There’s two ways to win an NHL hockey game: scoring goals and stopping your opponent from scoring goals. In the case of the latter, the final responsibility for ensuring pucks don’t cross the red goal line rests with the team’s goaltender, making it one of the hardest positions to play in all of professional sports.
A select few have the agility, presence of mind and resilience to put on the big pads and stand between the pipes, and an even more select group of those players rise to the level of being considered elite.
So, which lucky NHL teams can say they have a true fortress in goal? Here’s our list of the top 10 best NHL goalies right now.
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The Top 10 NHL Goalies Right Now (2025)
Here’s our ranking of the best goalies in the NHL currently rostered to a team:
1. Connor Hellebuyck – Winnipeg Jets
2024-25 Key stats: 0.925 Save %, 2.00 GAA, 8 shutouts
Stanley Cups: 0
MVP: Nominated for 2025 award
Vezina Trophies: 2
Despite his recent struggles in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, there’s almost no way that Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck doesn’t take the top spot on this list. If you watched the 4 Nations Face-Off this spring and kept an eye on the NHL standings this year — which the Jets dominated for most of the regular season — then you know why.
Hellebuyck is easily the NHL’s most impactful goalie right now, and some have gone as far as calling him one of the best American-born goalies to ever play the game. He’s been backstopping the Jets since 2016, picking up two Vezina Trophies along the way, and helped his team secure the top seed in the Western Conference entering the postseason.
Hellebuyck is the epitome of a workhorse goalie, logging the second-most time on ice in the 2024-25 season, behind only Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He also led the league this year in GAA and shutouts, notching 8 games without allowing a single goal. He had the second best save percent among goalies who logged 1,000+ minutes.
What makes Hellebuyck such an elite netminder? It’s his ability to remain calm amid chaos, which often erupts at the front of the net as players scramble to stuff the puck in or keep it out. He also possesses an incredible puck sense, seemingly always able to locate the puck and position himself just right to make clutch saves.
2. Andrei Vasilevskiy – Tampa Bay Lightning
2024-25 Key stats: 0.921 Save %, 2.18 GAA, 6 shutouts
Stanley Cups: 2
MVP: 1
Vezina Trophies: 1
It wasn’t long ago that the Tampa Bay Lightning were toying with bona-fide dynasty status after notching back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021, and Andrei Vasilevskiy was a major reason why.
Vasilevskiy is considered one of the faces of NHL goaltending in the 2020s and one of the most dominant postseason performers in modern memory. Vasilevskiy is pretty big as far as NHL goalies go, slightly above the league average at 6’4″, 228 pounds, but he’s “lightning” quick despite his frame. He’s able to quickly execute lateral movements and recover from the butterfly (That’s when a goalie drops to their knees to block low shots) with ease.
He also plays extraordinarily well in high-stakes situations, making him a dependable and near-impenetrable force in playoff games. That ability has, in part, made him the winningest goaltender in Lightning history.
3. Anthony Stolarz – Toronto Maple Leafs
2024-25 Key stats: 0.926 Save %, 2.14 GAA, 4 shutouts
Stanley Cups: 1
MVP: 0
Vezina Trophies: 0
Vasilevskiy is big, sure, but Toronto’s Anthony Stolarz is big. Standing 6’6″ and weighing in at 243 pounds, he’s the biggest goalie in NHL history, as a matter of fact.
Stolarz surged to league prominence this year in net for the Leafs after spending much of his career floating between NHL and AHL teams. He was drafted by the Flyers in 2012, then had stints with the Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks and Florida Panthers before being given his chance to start with Toronto.
And boy, did he impress. He led the league in save percentage and helped Toronto win the Atlantic Division for the first time since its creation in 2013. Before being injured in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year, Toronto had a realistic shot of making the Final due to Stolarz’s career-year goaltending.
Expect Stolarz to start in net for the foreseeable future in Toronto.
4. Jake Oettinger – Dallas Stars
2024-25 Key stats: 0.909 Save %, 2.59 GAA, 2 shutouts
Stanley Cups: 0
MVP: 0
Vezina Trophies: 0
Jake Oettinger has been a fixture in net for the Stars since they drafted him in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft. Since then, Dallas has been a force to be reckoned with, making perennial Stanley Cup Playoffs appearances, including two Conference Finals and one Stanley Cup Final appearance, despite losing in all three.
Oettinger is also one of the largest goalies in the sport’s history, matching Stolarz’s 6’6″ but weighing in about 20 pounds lighter. Like Hellebuyck, he’s well-known for his composure in the net amid chaotic conditions on the ice.
5. Sergei Bobrovsky – Florida Panthers
2024-25 Key stats:
Stanley Cups: 1
MVP: 0
Vezina Trophies: 2
Despite entering the NHL as an undrafted free agent, Sergei Bobrovsky has since become one of the most recognizable names in professional ice hockey. Getting his start with the Philadelphia Flyers, Bobrovsky almost immediately proved a dominant force in net. Philly sent him to Columbus, where he notched two Vezinas with the Blue Jackets before landing one of the single largest contracts ever offered to a goalie: seven years and $70 million with the Florida Panthers.
And their big bet paid off: the Cats ended up winning the Stanley Cup in 2024 with Bobrovsky between the pipes, and they’re on their way back to the Stanley Cup Final in 2025 — their third straight appearance in the biggest event in professional hockey.
6. Darcy Kuemper – Los Angeles Kings
2024-25 Key stats: 0.922 Save %, 2.02 GAA, 5 shutouts
Stanley Cups: 1
MVP: 0
Vezina Trophies: 0
Darcy Kuemper has a bit of a rollercoaster ride over the past few years, lurching from a breakout year and a Stanley Cup win with the Colorado Avalanche to two underperforming seasons with the Capitals before being traded back to the Los Angeles Kings, where he spent the 2017-18 season.
He brought significantly more experience with him to his second tour of duty with the Kings, however, and it’s proved far more successful than his first: Kuemper is one of the three finalists for the Vezina this season, alongside Hellebuyck and Vasilevskiy.
7. Filip Gustavsson – Minnesota Wild
2024-25 Key stats: .914 Save %, 2.56 GAA, 5 shutouts
Stanley Cups: 0
MVP: 0
Vezina Trophies: 0
Backing up a legend is never an easy spot to be in for any professional athlete trying to make a name for themselves, but that’s the situation Minnesota’s Filip Gustavsson found himself in after being traded to the Wild in 2022. Despite being behind the legendary Marc-Andre Fleury on the depth chart, he had a breakout season and built his stature with the team, earning him the starting gig following Fleury’s retirement in 2025.
8. Ilya Sorokin – New York Islanders
2024-25 Key stats: 0.907 Save %, 2.71 GAA, 4 shutouts
Stanley Cups: 0
MVP: 0
Vezina Trophies: 0
The New York Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin made his NHL debut in the 2020-21 season after a stellar career in Russia, and he’s been a staple of their lineup ever since. He’s another consistent and reliable workhorse goalie who, despite his team’s defensive woes this season, gave them a fighting chance in numerous matchups. He’s as mentally tough as they come and has top-tier reflexes.
Despite his stature among the league’s top goaltenders, Sorokin did this season have the distinct honor of giving up the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin’s 895th goal, which broke the legendary Wayne Gretzky’s all-time scoring record.
9. Frederik Andersen – Carolina Hurricanes
2024-25 Key stats: 0.89 Save %, 2.5 GAA, 1 shutout
Stanley Cups: 0
MVP: 0
Vezina Trophies: 0
Freddie Andersen has seen inconsistent ice time due to a slew of injuries, including a serious blood clotting issue that sidelined him for much of the 2023-24 season, but when he does step between the pipes, his impact is immediate.
Originally drafted by the Hurricanes in 2010 but unable to agree on a contract, Andersen re-entered the draft in 2012. He was selected by and debuted with the Anaheim Ducks before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he spent five seasons before signing with Carolina in a full-circle moment in 2021.
Since taking over as Carolina’s starter, Andersen has helped lead the team to three Stanley Cup Playoffs semi-finals and two Conference Finals appearances. He also anchored the team to a 10-game home winning streak to start the 2022-23 season and an 11-game winning streak later in the same season, a franchise record.
Andersen was one of the standouts among netminders in the 2025 playoffs, carrying the highest save percentage among postseason goalies at .937 into the Conference Final, which the Canes lost to the defending champion Florida Panthers.
10. Jacob Markstrom – New Jersey Devils
2024-25 Key stats: 0.900 Save %, 2.5 GAA, 4 shutouts
Stanley Cups: 0
MVP: 0
Vezina Trophies: 0
If you need any proof that Jacob Markstrom belongs on this list, watch the Hurricanes-Devils Game 5 double-overtime thriller in the first round of this year’s playoffs, where he made no less than 48 saves, including 14 in overtime. When it looked as if the Devils had run out of juice and thrown in the towel, Markstrom stood firm, an impenetrable wall between the pipes, making 37 consecutive saves as the Canes hammered shot after shot on goal.
Markstrom’s performance epitomized the tenacity and resilience expected from a goaltender with decades of professional experience. His arrival in New Jersey after his time with the Calgary Flames was a welcome sight for fans, and he was a driving factor in the team’s push to a playoff appearance after a strong season.
Honorable Mentions
Here’s a few more of the league’s best goalies, even if they didn’t manage to crack our top 10:
- Logan Thompson – Washington Capitals
- Mackenzie Blackwood – San Jose Sharks/Colorado Avalanche
- Linus Ullmark – Ottawa Senators
- Thatcher Demko – Vancouver Canucks
- Adin Hill – Vegas Golden Knights
- Jordan Binnington – St. Louis Blues
- Stuart Skinner – Edmonton Oilers
- Juuse Saros – Nashville Predators
- Dustin Wolf – Calgary Flames
- Jeremy Swayman – Boston Bruins
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the NHL's top goalies right now?
Connor Hellebuyck, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Anthony Stolarz are among the best NHL goalies right now.
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