The Fantasy Impact of New Coaches in Toronto and Vegas, and New Goalies in Philly and Toronto

Hello fantasy hockey folks and congratulations to Frederik Andersen, Brandon Bussi and the Carolina Hurricanes!

The Great Dane led the charge with a 13-2 record, 1.89 GAA, .910 SV% and 3 SHO. However, the 36 year old ran out of steam and faltered early in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Vegas Golden Knights, allowing 12 goals on 65 shots in 3 games. Andersen would get replaced for the final 3 plus games of the series by crease mate Brandon Bussi. The rookie net minder would go on to win his first 3 career playoff starts and cap off Carolina’s triumphant run with a shut out victory in game 6 in Vegas. He would conclude the playoffs with a 3-0-1 record, alongside a 1.60 GAA and .931 SV%.

Carter Hart of the Golden Knights would end up leading the playoffs with 14 wins in a playoff high 22 starts. Hart allowed 4 goals in the first 5 games of the Cup Finals (and 2 tallies in game 6) and he would still finish the postseason with strong metrics of 2.52 GAA, .910 SV%, and a 59.1 QS%.

Not long after their final playoff defeat, the Golden Knights announced that the Head Coach that led them this postseason, John Tortorella, would not be returning to coach the team next season. Shortly after that abrupt announcement, the Golden Knights announced that newly promoted Ryan Craig would be.

Ryan Craig has been in the Vegas caching tree since their inception and spent 6 seasons with the Golden Knights as an assistant coach, before moving behind the bench in AHL Henderson to coach of the Silver Knights for the past 3 seasons. With the coaching carousel that is today’s NHL, sometimes I take comfort in these internal promotions, reflecting on the dedication needed from both the team and the individual in these increasingly rare cases. For fantasy purposes, this move suggests more of the same for Vegas - a new voice, but the same identity. We can expect whatever goalies that skate the blue ice in Vegas to be well insulated by structure and grit. This past season, Vegas finished 14th in GAA with 3.05, but tied for 2nd in Shots Against with 24.2. If the Golden Knights can get the same level of goaltending that they got in the playoffs during the postseason, they should be able to finish in the top 10 of team defenses, and their goalies will provide excellent fantasy value to the managers that deploy them.

There is another coaching hire to report, this one in the Eastern Conference. The Toronto Maple Leafs have hired ex-Kings coach Jim Hiller to lead them through this confusing era. Confusing is the word I use because, although Toronto has the #1 overall pick in the upcoming 2026 NHL draft, they are, also, only 1 season removed from a second round playoff run. They, also, have superstars Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and others tied up on expensive deals with term, somewhat clouding the picture of whether this team is in a rebuild or competing.

The new man in charge, Jim Hiller, most recently guided the Los Angeles Kings to a 93-58-24 record in 175 games before getting relieved of his duties there this past March. The 57-year-old Hiller will be on his second stint with the Maple Leafs, having previously worked with the organization from 2015-19 as an assistant coach. He will be a familiar face to Toronto’s core of Matthews, Nylander, and Reilly.

Toronto’s hiring leaves the Edmonton Oilers as the only team in the NHL currently without a Head Coach.

Let’s stick with the Maple Leafs, where we have our first goalie trade of the new season (or last goalie trade of the old season) to report - Toronto goalie Joseph Woll, along with defenseman Simon Benoit, was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for net minder Samuel Ersson, defenseman Emil Andrae, and a 2026 third round draft pick.

Woll set career lows for a spiritless Toronto club with his 3.34 GAA and .899 SV% in 39 games played last season, but certainly has bounce back appeal in his new role in Philly, where new tandem mate Dan Vladar was able to set career highs last year across the board (29 wins, 2.42 GAA, .906 SV% ) playing for a Flyers team that advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

While this trade is helpful for Woll, it is a hindrance for Vladar, whose career high of 52 starts set last season now looks like a record that will go unbroken next year, pretty much capping his fantasy value to what it was this past season, but with perhaps 5-10 fewer wins.

For Ersson, he goes from the #2 option in Philadelphia to the #2 option in Toronto, firmly behind incumbent Stolarz. Unless significant win-now moves are made in Toronto, we shouldn’t expect Ersson to improve upon his career average of 3.01 GAA and .884 SV% in 143 games played.

Anthony Stolarz, in theory, benefits from this trade, as well, because it assures him the #1 role for as long as he’s healthy (though a quick check of his injury history would tell you that that’s hardly guaranteed). It remains to be seen whether Toronto will add or sell this offseason, but Stolarz should be able to better his 10 wins in 26 games and unsightly 3.28 GAA / .893 SV%, regardless. To all the gamblers and Toronto faithful - now may be a great time to buy low on Anthony Stolarz.

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!