Yesterday I power ranked the goaltenders in the Metropolitan Division so today I'll execute that same task for the Atlantic Division.
My Atlantic Division rankings for goaltenders is going to start off with a controversial pick. I will not be choosing the reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winning Carey Price as I am awarding the number one spot to Tuukka Rask
1. Tuukka Rask
2. Carey Price
This isn't as controversial as it seems though. There is no debating the brilliance of Price's 2014-15 season, but that hasn't been Price's standard throughout his career. Tuukka Rask has had more consistency while also playing at a ridiculously high level from 2012-14.
To assess these goalies I am going to use 5v5 adjusted save percentage. This is a metric that takes into consideration where saves are made and weighs low danger, medium danger, and high danger shots accordingly.
Adjusted save percentage is an important stat, and you should take the time to understand why: http://t.co/7zFZCfLIw7
— Greg Balloch (@GregBalloch) September 7, 2015
While normal EVSV% has a league average of .921-.923 in any given year adjusted save percentage is higher coming in at .929.
Here is how Price and Rask stack up against one another through the years
Rask is above average every season and he has also experienced the high level success that Price did in 2014-15 (Rask did win the Vezina in 2014). For me I value the comfort of knowing that my guy is going to be above average year after year. All goaltenders are susceptible to fluctuations but only a select few see their lows still being above league average. Rask is always above league average.
If Carey Price replicates his 2014-15 season he will be #1 on my list next year, but for now Tuukka Rask's complete body of work keeps him in the top spot.
There is a huge gap between the top two goalies on this list and then the rest. I had difficulty ranking the next three goaltenders.
3. Craig Anderson
I know, I didn't really think he was going to be this high up on the list either. The fact is he has been the goaltender who has shown the most consistency at being league average or better. Injuries have been more of an issue than the opposition the last few years. In 2012-13 he was the favorite for the Vezina Trophy before Chris Kreider plowed him over and last year he only started 35 games. At 34 years of age you can start to question his ability to stay healthy but when he has been in net for Ottawa he has been pretty good/excellent the past three seasons.
4. Roberto Luongo
Roberto Luongo is one of the best goalies of his generation. Even at the age of 36 Luongo still displays consistency that has him at league average. The reason Luongo did not place third is because it appears his ceiling of being way above average is over. On the flip side there is no indication that he is going to suddenly become a below average goaltender. Florida knows what they are getting out of him, at least for the 2015-16 season.
5. Jimmy Howard
For a few years Jimmy Howard was flying under the radar despite being one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. However, he is trending in the wrong direction the past two seasons. In fact Petr Mrazek stole the starting position from him just as the playoffs were beginning last year. The 2015-16 season will be a very telling one for Howard. Will he rebound or will his slide from excellence continue?
My next two goalies are more similar than you think. They both had extremely limited samples as back up goaltenders and were then given a chance to start after being traded from their respective teams.
6 (tie). Ben Bishop
As stated above this is a sample size issue for me. Ben Bishop had an amazing 2013-14 season (5v5 adj save % .940) but I have no idea if that is what he is really capable of. Last year saw Bishop drop back to average and there is really no telling where it goes from here. With Andrei Vasilevskiy out for 2-3 months with a blood clot it is going to be the Ben Bishop show to start the season for Tampa Bay so we should get a good look if 2013-14 was a fluke or not.
6 (tie). Jonathan Bernier
Jonathan Bernier only played 62 games in Los Angeles during his five years in their organization and he had what could be considered an underwhelming even-strength adjusted save percentage of .922. Bernier was traded to Toronto and awarded his first opportunity to be a starting goaltender at the NHL level. He responded with a great even-strength AdSv% of .937. Identical to Ben Bishop his 2014-15 season saw that number drop to .930. Both Bernier and Bishop have had extremely similar NHL career paths and now we'll just have to wait and see if either player can jump ahead of the other one in 2015-16.
8. Robin Lehner
Only having 87 games on his NHL resume makes him an unknown commodity. Although with that said the data we do have on him is not very encouraging. His even-strength AdSv% is way below average in those 87 starts only registering at .922. Buffalo didn't exactly acquire him for free either as Buffalo sent the 21st overall pick to Ottawa in exchange for his services (David Legwand as well).
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