What is GSAA for Goalies? Understanding GSAA in hockey

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GSAA is a hockey goaltending statistic that stands for “Goals Saved Above Average”. GSAA is a relatively new statistic, but a valuable one used to measure a goalies play as compared to the rest of the goalies in their league. GSAA is hockey’s version of baseball’s “WAR” statistic.

In the past decade, statistics have taken a much deeper dive than ever before. Not just in hockey, but with sports like Baseball and the “WAR” statistic. GSAA is becoming increasingly popular when used by NHL GM’s in evaluating a goalies trade potential and contract size.

Statistically speaking, teams with a goalie who finishes in the top 12 league wide in terms of GSAA, are more likely to win the Stanley Cup. In a sample of 7 NHL seasons from 2014-2015 to 2020-2021, teams with a goalie in the top 12 GSAA statistic won the cup 6 out of 7 times.

How is GSAA calculated?

Goals Saved Above Average is calculated by the league’s average save percentage with the number of shots a goalie has had. The resulting number is the average goals a goalie in whatever league you’re evaluating would’ve surrendered if they took the same number of shots as the goalie you’re evaluating.

Then, this number can be evaluated against the number of goals given up by the goalie in question, finally resulting in a plus / minus number, GSAA.

What’s a good GSAA for goalies?

A positive GSAA (higher the number the better) is the number of goals the goalie has saved compared to a league average goalie. Negative GSAA numbers indicate that the goalie is performing worse than a league average goalie would.

Simple, right? Below, we’re going to list some fun facts, for the sake of debate, of goalies GSAA statistics and how their teams fared in the playoffs from that season.

Is GSAA really a good way to measure a goalies value?

This is the million dollar question. I have a friend who now works for the Toronto Blue Jays in Major League Baseball. Without naming him or his speciality, he built his career and made a name for himself in the MLB by tracking one simple statistic that had nothing to do with wins and losses. Personally, I think that some stats turn into slang and do go too far. Is GSAA one of them? Immediately, I would say not. GSAA is quickly becoming one of the top statistics used to scout goalies.

Making the case for GSAA is the fact that the statistic does factor in a league average save percentage. As a result, a good GSAA often follows a trendline of the leading save percentage.

That said, we cannot argue that GSAA is the most important statistic in determining a goalies value. Maybe not so much the argument against GSAA alone, but it’s correlation with my preferred statistic, the Saves Percentage. If you look at the 2018 / 2019 NHL season when the cinderella story St. Louis Blues and freshman netminder Jordan Binnington took the Stanley Cup in brilliant fashion, Binnington barely finished in the top 15 as far as GSAA is concerned. Ben Bishop led the league, at +32 GSAA and the Dallas Stars ultimately fell to the future Cup Champions in St. Louis. Bishop was in the middle of an incredible season in which many argued that he should’ve won the Vezina Trophy.

Does a low GSAA indicate under performance? 

I would argue that an underwhelming GSAA does not indicate under performance. Carter Hart, the current staple and major reason why the Philadelphia Flyers entered the Cup Playoffs as a favorite, ended the season with a 4.46 GSAA. Back to Jordan Binnington, he started 50 games for the St. Louis Blues and won 30 of them, but ended with a 3.30 GSAA. Carey Price had a horrible season as far as GSAA is concerned, but if I’m current Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, I’m not out shopping one of the perennial best goalies in the NHL.

It’s interesting to point out that of the “Big 3” as I would call them, Goals Against Average, Saves Percentage, and Goals Saved Above Average, 2020 Vezina Winner Connor Hellebuyck finished with these stats.

  • 7th in SVS% amongst goalies who played more than 30 games (2nd behind Tuuka Rask in goalies who played more than 40 games)
  • 13th in GAA amongst goalies who played more than 30 games (6th in goalies who played more than 40 games)
  • 2nd in GSAA behind just Tuuka Rask

Helleybuyck finished the 2019 2020 season with 31 wins, trailing only Stanley Cup Champ Andrei Vasilevskiy, which was a key factor in the decision to award him the Vezina.

GSAA Winners and Losers During the 2020-2021 NHL Season

With a few elite goalies in the prime of their career, it’s interesting to note that we have a completely new top 5 GSAA leaders this season.

The top GSAA leaders from 2020-2021  

  1. Semyon Varlamov
  2. Andrei Vasilevsky
  3. Juuse Saros
  4. Marc-Andre Fleury
  5. Alex Nedelkjovic

The top 5 worst GSAA stats from 2020 – 2021

  1. Carter Hart
  2. Brian Elliot
  3. Braden Holtby
  4. Joonas Korpisalo
  5. Martin Jones

Do GSAA leaders wear the same brand of goalie pads?

Ok this one we had to. Our name is literally Goalie Coaches. We’re allowed to point out which gear is worn by GSAA leaders. Over the past 3 years and 15 total leaders, Vaughn has 5 goalies finishing in the top 5 wearing their gear. Bauer has had 3, CCM has also had 5, and Brian’s just 2.

2020 – 2021 GSAA leaders and their choice of pads.

  1. Semyon Varlamov, True
  2. Andrei Vasilevsky, Bauer
  3. Juuse Saros, CCM
  4. Marc-Andre Fleury, True
  5. Alex Nedelkjovic, Vaughn

2019 – 2020 GSAA Leaders and their choice of pads.

  1. Tuuka Rask, Vaughn
  2. Connor Hellebuyck, CCM
  3. Anton Khudobin, Vaughn
  4. Darcy Kuemper, Vaughn
  5. Ben Bishop, Bauer

2018 – 2019 GSAA Leaders and their choice of pads.

  1. Ben Bishop, Bauer
  2. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Bauer
  3. Robin Lehner, Brian’s
  4. Darcy Kuemper, Vaughn
  5. Thomas Greiss, Vaughn

2017 – 2018 GSAA Leaders and their choice of pads.

  • Pekka Rinne, CCM
  • John Gibson, CCM
  • Antti Raanta, Brian’s
  • Connor Hellebuyck, CCM
  • Marc-Andre Fleury, CCM

GSAA Leaders from 2020 – 2021

GSAA Leaders 2019 – 2020

Ok so to be fair, the 2019 2020 NHL season was cut in half due to the coronavirus pandemic. With that being said, we do have some good reference points to go off of for that season.

The top 5 worst GSAA stats from 2019 – 2020

  1. Jimmy Howard
  2. Braden Holtby
  3. Devan Dubnyk
  4. Martin Jones
  5. Sergei Bobrovsky

Dubnyk, who won at least 30 games from 2015-16 to 2018-19, was traded to the San Jose Sharks shortly after the conclusion of the pandemic shortened season. Personally, I felt that Dubnyk is not best judged by his GSAA, as he consistently led the league in other key statistics. In fact, from 2014, Dubnyk was 2nd in wins throughout the entire NHL.

The top 5 best GSAA stats from 2019 – 2020

  1. Tuuka Rask (22.51 GSAA)
  2. Connor Hellebuyck (22.40 GSAA)
  3. Anton Khudobin (17.75 GSAA)
  4. Darcy Kuemper (16.65 GSAA)
  5. Ben Bishop (13.28 GSAA)

One thing that’s interesting to note from this, both Khudobin and Kuemper spent time with the Minnesota Wild. The Wild have had “issues” between the pipes, which led to a change in shipping Dubnyk to San Jose at the conclusion of the 2019 – 2020 season.

GSAA Leaders from the 2018 / 2019 Season

NHL GSAA Leaders from the 2017 / 2018 Season 

Does GSAA have a meaningful impact on a teams finish in the playoffs? Of course, there are a number of different and impactful statistics that influence a teams finish (and no, it’s not just whether or not the teams starting goalie has great looking goalie pads.. despite what we might think), but we’ll take a deeper dive into how Goals Saved Above Average correlates to a teams post season finish.

2017 / 18 Playoff teams

The conference final teams in no order were the Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Capitals and the Winnipeg Jets. Western Conference goalies ranked in the top 5, and were the majority starters for their respective teams. On the Eastern Conference side, Holtby ranked near the bottom of the NHL in GSAA, yet they made it to the Conference finals.

Also, interestingly enough, Holtby had the only SV% ranked under a .920 of these 4. Holtby’s SV% was in the bottom 4 of any goalie in the playoffs, tied with Corey Schneider.

Nashville Predators – Pekka Rinne | SV% .927 | GSAA 27.49 (1st in the NHL)

Anaheim Ducks – John Gibson | SV% .926 | 25.3 GSAA (2nd in the NHL)

Winnipeg Jets – Connor Hellebuyck | SV% .924 | GSAA 23.75 (4th in the NHL)

Vegas Golden Knights – Marc-Andre Fleury .927 SV% | GSAA 20.77 (5th in the NHL)

Columbus Blue Jackets – Sergei Bobrovsky | SV% .921 | GSAA 16.92 (7th in the NHL)

Los Angeles Kings – Jonathan Quick | SV% .921 | GSAA 16.86 (8th in the NHL)

Toronto Maple Leafs – Frederik Andersen | SV% .918 | GSAA 12.06 (12th in the NHL)

Minnesota Wild – Devan Dubnyk .918 SV% | GSAA 10.26 (17th in the NHL)

Boston Bruins – Tuukka Rask | SV% .917 | GSAA 7.79 (19th in the NHL)

Tampa Bay Lightning – Andrei Vasilevskiy | SV% .920 | GSAA 15.12 (9th in the NHL)

San Jose Sharks – Martin Jones | .915 SV% | 4.12 GSAA (24th in the NHL)

Colorado Avalanche – Jonathan Bernier | .913 SV% | .84 GSAA (30th in the NHL)

New Jersey Devils – Keith Kincaid .913 SV% | .55 GSAA (31st in the NHL) / Corey Schneider | SV% .907 | GSAA -6.22 (47th in the NHL). One thing worth noting, Kincaid and Schneider split time last season, both playing roughly 40 games.

Washington Capitals – Braden Holtby | SV% .907 | GSAA -.836 (54th in the NHL)

 

Goalie Statistics Table
Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal
Rk Player Age Tm GP GS W L GA SA SV SV% GAA SO MIN QS GSAA
1 Pekka Rinne 35 NSH 59 59 42 13 134 1840 1706 .927 2.31 8 3475 40 27.49
2 John Gibson 24 ANA 60 60 31 18 139 1872 1733 .926 2.43 4 3428 39 25.30
3 Antti Raanta 28 ARI 47 46 21 17 97 1388 1291 .930 2.24 3 2599 32 24.82
4 Connor Hellebuyck 24 WPG 67 64 44 11 156 2048 1892 .924 2.36 6 3966 39 23.75
5 Marc-Andre Fleury 33 VEG 46 46 29 13 100 1376 1276 .927 2.24 4 2673 31 20.77
6 Roberto Luongo 38 FLA 35 33 18 11 81 1143 1062 .929 2.47 3 1966 22 19.32
7 Sergei Bobrovsky 29 CBJ 65 65 37 22 158 1993 1835 .921 2.42 5 3912 38 16.92
8 Jonathan Quick 32 LAK 64 63 33 28 147 1867 1720 .921 2.40 5 3677 37 16.86
9 Andrei Vasilevskiy 23 TBL 65 64 44 17 167 2075 1908 .920 2.62 8 3825 36 15.12
10 Carter Hutton 32 STL 32 26 17 7 56 810 754 .931 2.09 3 1610 19 15.09
11 Corey Crawford 33 CHI 28 27 16 9 60 842 782 .929 2.27 2 1584 17 13.90
12 Frederik Andersen 28 TOR 66 66 38 21 182 2211 2029 .918 2.81 5 3889 37 12.06
13 Semyon Varlamov 29 COL 51 47 24 16 128 1595 1467 .920 2.68 2 2861 28 11.99
14 Ryan Miller 37 ANA 28 21 12 6 53 739 686 .928 2.35 4 1353 13 11.86
15 Curtis McElhinney 34 TOR 18 15 11 5 35 528 493 .934 2.14 3 979 8 11.34
16 Philipp Grubauer 26 WSH 35 28 15 10 73 953 880 .923 2.35 3 1865 19 10.64
17 Devan Dubnyk 31 MIN 60 59 35 16 145 1769 1624 .918 2.52 5 3450 36 10.26
18 Juuse Saros 22 NSH 26 23 11 5 61 810 749 .925 2.45 3 1497 14 10.09
19 Tuukka Rask 30 BOS 54 53 34 14 125 1513 1388 .917 2.36 3 3173 30 7.79
20 Mike Smith 35 CGY 55 55 25 22 141 1686 1545 .916 2.65 3 3191 32 6.98
21 Ben Bishop 31 DAL 53 51 26 17 120 1437 1317 .916 2.49 5 2887 27 6.12
22 Darcy Kuemper 27 TOT 29 25 12 7 67 833 766 .920 2.52 4 1596 12 6.11
23 Henrik Lundqvist 35 NYR 63 61 26 26 174 2036 1862 .915 2.98 2 3503 32 4.70
24 Martin Jones 28 SJS 60 60 30 22 145 1699 1554 .915 2.55 4 3416 36 4.12
25 Casey DeSmith 26 PIT 14 11 6 4 28 356 328 .921 2.40 1 700 7 3.25
26 Alexandar Georgiev 21 NYR 10 9 4 4 27 331 304 .918 3.15 0 515 5 2.05
27 Michal Neuvirth 29 PHI 22 18 9 7 45 530 485 .915 2.60 1 1039 10 1.52
28 Aaron Dell 28 SJS 29 22 15 5 67 775 708 .914 2.64 2 1522 11 1.02
29 Anton Khudobin 31 BOS 31 29 16 6 76 876 800 .913 2.56 1 1781 16 0.89
30 Jonathan Bernier 29 COL 37 34 19 13 95 1092 997 .913 2.85 2 2001 18 0.84
31 Keith Kinkaid 28 NJD 41 38 26 10 106 1214 1108 .913 2.77 1 2298 19 0.55
32 James Reimer 29 FLA 44 42 22 14 120 1373 1253 .913 2.99 4 2411 22 0.51
33 Kari Lehtonen 34 DAL 37 30 15 14 83 946 863 .912 2.56 1 1944 19 0.03
34 Antti Niemi 34 TOT 24 20 7 9 63 710 647 .911 3.12 1 1213 12 -0.68
35 Jacob Markstrom 28 VAN 60 57 23 26 154 1745 1591 .912 2.71 2 3414 29 -0.84
36 Malcolm Subban 24 VEG 22 19 13 4 55 614 559 .910 2.68 0 1230 8 -1.11
37 Ondrej Pavelec 30 NYR 19 12 4 9 46 510 464 .910 3.05 1 904 5 -1.24
38 Charlie Lindgren 24 MTL 14 14 4 8 42 457 415 .908 3.03 2 833 9 -1.89
39 Alex Stalock 30 MIN 28 23 10 10 71 787 716 .910 2.85 1 1495 13 -1.93
40 Steve Mason 29 WPG 13 12 5 6 37 392 355 .906 3.24 1 685 5 -2.59
41 Tristan Jarry 22 PIT 26 23 14 6 63 687 624 .908 2.77 2 1364 14 -2.70
42 David Rittich 25 CGY 21 16 8 6 49 512 463 .904 2.92 0 1008 10 -4.06
43 Anton Forsberg 25 CHI 35 30 10 16 85 921 836 .908 2.97 0 1715 14 -4.17
44 Brian Elliott 32 PHI 43 42 23 11 112 1228 1116 .909 2.66 1 2522 20 -4.22
45 Jimmy Howard 33 DET 60 57 22 27 160 1770 1610 .910 2.85 1 3368 28 -4.65
46 Robin Lehner 26 BUF 53 50 14 26 143 1560 1417 .908 3.01 3 2852 24 -6.08
47 Cory Schneider 31 NJD 40 40 17 16 114 1228 1114 .907 2.93 1 2332 19 -6.22
48 Jeff Glass 32 CHI 15 13 3 7 46 452 406 .898 3.36 0 821 5 -6.33
49 Al Montoya 32 TOT 13 8 4 3 37 346 309 .893 3.21 0 692 1 -6.63
50 Jean-Francois Berube 26 CHI 13 10 3 6 42 398 356 .894 3.78 0 667 3 -7.07
51 Cam Ward 33 CAR 43 42 23 14 112 1187 1075 .906 2.73 2 2459 21 -7.82
52 Jaroslav Halak 32 NYI 54 49 20 26 161 1744 1583 .908 3.19 1 3024 22 -7.93
53 Matt Murray 23 PIT 49 45 27 16 133 1423 1290 .907 2.92 1 2733 19 -8.11
54 Braden Holtby 28 WSH 54 54 34 16 153 1648 1495 .907 2.99 0 3068 30 -8.36
55 Joonas Korpisalo 23 CBJ 18 17 8 8 58 564 506 .897 3.32 0 1049 7 -8.50
56 Mike Condon 27 OTT 31 26 5 17 88 898 810 .902 3.25 0 1626 13 -9.18
57 Cam Talbot 30 EDM 67 67 31 31 188 2036 1848 .908 3.02 1 3730 32 -9.30
58 Anders Nilsson 27 VAN 27 24 7 14 84 850 766 .901 3.44 2 1464 8 -9.40
59 Laurent Brossoit 24 EDM 14 10 3 7 40 343 303 .883 3.24 0 740 5 -9.90
60 Louis Domingue 25 TOT 19 16 7 9 61 578 517 .894 3.41 0 1074 6 -10.27
61 Jake Allen 27 STL 59 56 27 25 152 1614 1462 .906 2.75 1 3317 27 -10.34
62 Petr Mrazek 25 TOT 39 33 14 13 106 1080 974 .902 3.03 4 2097 11 -11.21
63 Scott Wedgewood 25 ARI 20 17 5 9 63 587 524 .893 3.45 1 1097 7 -11.48
64 Carey Price 30 MTL 49 48 16 26 148 1487 1339 .900 3.11 1 2855 21 -17.49
65 Thomas Greiss 32 NYI 27 25 13 8 95 879 784 .892 3.82 1 1492 9 -17.85
66 Maxime Lagace 25 VEG 16 14 6 7 57 430 373 .867 3.92 0 874 5 -19.26
67 Chad Johnson 31 BUF 36 29 10 16 105 962 857 .891 3.55 0 1774 12 -20.57
68 Craig Anderson 36 OTT 58 55 23 25 180 1768 1588 .898 3.32 2 3251 25 -24.83
69 Scott Darling 29 CAR 43 40 13 21 131 1171 1040 .888 3.18 0 2475 14 -28.22
70 Ken Appleby 22 NJD 3 1 0 1 3 55 52 .945 1.45 0 124 0
71 Reto Berra 31 ANA 5 1 1 1 7 95 88 .926 2.31 0 182 1
72 Peter Budaj 35 TBL 8 7 3 3 27 217 190 .876 3.76 0 430 2
73 Jack Campbell 26 LAK 5 4 2 0 11 145 134 .924 2.48 0 267 2
74 Eric Comrie 22 WPG 3 3 1 2 12 94 82 .872 3.99 0 180 1
75 Jared Coreau 26 DET 7 7 0 5 27 203 176 .867 4.26 0 380 1
76 Oscar Dansk 23 VEG 4 3 3 0 5 93 88 .946 1.78 1 169 3
77 Collin Delia 23 CHI 2 2 1 1 7 63 56 .889 3.96 0 106 1
78 Thatcher Demko 22 VAN 1 1 1 0 4 30 26 .867 3.91 0 61 0
79 Dylan Ferguson 19 VEG 1 0 0 0 1 2 1 .500 6.50 0 9 0
80 Scott Foster 36 CHI 1 0 0 0 0 7 7 1.000 0.00 0 14 0
81 Christopher Gibson 25 NYI 8 8 2 3 26 284 258 .908 3.65 0 427 5
82 Jon Gillies 24 CGY 11 9 3 5 29 280 251 .896 2.88 0 605 5
83 Brandon Halverson 21 NYR 1 0 0 0 1 6 5 .833 4.78 0 13 0
84 Andrew Hammond 29 COL 1 1 0 1 2 33 31 .939 2.06 0 58 1
85 Adin Hill 21 ARI 4 4 1 3 14 129 115 .891 3.49 0 241 2
86 Michael Hutchinson 27 WPG 3 3 2 1 7 75 68 .907 3.26 0 129 2
87 Eddie Lack 30 TOT 8 5 2 4 23 177 154 .870 4.02 0 343 1
88 Marek Langhamer 23 ARI 1 0 0 0 0 10 10 1.000 0.00 0 29 0
89 Alex Lyon 25 PHI 11 7 4 2 22 232 210 .905 2.75 0 480 3
90 Mike McKenna 34 DAL 2 1 1 1 5 50 45 .900 2.96 0 101 0
91 Calvin Pickard 25 TOR 1 1 0 0 4 28 24 .857 3.83 0 63 0
92 Harri Sateri 28 FLA 9 7 4 4 24 271 247 .911 2.92 0 493 5
93 Daniel Taylor 31 OTT 1 1 0 1 4 34 30 .882 4.10 0 58 0
94 Linus Ullmark 24 BUF 5 3 1 2 8 123 115 .935 2.00 0 240 2
95 Adam Wilcox 25 BUF 1 0 0 1 0 14 14 1.000 0.00 0 39 0
Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/11/2018.

NHL GSAA Leaders from the 2016 / 2017 Season

Interestingly enough, Holtby ranked second on the league during this season.

Goalie Statistics Table
Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal
Rk Player Age Tm GP GS W L GA SA SV SV% GAA GA%- GSAA
1 Sergei Bobrovsky 28 CBJ 63 63 41 17 127 1854 1727 .931 2.06 79 33.45
2 Braden Holtby 27 WSH 63 63 42 13 127 1690 1563 .925 2.07 87 19.25
3 Devan Dubnyk 30 MIN 65 63 40 19 141 1842 1701 .923 2.25 88 18.41
4 Carey Price 29 MTL 62 62 37 20 138 1794 1656 .923 2.23 89 17.25
5 Craig Anderson 35 OTT 40 40 25 11 92 1247 1155 .926 2.28 85 15.92
6 John Gibson 23 ANA 52 49 25 16 109 1437 1328 .924 2.22 88 15.36
7 Matt Murray 22 PIT 49 47 32 10 111 1450 1339 .923 2.41 88 14.48
8 Robin Lehner 25 BUF 59 58 23 26 152 1910 1758 .920 2.68 92 13.29
9 Cam Talbot 29 EDM 73 73 42 22 171 2117 1946 .919 2.39 93 12.21
10 Jimmy Howard 32 DET 26 24 10 11 49 675 626 .927 2.10 84 9.42
11 Aaron Dell 27 SJS 20 17 11 6 37 533 496 .931 2.00 80 9.13
12 Scott Darling 28 CHI 32 27 18 5 67 877 810 .924 2.38 88 8.90
13 Frederik Andersen 27 TOR 66 66 33 16 169 2052 1883 .918 2.67 95 8.58
14 Corey Crawford 32 CHI 55 55 32 18 138 1691 1553 .918 2.55 94 8.34
15 Anders Nilsson 26 BUF 26 23 10 10 66 857 791 .923 2.67 89 8.17
16 Pekka Rinne 34 NSH 61 61 31 19 144 1757 1613 .918 2.42 95 8.05
17 James Reimer 28 FLA 43 39 18 16 98 1222 1124 .920 2.53 93 7.75
18 Philipp Grubauer 25 WSH 24 19 13 6 43 585 542 .926 2.04 85 7.63
19 Antti Raanta 27 NYR 30 26 16 8 61 782 721 .922 2.26 90 6.67
20 Juuse Saros 21 NSH 21 19 10 8 47 614 567 .923 2.35 88 6.14
21 Andrei Vasilevskiy 22 TBL 50 47 23 17 123 1480 1357 .917 2.61 96 5.08
22 Peter Budaj 34 TOT 60 55 30 21 120 1414 1294 .915 2.18 98 2.37
23 Keith Kinkaid 27 NJD 26 23 8 13 65 778 713 .916 2.64 97 2.33
24 Tuukka Rask 29 BOS 65 63 37 20 137 1610 1473 .915 2.23 98 2.33
25 Curtis McElhinney 33 TOT 21 15 8 8 51 616 565 .917 2.70 96 2.31
26 Jake Allen 26 STL 61 60 33 20 138 1620 1482 .915 2.42 98 2.20
27 Jonathan Bernier 28 ANA 39 33 21 7 83 982 899 .915 2.50 98 1.98
28 Jaroslav Halak 31 NYI 28 26 12 9 75 885 810 .915 2.80 98 1.59
29 Jonathan Quick 31 LAK 17 17 8 5 35 421 386 .917 2.26 96 1.43
30 Mike Smith 34 ARI 55 55 19 26 156 1819 1663 .914 2.92 99 1.42
31 Roberto Luongo 37 FLA 40 39 17 15 104 1217 1113 .915 2.68 99 1.32
32 Mike Condon 26 TOT 41 38 19 14 96 1122 1026 .914 2.48 99 1.10
33 Ryan Miller 36 VAN 54 54 18 29 150 1737 1587 .914 2.80 100 0.32
34 Thomas Greiss 31 NYI 51 49 26 18 126 1453 1327 .913 2.69 100 -0.26
35 Carter Hutton 31 STL 30 21 13 8 58 663 605 .913 2.39 101 -0.62
36 Al Montoya 31 MTL 19 18 8 6 50 569 519 .912 2.67 102 -0.76
37 Jacob Markstrom 27 VAN 26 23 10 11 62 692 630 .910 2.63 104 -2.11
38 Martin Jones 27 SJS 65 65 35 23 152 1725 1573 .912 2.40 102 -2.72
39 Chad Johnson 30 CGY 36 36 18 15 87 969 882 .910 2.59 104 -3.14
40 Joonas Korpisalo 22 CBJ 14 13 7 5 38 401 363 .905 2.88 110 -3.30
41 Anton Khudobin 30 BOS 16 14 7 6 39 405 366 .904 2.64 111 -3.95
42 Ben Bishop 30 TOT 39 37 18 15 94 1040 946 .910 2.54 104 -4.00
43 Marc-Andre Fleury 32 PIT 38 34 18 10 107 1181 1074 .909 3.02 105 -4.80
44 Louis Domingue 24 ARI 31 26 11 15 82 888 806 .908 3.08 107 -5.15
45 Brian Elliott 31 CGY 49 45 26 18 121 1338 1217 .910 2.55 104 -5.21
46 Henrik Lundqvist 34 NYR 57 55 31 20 148 1650 1502 .910 2.74 104 -5.21
47 Eddie Lack 29 CAR 20 18 8 7 48 492 444 .902 2.64 113 -5.42
48 Darcy Kuemper 26 MIN 18 17 8 5 55 562 507 .902 3.13 113 -6.36
49 Michael Hutchinson 26 WPG 28 20 9 12 67 690 623 .903 2.92 112 -7.29
50 Steve Mason 28 PHI 58 54 26 21 143 1556 1413 .908 2.66 106 -8.34
51 Cory Schneider 30 NJD 60 59 20 27 163 1781 1618 .908 2.82 106 -8.87
52 Jared Coreau 25 DET 14 14 5 4 41 362 321 .887 3.46 131 -9.67
53 Connor Hellebuyck 23 WPG 56 53 26 19 146 1572 1426 .907 2.89 107 -9.96
54 Semyon Varlamov 28 COL 24 23 6 17 76 745 669 .898 3.38 118 -11.53
55 Michal Neuvirth 28 PHI 28 24 11 11 64 586 522 .891 2.82 126 -13.29
56 Calvin Pickard 24 COL 50 48 15 31 140 1461 1321 .904 2.98 111 -13.56
57 Cam Ward 32 CAR 61 61 26 22 162 1711 1549 .905 2.69 109 -13.93
58 Kari Lehtonen 33 DAL 59 52 22 25 151 1546 1395 .902 2.85 113 -17.21
59 Petr Mrazek 24 DET 50 44 18 21 145 1462 1317 .901 3.04 115 -18.48
60 Antti Niemi 33 DAL 37 30 12 12 95 880 785 .892 3.30 125 -18.84
61 Jorge Alves 38 CAR 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
62 Richard Bachman 29 VAN 5 5 2 3 13 162 149 .920 2.64
63 Reto Berra 30 FLA 7 4 0 5 18 145 127 .876 3.45
64 Jean-Francois Berube 25 NYI 14 7 3 2 30 271 241 .889 3.42
65 Antoine Bibeau 22 TOR 2 2 1 1 4 55 51 .927 1.99
66 Laurent Brossoit 23 EDM 8 4 4 1 11 153 142 .928 1.99
67 Jack Campbell 25 LAK 1 0 0 0 0 5 5 1.000 0.00
68 Eric Comrie 21 WPG 1 1 1 0 4 39 35 .897 4.05
69 Pheonix Copley 25 STL 1 1 0 1 5 29 24 .828 5.09
70 Chris Driedger 22 OTT 1 0 0 1 4 15 11 .733 6.00
71 Jhonas Enroth 28 TOR 6 4 0 3 18 141 123 .872 3.94
72 Anton Forsberg 24 CBJ 1 1 0 1 4 27 23 .852 4.10
73 Jon Gillies 23 CGY 1 1 1 0 1 28 27 .964 1.00
74 Kristers Gudlevskis 24 TBL 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 1.000 0.00
75 Jonas Gustavsson 32 EDM 7 5 1 3 17 139 122 .878 3.10
76 Andrew Hammond 28 OTT 6 4 0 2 14 86 72 .837 4.08
77 Magnus Hellberg 25 NYR 2 1 1 0 2 28 26 .929 1.53
78 Tristan Jarry 21 PIT 1 1 0 1 3 25 22 .880 3.06
79 Marek Langhamer 22 ARI 1 0 0 0 1 8 7 .875 3.87
80 Michael Leighton 35 CAR 4 3 2 2 12 92 80 .870 3.42
81 Charlie Lindgren 23 MTL 2 2 2 0 3 59 56 .949 1.48
82 Spencer Martin 21 COL 3 3 0 2 13 96 83 .865 4.35
83 Marek Mazanec 25 NSH 4 2 0 2 14 87 73 .839 4.73
84 Zane McIntyre 24 BOS 8 3 0 4 22 155 133 .858 3.97
85 Alex Nedeljkovic 21 CAR 1 0 0 0 0 17 17 1.000 0.00
86 Ondrej Pavelec 29 WPG 8 8 4 4 26 233 207 .888 3.55
87 Justin Peters 30 ARI 3 1 0 1 7 70 63 .900 3.16
88 David Rittich 24 CGY 1 0 0 0 1 10 9 .900 3.00
89 Jeremy Smith 27 COL 10 8 1 6 32 286 254 .888 3.54
90 Alex Stalock 29 MIN 2 2 1 1 3 54 51 .944 1.51
91 Anthony Stolarz 23 PHI 7 4 2 1 13 181 168 .928 2.07
92 Malcolm Subban 23 BOS 1 1 0 1 3 16 13 .813 5.88
93 Dustin Tokarski 27 ANA 1 0 0 0 0 5 5 1.000 0.00
94 Linus Ullmark 23 BUF 1 1 0 1 3 36 33 .917 3.06
95 Jeff Zatkoff 29 LAK 13 8 2 7 27 223 196 .879 2.94
Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/11/2018.
Everybody loves to debate the top goalies in the league.
Take Devan Dubnyk, for example. When he originally came to the Minnesota Wild by way of the Arizona Coyotes and a third round pick, he was near the bottom of the league, just trying to find a way to stick around.
Today, despite the playoff woes of the Wild in recent years, he’s one of the top goalies in the NHL. During the 2017/18 season he ranked #17 in GSAA.
Yet, since 2013/2014 he has the 2nd best save percentage in the NHL, only behind the Ducks John Gibson.
So, is GSAA the best way to rank goalies? Maybe. Maybe not. At the end of the day, goalies will continue to be judged based on their save percentage and goals against average.
GSAA is a helpful stat, however, in our opinion, it’s a “fans stat”. It’s interesting to debate, but doesn’t necessarily rank the best goalies year over year.