2026 NHL Goalie Musical Chairs: Eastern Conference

Goaltending is everything. Goaltending is nothing.

The Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes had a team save percentage of .914 in the 2025-26 postseason. They received excellent puck-stopping most of the way to their second championship. They also won their final three games of the Final against the Vegas Golden Knights led by Brandon Bussi, an undrafted 27-year-old who had never played in the NHL before this season, let alone started or won a playoff game.

Trying to find good NHL goaltending is like trying to corral a handful of sand. You need reliability in net to win, but you’re just as likely to find it with random luck as your are by entrusting a stud. Connor Hellebuyck gave a performance for the ages to help Team USA win 2026 Olympic gold this winter, and Andrei Vasilevskiy captured his second career Vezina Trophy for the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the goalies who started games from Round 2 of the playoffs onward this season were Alex Lyon, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Jakub Dobes, Bussi, Frederik Andersen, Dan Vladar, Carter Hart, Scott Wedgewood, Mackenzie Blackwood, Lukas Dostal, Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt.

Should the motivation be to promote goalies from within knowing luck could turn your way, or keep searching in hopes of unearthing the next Bussi or Lyon or Wedgewood? No one truly knows the correct strategy for managing pro sports’ ficklest position, which is why we see plenty of turnover every offseason.

As NHL free agency’s peak period of activity slows down, which puck-stoppers have found new homes?

Welcome to Part 1 of my annual series, Goalie Musical Chairs, beginning with the Eastern Conference.

STATUS QUO

Buffalo Sabres (Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Alex Lyon, Colten Ellis)
Columbus Blue Jackets (Jet Greaves, Elvis Merzlikins, Pheonix Copley)
Montreal Canadiens (Jakub Dobes, Jacob Fowler, Sam Montembeault)
Washington Capitals (Logan Thompson, Charlie Lindgren)

Boston Bruins (Stock up)

Jeremy Swayman
Michael DiPietro

(Out: Joonas Korpisalo)

The Bruins are still set with Swayman as their No. 1. Not only was he one of the league’s best goalies this past season, but he warranted sleeper Hart Trophy consideration, having lifted a defensively leaky team to a playoff berth. The Bruins said goodbye to backup Korpisalo and have cleared the path for DiPietro. Don’t sleep on him. His development as a goaltender was stalled early because of circumstance; COVID-19’s quarantine rules kept him from playing much in 2020-21, as he couldn’t cross the border to AHL Utica if he was to remain part the Vancouver Canucks’ taxi squad. At one point, he played just five pro games in a stretch of more than 400 days. But DiPietro has caught up and has been unbelievable in the AHL as arguably the league’s best overall player the past couple years. He’s earned his shot at No. 2 duty in the NHL.

Carolina Hurricanes (stock unchanged)

Brandon Bussi
Pyotr Kochetkov

(Out: Frederik Andersen)

The Canes lose Andersen, who was so good in Rounds 1-3 of the postseason that he entered the Stanley Cup Final as a Conn Smythe Trophy frontrunner. Then again, Bussi delivered against Vegas once Andersen got hurt, Bussi also became the fastest goalie ever to reach 25 career wins in the regular season, Andersen struggled in the regular season and Kochetkov should be healthy. Add in the Canes’ elite defense and they shouldn’t miss a beat without Freddie, regardless of whether they pursue Hellebuyck.

Detroit Red Wings (stock unchanged)

John Gibson
Daniil Tarasov (1 x $2M)
(Out: Cam Talbot, Sebastian Cossa)

Cossa went from dominating the AHL and looking like Detroit’s version of Jesper Wallstedt to losing the starting job to Michal Postava and becoming expendable as the Wings look to break in Trey Augustine in Grand Rapids next season. What a shame. In terms of NHL output, however, Tarasov can more or less bring what Cam Talbot did backing up John Gibson this past season. And while losing Cossa hurts, the Wings remain very deep in net with the Postava/Augustine duo in the AHL.

Florida Panthers (stock unchanged)

Jacob Markstrom (trade with NJ)
Akira Schmid (trade with VGK)

(Out: Sergei Bobrovsky, Daniil Tarasov)

The Panthers decided Sergei Bobrovsky wasn’t worth the money anymore coming off a bad season. But Markstrom was just as bad as Bobrovsky in 2025-26, and Markstrom is no spritely youngster himself at 36, while Schmid has mostly been a so-so backup aside from his brief surge with the New Jersey Devils a few years back. The net result: the Panthers’ goaltending should be about the same, just cheaper, which means GM Bill Zito did well with his makeover.

New Jersey Devils (stock unchanged)

Jake Allen
Nico Daws
David Rittich (1 x $1M)

(Out: Jacob Markstrom)

The Devils are down a name-brand tender in Markstrom, but are they worse off? ‘Big Save Dave’ Rittich has been just as good if not better the past couple seasons, while Daws has looked decent in a small sample size and graded out above average in goals saved above expected per 60 this past season. Like the Panthers, the Devils look like they’ll maintain their same netminding quality going forward, but for significantly less money.

New York Islanders (Stock down)

Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov
Vitek Vanecek (1 x $1M)

(Out: David Rittich)

The good news is Sorokin should remain one of the league’s top workhorses, having started at least 52 games in five straight seasons. The bad news: even if Varlamov is finally healthy enough to play for the first time since 2024, he’s no guarantee to be effective coming off double knee replacement surgeries (!) and 38 years old. That means Vanecek is likely to see plenty of action this season, and he’s a downgrade from Rittich. Vanecek has surrendered -29.5 goals above average in his past four seasons.

New York Rangers (Stock up)

Igor Shesterkin
Joonas Korpisalo (trade with BOS)

(Out: Jonathan Quick)

Shesterkin might be the quickest, most athletic goalie in hockey, and his style of play wears on him, so his backups tend to play a lot – as evidenced by the Rangers eating the $3-million cap hit for Korpisalo. He hasn’t been above average for a few years, but he’s still more trustworthy than Quick was as a 40-year-old playing his final season.

Ottawa Senators (stock unchanged)

Linus Ullmark
Samuel Ersson (2 x $2.2M)
Leevi Merilainen

(Out: James Reimer)

Merilainen was a massive disappointment this past season after such a promising 2024-25 and, um, Ersson is a good bet to continue that tradition. He’s arguably the NHL’s worst goaltender; the past two seasons, among goalies with 30 or more games played, he ranked dead last and second last, respectively, in goals saved above expected per 60. Put differently: no goalie gets beaten more often on shots he should save. Ullmark will have to be excellent for the Sens to avoid another year of their netminders holding them back in the standings.

Philadelphia Flyers (stock up)

Dan Vladar
Joseph Woll (trade with TOR)

(Out: Samuel Ersson)

The Flyers could low-key boast some of the Easten Conference’s best goaltending going forward. Vladar delivered massively in his first season as an unquestioned starter. Woll can be frustrating due to his ups and downs with his health and consistency, but he’s extremely talented and capable of playing at an All-Star level for extended stretches when hot. Woll is coming off somewhat of a down year playing on what was a sinking Leafs ship, but he’s a high-upside 1B and a massive upgrade over Ersson, especially when not asked to handle a starter-sized workload.

Pittsburgh Penguins (stock up)

Arturs Silovs
Sergei Murashov

(Out: Stuart Skinner)

Skinner has his detractors, and I have long been one of them, but he wasn’t actually terrible as a Penguin relative to the difficulty of the workload he faced. Still, as volatile as he is, the Pens were better off keeping the depth chart open so Murashov can ascend. They love him, and he has proven himself in the AHL. Don’t be surprised if he usurps Silovs as Pittsburgh’s starter in short order.

Tampa Bay Lightning (stock up)

Andrei Vasilevskiy
Dennis Hildeby (trade with TOR)
Jonas Johansson

Vasilevskiy has had to be such a rock for Tampa partially because he rarely has a good backup. Johansson’s highest save percentage in his three seasons with the Bolts was .895. They are working with his agent to find him a new home after replacing him with the towering Hildeby. At the NHL level, among goalies with 20 or more games played this past season, he led the league in goals saved above expected per 60, teasing a huge ceiling. The downside is Hildeby was leapfrogged for the AHL starting job by eventual playoff MVP Artur Akhtyamov. But “as good as Johansson” isn’t a high bar to clear, and Hildeby could be much more if he maintains his NHL standard of play from 2025-26.

Toronto Maple Leafs (stock down)

Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz

(Out: Joseph Woll, Dennis Hildeby)

This is a tough one to evaluate. On one hand: I think the Leafs did the right thing acquiring Bobrovsky. They have Akhtyamov developing beautifully, and Hildeby was no longer waivers exempt, so it made sense to move on from him. The ‘Bob’ dice roll is also warranted given the game-stealer ceiling he still possesses, as Toronto has to do everything it can to maximize what could be the final year or two of Auston Matthews in blue and white. But if we put aside the ‘vibes’ element of adding Bobrovsky: Woll and Hildeby were objectively quite a bit better than Bobrovsky and Stolarz last season. So Toronto’s goaltending is worse until its veteran duo proves otherwise. To reiterate: I’m OK with that gamble. It was the right time to make it.

POST