Shots Fired! The Goalies that Lead the NHL in Saves

Most of the dust has settled from a busy start to free agency, but there are still a few question marks to answer over the coming weeks. Specifically, fantasy enthusiasts are still waiting to see if a trade will materialize for long time fantasy hero Connor Hellebuyck, whether the remaining free agents (Connor Ingram, Cam Talbot, Petr Mrazek, James Reimer, Matt Murray) will end up finding new homes, and what impact arbitration may have on restricted free agents Jet Greaves and Akira Schmid. So while we wait for business as usual to unfold, let’s go ahead and look ahead to the 2026-27 fantasy goalie landscape and try to identify targets that offer a safe floor in leagues that reward volume by zeroing in on goalies that lead the pack in saves.

Not every fantasy league uses saves as a category, but quite a few category leagues do use it as a trackable category and most every point based league out there utilizes saves for calculating goalie points, so its role in fantasy hockey is quietly integral. Here are the goalies that lead the league last year in saves.

Juuse Saros - 1519

Karel Vejmelka - 1458

Logan Thompson - 1447

Spencer Knight - 1428

Jeremy Swayman - 1426

Dustin Wolf - 1401

Jet Greaves - 1397

Ilya Sorokin - 1386

Connor Hellebuyck - 1385

Andrei Vasilevskiy - 1353

There are the usual suspects listed in Connor Hellebuyck, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ilya Sorokin, and the most recent addition to the top tier, Logan Thompson. These goalies are among the safest bets in any fantasy format, but their acquisition cost is as big as their collected trophy cases. Then there is a pair of unquestioned starters for middling clubs, such as Nashville’s Juuse Saros and Utah’s Karel Vejmelka. These two won’t match the wins or metrics of the top tier, but are typically safe volume plays because they haven’t faced much organizational competition in recent years, for better and for worse. But outside of these better known commodities we see a group of younger goalies, certainly already on fantasy radars but much less proven, that have been given the reigns to the starter’s crease.

Heading into 2026-27, Spencer Knight (age 25), Jeremy Swayman (27), Dustin Wolf (25), and Jet Greaves (25), as well as, Lukas Dostal (age 26, #11 in saves with 1344) will make up a group of young net minders that will have the role, volume, and relative availability to reward fantasy managers with massive amounts of saves compared to their cost of acquisition.

Let’s take a quick look at each one of these keepers.

Spencer Knight, Chicago Blackhawks - Credit to Spencer Knight for finishing the season with an above average save percentage while only managing a meager 19 wins in 55 games played. With Bowen Byram brought in to revamp a defense that struggled mightily last year, expect improvements to come in the win column for Knight. If he can keep up his healthy peripheral play (2.82 GAA and .904 SV%), the American will reward fantasy managers that target him.

Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins - Are the Bruins a playoff team, or was last season’s postseason berth an apparition? Swayman, for his part, had a bounceback campaign in 2025-26 garnering 9 more wins than he did in 2024-25 and providing category coverage that was much more aligned with his career averages (2.61 GAA, .910 SV%). Its worth noting that even with 9 less victories, Swayman still cracked the top 10 in saves in 2024-25 with 1459.

Dustin Wolf, Calgary Flames - Wolf took a step back last year in wins, GAA, and SV%, as the Flames tumbled down the NHL’s standings. Their offseason hasn’t offered much reason for optimism as of yet, either. The best thing going for Wolf is that he should get between 55-60 starts and face a ton of shots playing for a team that looks like it will be playing on its heels often.

Jet Greaves, Columbus Blue Jackets - Most of the news out of Columbus has been focused on last season’s Norris trophy winner Zach Werenski, but word on the street is he wants to stay and he wants to win with the Blue Jackets. If Greaves can improve on his 26 wins last season while staying true to his career averages of 2.61 GAA and .913 SV%, he has a chance to provide top tier goalie value at a significant discount.

Lukas Dostal, Anaheim Ducks - This has been an offseason to forget for Ducks fans so far, but Dostal goes into next season with only Ville Husso to compete with for starts, nearly guaranteeing 60 games for the young Czech keeper. The problem here is the defense in front of him. The Ducks lost veterans Radko Gudas, Jacob Trouba, and John Carlson to free agency, and now face serious questions at center, too. The luster of Anaheim’s postseason run has faded and now it’s looking increasingly doubtful that Dostal can improve upon last year’s 3.10 GAA and .888 SV%. That being said, he is a great bet to lead the league in saves.

That’s all for this week, thanks for reading! My name is Garrett Finlay and you can follow me on X @garrett_fi51284 and on Bluesky @garrettfinlay.bsky.social where I am often talking goalies and fantasy hockey. I’ll be back here next Thursday, so until then - Happy Hockeying and good luck out there!