select Forward Henry Rybinski 136th Overall
- Florida Panthers Select Defenseman Carter Berger 106th Overall
No matter what style, size, or development league you prefer your tenders to be from, everyone is looking for the best skaters.
When it comes to goalie styles, I prefer any of the butterfly variations and avoid the blocking style goalies. That doesn’t mean a stand-up/blocking goalie is automatically excluded from the below list.
But the butterfly style I grew up with in the 90s, the Roy-butterfly, seems to have the right balance of technique and athleticism, and the style of goalies I give an edge to the most.
When it comes down to it, it’s all about belief in the netminder (rational or irrational). Faith is an important aspect of any practice of voodoo, like projecting goalie prospects.