{"id":583844,"date":"2026-04-14T15:19:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T15:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/583844\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T15:19:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T15:19:23","slug":"top-20-drafted-nhl-goalie-prospects-ranking-jacob-fowler-leads-wheelers-2026-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/583844\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 20 drafted NHL goalie prospects ranking: Jacob Fowler leads Wheeler\u2019s 2026 list"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the first 2026 edition of my drafted NHL prospect rankings at The Athletic.<\/p>\n

This ranking of the league\u2019s top 20 drafted goalie prospects follows yesterday\u2019s top 100 drafted skaters list<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 20 goalies deep to reflect the five-to-one skater-to-goalie ratio on the ice.<\/p>\n

To be considered a prospect, a goalie must be under 25 and not fully established as an NHL goalie.\u00a0This age criteria is more reflective of the typical goalie trajectory, allowing for the continued consideration of a small number of 23- and 24-year-old goalies.<\/p>\n

Since the summer 2025 edition<\/a> of this list, Yaroslav Askarov, Jesper Wallstedt and Jakub Dobe\u0161 have graduated.<\/p>\n

As always, the list is also broken down into tiers and presented within our fully sortable user interface.<\/p>\n

There are four\u00a0tiers in this year\u2019s goalie ranking: 1, 2-10, 11-15, 16-20+. I considered a few other goalie prospects for that final tier as well.<\/p>\n

Team BUF CAR CBJ CHI COL DET LAK MTL NJD NSH NYR PHI PIT SJS TOR UTA VGK<\/p>\n

Draft Year 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025<\/p>\n

Natl. \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddff \ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddfa \ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddea \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8<\/p>\n

Tier Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

Try changing or resetting your filters to see more.<\/p>\n

Tier 1<\/p>\n

Fowler has established himself as one of the top goalie prospects in the sport with his play over the last five seasons. That started when he was named to the USHL\u2019s All-Rookie second team five seasons ago and its first All-Star team four seasons ago after leading the league in both save percentage and goals-against average. It was stamped with a stellar freshman year at BC that saw him play virtually every minute behind the top-ranked team in the country; while the team in front of him helped, their strength was most pronounced at forward, and he stole some games and was deservedly named Hockey East Goaltender of the Year. And it was cemented last year with a repeat performance as the MVP (for me) of another top-ranked Boston College team, his save percentage rising from .926 to .940. He also had some strong performances in the AHL in the spring, even if he wasn\u2019t able to hold the Laval net in the playoffs as a rookie.<\/p>\n

This season, in his first full year of pro hockey, he has been Laval\u2019s best goalie, outplaying veteran Kaapo K\u00e4hk\u00f6nen when he has been there. And while his early NHL numbers have hovered right around .900, the Habs still have work to do to cut down on how much they give up, despite their growth as a team.<\/p>\n

I should note that I\u2019ve seen him look just OK with Team USA both in Gothenburg at the World Juniors and Plymouth at the World Junior Summer Showcase, but he was also excellent at the World Jr. A Challenge, and the body of work is pretty unimpeachable. He had some work to do on some other things (conditioning\/fitness, less business on scrambles, losing his posts at times) pre-draft, but he has worked hard at it. He\u2019s now listed at 223 pounds, which is still heavy for his size but is by all accounts in a better place.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s the kind of goalie who, if he can see a shot and move to it, is going to stop it. Fowler has so many clear tools: great hands, an ability to take space away through square angles and sound positioning, high-end tracking\/reads, excellent rebound control, legitimate power\/movement and a knack for making huge pad saves and stopping high-danger chances. He rarely gets beaten through the body or frozen. He doesn\u2019t show holes in the net and has the reflexes to get a piece of (if not outright save) pucks when he does. He has a legitimate shot not just to be an NHL goaltender but to be a top one, and there aren\u2019t many goalies his age (or even a little older) I\u2019m comfortable saying that about. He seems to pitch a shutout once or twice a month these days. I thought he had a compelling case for the Hobey Baker last year and was hurt by some of the conference allotments in the nomination process, evident when he wasn\u2019t a top-10 finalist and still won the Mike Richter Award as college hockey\u2019s top goalie.<\/p>\n

I think he\u2019s the Habs\u2019 starter of the future.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

David Kirouac \/ Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Tier 2<\/p>\n

Cossa has always had the talent and upside, but he has also made important progress in some important areas over the years, limiting some of the ups and downs that he had earlier in his career and playing to a high level in the AHL, albeit behind some strong Griffins teams. He\u2019s a huge (6-foot-6), powerful, athletic goalie, and those last two things don\u2019t always come with the first. He\u2019s also a fiery, confident, talkative competitor who doesn\u2019t like to get beaten \u2014 which contrasts with the stoic demeanor we see in many goalies, including Trey Augustine \u2014 and wants to command the net and the room. Bigger goalies often struggle with their movements and their recoveries, but neither is an issue for Cossa. His positioning and reflexes help him block and grab a lot of pucks; he does a good job holding his outside edges to be patient on shots and has great hands up high. But it\u2019s his ability to bounce back into his stance or change directions with passes that separates him for a goalie as tall as he is. His power through his pushes gives him a rare side-to-side ability for a goalie that big as well.<\/p>\n

There have been times over the years when I\u2019ve seen him look leaky and really struggle to close his five-hole because of his size. This remains a bit of a recurring issue, though it has improved, and he does a really good job kicking pucks aimed for the lower corners. He\u2019ll still occasionally lose himself in his net on scramble plays, as those strong pushes to get to tough lateral saves can pull him off his lines. He can get pulled out of his net overcommitting on dekes. But he has worked to settle down in each of those areas (though his habits still need to be more consistent) and his natural gifts give him undeniable upside.<\/p>\n

When he\u2019s set and square to shots, he\u2019s tough to beat. I\u2019ve seen him look unflappable and make point-blank save after point-blank save when he\u2019s dialed in. I\u2019ve also seen him look rattled as shots sneak through holes they shouldn\u2019t be finding. His combination of size, dexterity, competitiveness and explosiveness in the net is very real, though, and he now has a career .921 save percentage from the WHL supported by a .912 career AHL save percentage.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

Jamie Sabau \/ USA Today<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The definition of calm, cool and collected, Augustine is the best goalie prospect to come through the national program since Spencer Knight. I like him more now than I liked Blackhawks goalie prospect Drew Commesso at the same age. I\u2019ve seen him play a ton over the years, and I\u2019ve always been impressed by his composure and the consistency of his play, whether that was in Plymouth with the program, Germany and Switzerland at two U18 worlds, Halifax, Gothenburg and Ottawa at three World Juniors (and twice in the net for gold) or on trips to East Lansing. After a strong freshman year with the Spartans, he was even better for them as a sophomore and then junior over the last two years, too; his save percentage rose from .915 to .924 and then .929. He was a big reason for their revival as a top program, finishing this season as a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker and twice winning the Big Ten\u2019s goalie of the year award.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s dialed in, by all accounts just as much off the ice in the way he carries himself and goes about his business as on the ice, where his game has rare detail and intellect for a netminder his age. He\u2019s good moving on his knees and in a crouch. He\u2019s good at tracking pucks through traffic and across ice on seam plays. He plays good, sharp angles. His rebound control steering pucks into the corners is good. He\u2019s good at getting down into his butterfly to close his five-hole quickly. He has good control generally. He\u2019s as good in the lower third as any goalie his age, kicking pucks into the corner instead of out into the slot and sticking with dekes and five-hole plays. His athleticism is there when he needs it. He\u2019s stoic. He\u2019s just a good goalie.<\/p>\n

While he\u2019s not big for a goalie (listed at 6-1 and 194 pounds) and he can occasionally get frozen glove side or drop pucks into his glove, he\u2019s a goalie I have a ton of confidence in projecting to have a long NHL career. He doesn\u2019t have obvious starter talent or size, but I could see him getting there or at the very least becoming a solid, reliable tandem goalie. I\u2019d trust him to play for my team and remain even-keeled any day. He and Cossa are such different people and goalies, which will make for an interesting yin-and-yang dynamic, I think.<\/p>\n

I very nearly ranked Augustine ahead of Cossa here and have had him ahead of Cossa in the past.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ravensbergen was one of the stories of the WHL season two years ago. He was undrafted into the WHL, pitched a shutout in his first start and emerged to challenge Canucks draft pick Ty Young for starts in the regular season with Prince George, playing to an even split and then winning the net in the playoffs, where he was outstanding (his .931 playoff save percentage set a new WHL benchmark for a rookie goaltender). That play, combined with his 6-foot-5 frame, earned him an invite to the World Junior Summer Showcase from Hockey Canada and made him the consensus top goalie prospect in the draft entering last season. However, he dealt with a hip injury that limited his training in the offseason when he could have really used some time in the gym to get stronger (he has never really worked out and is quite lean). Last season, he was good without putting up typical first-rounder numbers, playing a lot to a save percentage just above .900 after a strong start to the year (he had a couple of off games early in Prince George\u2019s first-round loss to Portland as well but played really well in Games 5 and 6 to force a Game 7). This season, after he was the second goalie selected in the 2025 draft, he posted a .919 save percentage behind a top team with the Cougars and was Canada\u2019s third-stringer at the World Juniors.<\/p>\n

Ravensbergen is a rare southpaw as a right-catching goalie (coincidentally, as is Yaroslav Askarov). He moves very smoothly in the net for his size. He\u2019s smart in his reads and anticipation. He can go post-to-post or low-to-high to get to difficult saves with his length and has definite room to get more powerful through his pushes. He has a competitive fire. He reads the play well and fills the net to take away options from shooters with sharp, challenging angles. He has some natural standout attributes and the size to match. I\u2019ve seen him look vulnerable, or get frozen, or give up low-danger shots through his body (including at the WJSS, where he wasn\u2019t at his best), though, as well. His upside is real, though, and there is untapped potential in his game if he can get into the gym and really build up his body. The tools are all there. That\u2019s what the Sharks are betting on.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

James Doyle \/ Prince George Cougars<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I believed there were half a dozen legit goalie prospects in the 2025 draft, and Andreyanov was firmly one of the top two from that group of six for me. The 6-foot, 207-pound Russian might lack ideal height, but he fills the net for his size and looks heavy and powerful between his posts without his weight slowing down his footwork and mobility. He\u2019s a strong, sound goalie with good hands and technical ability who tracks and anticipates well, competes and can stay square to swallow the first shot or go post-to-post to make more difficult saves. He has good hands, tracking and reflexes. He\u2019s comfortable playing the puck. He has had some big performances over the last two seasons and looks like a stud to me.<\/p>\n

Andreyanov gave up more than three goals just twice last season: a 6-5 shootout win where he made 52 saves on 57 shots, and a 4-3 playoff loss where he stopped 41 of 45. That\u2019s remarkably consistent, even in the MHL, where save percentages tend to skew higher. And he has continued to perform in junior and at the second-tier VHL in Russia this year, though the numbers have been more good than great. I believe he has starter upside. Blue Jackets fans will have to wait for him, though, as he signed a five-year contract extension with CSKA in the summer that runs until the end of the 2029-30 season.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

Maksim Konstantinov \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Early on three seasons ago, when Hrabal arrived from Czechia\u2019s junior league and took the USHL by storm, putting up gaudy numbers through September and into early November, there was first-round buzz about him. Here was this massive 6-6\/7 goalie with an impressive early track record. Then he hit a rut into the new year and lost his job for a spell, only to regain form in March and April, both down the stretch with the Lancers and then as one of the top three players on Czechia at U18 worlds, where I thought he was mostly excellent. Two seasons ago, as a freshman at UMass, he was mostly good as well and finished with a .912 save percentage, although his first World Juniors was more of a mixed bag: he was great in Czechia\u2019s upset win over Canada but also had some really rough moments, giving up some bad goals. Last season, after a summer of good training, Hrabal began to realize all of his potential, playing to a .924 save percentage as a sophomore at UMass and leading the Czechs to another bronze medal at his second World Juniors with a better tournament that included a huge performance in the bronze medal game (and its IIHF record-long 14-round shootout). He built on that in his junior year this season, putting up a .937 save percentage as one of the best players in college hockey and turning pro.<\/p>\n

The size jumps out at you right away, but there are layers, good and bad, to the rest of his game. Hrabal used to get down into his butterfly a little slowly, opening up his five-hole for shooters (a common problem for bigger goalies), but he has made progress on it over the last two years and really covers the bottom of the net well. Once he\u2019s on his knees, he actually scrambles well for a goalie as tall as he is. His hands (both glove and blocker) need some work up high, and he has an odd tendency to try to catch low shots instead of making a pad save; I suspect it\u2019s because he doesn\u2019t trust his rebound control on quick shots. I\u2019ve seen him look completely in command, fill the net and take everything away from shooters. I\u2019ve also seen him get beaten cleanly and look like he\u2019s not tracking pucks. I would like to see him work on playing the puck as well.<\/p>\n

The upside is hard to ignore, though. He has some real natural ability and a game-stealing quality when he\u2019s dialed in, which has happened more and more. When he\u2019s sharp on his lines, square to shooters and on his toes, he\u2019s tough to beat. Fewer shots are sneaking through his body, and his competitiveness and size are a good combination. He has also developed more and more power to his game, with more that will come as he continues to fill out his frame; though he\u2019s now listed at around 216 pounds, he still looks a little wiry. He moves well for his size and can really take away a shooter\u2019s options when his angles are on point.<\/p>\n

He has the tools to become a starter in the NHL with a little refinement, and there aren\u2019t many goalies I can say that about.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

Minas Panagiotakis \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Yegorov is a freak athlete who wowed some people at the combine in advance of the draft and has high-end attributes. He\u2019s a 6-foot-5 goaltender with raw, natural athleticism that presents itself in his ability to go post-to-post or low-to-high. He also has good hands, and he reads and anticipates the play smartly. He started his post-draft season by returning to the USHL with the Lancers, a team in disarray that often got shelled with shots. After posting a .912 save percentage across 19 games and just three wins to show for it, Yegorov accelerated his commitment to Boston University and joined the Terriers for the second half (where he was excellent early and into the Beanpot, and really made a world of difference for that team, elevating its ceiling and backstopping BU into the Frozen Four). Yegorov was one of the stories of the college hockey season (the five goals he gave up in the final were the most he\u2019d surrendered after joining the Terriers). He and BU haven\u2019t followed it up with the same level of play in his sophomore year, but the talent is all there. He\u2019s a big, long, lean goalie who should get stronger, is quick on his feet and in and out of his butterfly with clear technical skills as well. With the right patience, there\u2019s some serious untapped potential in Yegorov\u2019s game still, too. He has starter upside.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

Dilip Vishwanat \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ivankovic is a small but top-end goalie who has played at a consistently excellent level for Hockey Canada, the Steelheads and now Michigan, and has the high-end tools across the board that you look for in a 5-foot-11\/6-foot netminder. He plays an incredibly calm, controlled, positional style, especially for an undersized goalie, staying square to shooters, getting set early, holding his edges and controlling his rebounds so well it can look like he\u2019s not moving in the net (and when he does move too much and loses his posts, he battles to get back into his spots and get to pucks on scrambles). His goalie IQ and anticipation are elite. But he\u2019s also ultra-competitive, mobile and athletic, fighting for pucks in the crease and regularly getting to pucks he shouldn\u2019t. Add in strong puck-playing ability, excellent hands and dexterity and dialed-in tracking, and you have a goalie who consistently steals games. Despite being smaller, he\u2019s also great down low and up high, staying on his feet long enough so that guys can\u2019t pick corners on him, but also quick to drop down and kick out pucks.<\/p>\n

Ivankovic is a very impressive goalie, and while his save percentage last year (which hovered around .900) didn\u2019t look glossy and he wasn\u2019t great in the playoffs for the Steelheads, I thought they struggled in front of him, and the Oshawa team they played in the first round had a lot of firepower. I believe in him as a future NHL goalie. He was head and shoulders above all of the other goalies at U18 worlds last year and stopped 27 of 29 shots in the two U Sports games (.931, the best in camp) at Canada\u2019s World Junior Selection Camp last year, which isn\u2019t captured in his data. He also performed well at two World Juniors, even if he wasn\u2019t the starter in either (that\u2019s coming at next year\u2019s tournament). Plus, there\u2019s at least some hope he\u2019ll get an inch or two and have a late growth spurt (he wears size 12.5 shoes and his dad, Frank, is 6-foot-5). I\u2019m a believer and really liked the pick for the Preds.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

Richard T Gagnon \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There can be a big disparity between the MHL teams in Russia\u2019s major urban city centers and some of the more far-reaching locales, but the two best 2005-born goalies I saw play in the MHL four years ago both played for western Siberia\u2019s Khanty-Mansiysk, and both were picked in the NHL draft: Zavragin in the third round and Yevgeni Volokhin to the Canadiens in the fifth round. I was partial to Zavragin, who was one of the last cuts for my top 100, even though he played fewer games than Volokhin. Zavragin then rose to KHL prominence as a teenager after playing superbly at lower levels, emerging as one of the better young goalies in Russia. He\u2019s still only 20 and already has a .918 save percentage across 55 KHL games split between Sochi and SKA.<\/p>\n

Zavragin\u2019s athleticism really stands out. He has an impressive ability to go post-to-post and low-to-high, and good reflexes and hands even when he\u2019s moving. Where most young goalies who move to pucks can lose their posts and pull themselves out of position, he also has good control of his game and a willingness to battle when he does get scrambled. He has great hands and reflexes. He sticks with shooters one-on-one and excels on breakaways\/penalty shots. He has impressed across levels already, and his August birthday gives him plenty of time to hit more checkpoints. The talent is there with Zavragin, and his ascension is on a steep curve already.<\/p>\n

Of note: His current contract expires at the end of the 2026-27 season, a couple of months before his 22nd birthday.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

Maksim Konstantinov \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After impressing me at the Penguins\u2019 rookie tournament in Buffalo in his first real action in North America in the fall of 2024, Murashov split time between the ECHL and AHL last year and was excellent at both levels. This season, his continued strong play in the AHL has earned him NHL looks over the more experienced Joel Blomqvist, too.<\/p>\n

Murashov wasn\u2019t one of the goalies on my 2022 draft board, but he was among the goalies I would have considered drafting, and he has played really well across years now. Before his successful jump to North America last season, he established himself as one of the best goalies in the MHL and impressed in spot starts in the KHL. He also played on the Russian Hlinka Gretzky Cup team that won the 2021 gold medal.<\/p>\n

Murashov isn\u2019t a big goalie, though he has grown a couple of inches and added weight to get to 6-2 and 185 pounds. He\u2019s also quick and nimble on his feet, gets to a lot of pucks, stays with shooters one-on-one, has great hands and likes to challenge (like many Russian goalies are taught to). I like the movement, the skill, the way he anticipates plays and his tracking. When he\u2019s dialed in, he\u2019s tough to beat. He would have garnered more notoriety had he backstopped Russia at his World Juniors, too. He projects as a legit tandem goalie.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

Per Haljestam \/ Imagn Images<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Tier 3<\/p>\n

Levi\u2019s pro career hasn\u2019t lived up to the pedigree he built in his college years, but his career AHL save percentage is still between .915 and .920. And while I\u2019ve been in the minority and the Sabres don\u2019t seem to be prioritizing him as they did early on anymore, I\u2019ve always favored him to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. He had two seasons for the ages at Northeastern, winning the Mike Richter Award as college hockey\u2019s top goalie in back-to-back years as a freshman and sophomore, and finished his college career with a .942 save percentage while mixing in three appearances at three different levels for Hockey Canada. His journey from the CCHL to the World Juniors and then the Olympics, all during the pandemic, was one of the best stories in hockey for a little while there. And he\u2019s still young by goalie standards, even if it feels like he has been around forever and hasn\u2019t broken through at the NHL level.<\/p>\n

He still has pretty much exactly the skills smaller goalies need to be successful. Impressive control on his inside and outside edges, and the patience to hold them. Quick feet on his shuffles so that he can stick with dekes and go post-to-post or low-to-high to get to tough pucks. Good hands. Excellent reads on shooters. Excellent tracking through and under traffic. And a battler\u2019s mentality in the net, which keeps him in plays even when he looks like he\u2019s down and out. There aren\u2019t a ton of 6-0 goalies in today\u2019s NHL, at least not starting ones, but guys like Jet Greaves and Dustin Wolf have broken through and I\u2019m still not ready to count Levi out \u2014 though I do wonder if a change of scenery could help at this point.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

Jayne Kamin Oncea \/ USA Today<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Nabokov was my top-ranked goalie in the 2024 NHL Draft and the first goalie chosen, and has established himself as one of the top goalies outside the NHL at an early age. He doesn\u2019t have ideal size (though I wouldn\u2019t call 6-foot-1 small, either), but was an MHL All-Star in 2022-23, KHL rookie of the year and playoffs MVP in 2023-24, backstopping Magnitogorsk to a Gagarin Cup title, and again one of the top goalies in the league last season. His numbers aren\u2019t as strong this year, but he\u2019s still winning games. He\u2019s a mobile and extremely technically and positionally sound goalie who gets to pucks, recovers quickly, sticks with scrambles and tracks well through traffic, but also stays controlled and has good hands. I don\u2019t see much to pick apart in his game, and I expect him to play in the NHL and even be really solid as an NHL goalie. He\u2019s expected to come to North America after this season.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

Maksim Konstantinov \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

George is a goalie I have a lot of time for, and I debated making him my top-ranked netminder in the 2024 draft before placing him second behind Ilya Nabokov.<\/p>\n

George made more saves than any other goalie in the OHL two seasons ago, was consistently good across 56 games for Owen Sound, performed well as a 16-year-old between the OHL and GOJHL three years ago, played well at the CHL\/NHL Top Prospects Game and was one of \u2014 if not the \u2014 biggest reasons Canada won gold at U18 worlds. Last season, he was good (better than his .909 save percentage, which is still good in the OHL these days) behind a bad Owen Sound team, was very good for Canada\u2019s disappointing World Juniors team, stopping 102 of 109 shots across four games (.936) and surrendering just two of those seven goals at five-on-five, and was really solid in his first two pro games in the AHL with the Ontario Reign (pitching a shutout in his debut and surrendering just one in his second start). His numbers regressed behind an Owen Sound team that struggled in front of him at times this year, and he was just OK as a returnee at the World Juniors, losing the net to Jack Ivankovic, but he has been good since a trade to the Soo.<\/p>\n

George doesn\u2019t have ideal size, but he\u2019s big enough (6 feet, 1 inch and 190-or-so pounds) and rarely seems to get frozen straight up with shooters because he has good hands and hockey IQ as a goalie. He knows when to stay on his feet and when to get down and pick pucks out, because he reads it so well off the blade, and he\u2019s patient. He\u2019s very communicative and shows comfort playing pucks. He tracks pucks through traffic really well. He has quick feet and closes his five-hole fast, with mobility moving laterally and correcting. He can make post-to-post saves when he has to, but he isn\u2019t an elite athlete and doesn\u2019t rely on his athleticism.<\/p>\n

George plays a positionally sound and calm game for his age that shows a lot of maturity. He\u2019s a smart, quick, competitive, consistent goalie who should have a long pro career and has the calm, studious demeanor you look for. I project him as a future NHL goalie, though he probably tops out as a 1B-3 and not a 1-1A.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

Ellen Schmidt \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Slukynsky has taken a unique path for a goalie through Minnesota\u2019s high school circuit to the USHL and then Western Michigan, and along that path he\u2019s played for virtually the best team at every level: Warroad, then USA Hockey, then Fargo, then a natty-winning Western Michigan team in a tandem as a freshman last year before emerging as the starter into the conference tournament and the Frozen Four. A lot of that has to do with him, though, too \u2014 you don\u2019t win every game you play by accident, even with a better team than the opposition.<\/p>\n

His numbers did take a hit at the World Junior A Challenge, where the U.S. wasn\u2019t the clear-cut best team, but he performed well again with the USA jersey on at last year\u2019s World Juniors, making 42 of 45 saves (.933) in games against Latvia and Switzerland, and finished his freshman year in the NCAA with a .922 save percentage. He was also the goalie named to the All-Tournament Team at the Frozen Four in St. Louis. And while his numbers have dipped a little this year (they\u2019ve hovered around .910 instead of .920) on a weaker Broncos team, his track record remains strong.<\/p>\n

Slukynsky is a lean goalie but has grown from 6-1 and 179 pounds in his draft year to 6-2 and about 185 pounds now. He\u2019s a very smart, anticipatory goalie with legitimate quickness and mobility in the net. He stays square to shots and hits his spots early. He\u2019s active and fast on his feet, athletic with good hands, sticks with shooters one-on-one, gets to his spots early and tracks well \u2014 most of the boxes you look for! He needs to get stronger to hold the crease better on jam plays, but that\u2019s been my only criticism of his game.<\/p>\n

Despite his glossy record over the years, I\u2019ve also seen him steal games with his mobility and talent. As he gets stronger and works on becoming more and more controlled in the crease, I think he\u2019s going to be a decent NHL goalie. For me, he and George are very close.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

Michael Miller \/ ISI Photos \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Eventually, a goalie starts to play well enough for long enough at enough levels that you can\u2019t ignore the results. It\u2019s easier to get on board when they\u2019re 6-4, obviously, but more and more goalies in the 5-11 to 6-1 range are emerging as well, and Lindbom looks poised to be another recent success story. Three seasons ago, outside of one tough start in the bronze medal game at the World Juniors (where he was named one of the team\u2019s top three players) against Team USA, Lindbom was tremendous, winning HockeyAllsvenskan goalie of the year and rookie of the year to backstop Djurg\u00e5rden to within one game of promotion with stellar numbers. Two years ago, on loan to F\u00e4rjestad so that he could play in the SHL (where he belonged), Lindbom was again good, winning the majority of the starts in a tandem with veteran Maxime Lagac\u00e9. And last season, his .912 save percentage was levels above every other goalie who played for Henderson as a rookie in the AHL, outperforming the more experienced Akira Schmid behind a bad team. The only place where his numbers haven\u2019t yet quite come is in his early NHL starts. I\u2019d wager they will, though.<\/p>\n

He has quick hands (a great glove hand in particular, but also a good blocker) and shoulders reacting to shots. He has quick feet. He always seems set in his stance before shots are taken. Despite his quickness, he\u2019s not busy in the net. Few shots beat him down low because of how fast he gets in and out of his butterfly. He holds his edges well and doesn\u2019t go down until he has to. Ultimately, he has the right blend of control and athleticism and looks like he\u2019s on a very good trajectory for being the third-last pick in the 2021 draft.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

Andy Abeyta \/ The Desert Sun<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Tier 4<\/p>\n

NHL Central Scouting\u2019s No. 2-ranked European goalie last year, Frolov is a good-sized goalie whose career MHL save percentage is around .920. He plays an aggressive and challenging style; when he\u2019s on, shooters struggle to beat him or even create rebounds off him because he takes away their options, stays on top of them, and then has good hands up high and is quick to close off and seal the ice down low. He plays on his toes and makes the first save consistently. He can get a little scrambly and lose his net on second and third chances, though, and can sometimes be a little overzealous.<\/p>\n

I like the size, ability and confidence he plays with. He clearly trusts himself to beat shooters with his talent and lines. He has a game-stealing quality to him when he\u2019s dialed in, and some scouts felt he was the best or second-best goalie prospect in the 2025 draft. He will need to settle down and refine his approach to reach his potential in the NHL, but the skill level, tools and upside are real.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I liked the Blue Jackets\u2019 decision to take Ivanov in the fifth round in 2022. He was one of a few netminders I would have considered taking in the draft\u2019s later rounds, and I like his odds of becoming a No. 2\/3 NHL goalie despite being small by today\u2019s goalie standards at 5-11\/6-0 and 176 pounds. Four years later, his contract in the KHL is now set to expire, and they may get to test their results.<\/p>\n

For years one of the top 2004-born goalies in Russia, Ivanov built a strong track record against his peers both internationally and domestically in the MHL. He has now done the same in the KHL, where he was excellent two years ago on loan to a poor Vladivostok team, continued to play well last year on loan to a poor Sochi team, and has now played well again this year as one of three goalies with SKA as a young goalie. He has excellent feet and tracking, shuffling to stay with shooters one-on-one or on scrambles. He holds his lines really well to make himself look bigger than he is and then has the mobility to recover if the play moves side-to-side off his challenges. He has good hands and rarely gets frozen glove or blocker side. He reads play at a high level, sticks with shooters and plays the game with the control needed in smaller goaltenders, who require more movement.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a legitimate prospect as far as I\u2019m concerned, and I think he\u2019d have more notoriety had the Russians been allowed to participate in the World Juniors he was eligible for.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

Maksim Konstantinov \/ SOPA Images \/ LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After a .915 freshman year at BU, Commesso climbed back to a .914 sophomore season with the Terriers following a slow start (for him and the team in front of him, which was banged up and not at its best out of the gate) and did the same again as a young junior (he was still just 20) after he gave up six goals in his second start of his final year of college before finishing with a .913 save percentage and even being named an alternate captain. After making the jump to the AHL two years ago, he played better than his .906 save percentage as a rookie indicated as well, consistently giving a mediocre IceHogs team that struggled to score a chance to stay in games. After a slow start to last year, his save percentage climbed to .911 by year’s end as well and he has played well again between the AHL and NHL this season.<\/p>\n

I see a mature makeup. At 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds, he\u2019s not big for a goalie, but he blends a studious approach to the position with sharp angles, sound technique (including good habits and post integration) and a calming, poised demeanour to keep shots in his chest, control rebounds, settle down plays and hold firm to his edges. And while he\u2019s not a dynamic athlete, he can fall back on his athleticism when the play does break down, he\u2019s efficient in his movements, he\u2019s quick on his feet and he doesn\u2019t put himself into many scrambles because of the way he reads the play. Commesso reliably makes the saves that he should and plays the same game to game. He doesn\u2019t steal a ton of starts and I wouldn\u2019t say he has any A-grade tools that really pop, but there\u2019s not a lot in his game that you can nitpick either. I \u2014 and the rest of the hockey world (including USA Hockey, who\u2019ve already brought him to men\u2019s worlds and the Olympics) \u2014 expect him to become a decent No. 2 or strong No. 3 goalie, even if he doesn\u2019t have starter upside.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

Michael Reaves \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Drafted by the Leafs as a double-overager and quickly signed, Hildeby is one of the biggest (6-foot-7), heaviest (231 pounds) goalies in the sport. And though his NHL numbers last year as a rookie (.878 in his first six starts) did make some wonder, combined with ceding the Marlies crease at times to Matt Murray and Artur Akhtyamov, if he could be more than a No. 3\/if he could become a full-time NHL goalie. That book is still out after more starts this year, but he has performed better in his NHL opportunities this season, a promising signal that his good results at lower levels do have some transferability. His save percentage has hovered around .910 in the AHL (where he outplayed the veteran Martin Jones) and hovered around .920 in the SHL (where he outplayed veteran Matt Tomkins, now with the Oilers organization) before that.<\/p>\n

He can look a little sluggish when plays break down, and he has to scramble and move a lot, but he makes up for that with his strong tracking, positioning, angles, reads and rebound control. He also has good hands for a bigger goalie (sometimes larger goalies lack some coordination), which extends his range in the net even further. While he\u2019s not the perfect goalie, he represents good organizational depth, and there are some who believe he\u2019s going to stick as a No. 2 in the NHL at some point, even if that\u2019s not in Toronto in the short term with their tandem.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

John E. Sokolowski \/ Imagn Images<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After winning the 2021-22 CHL Goaltender of the Year, Garand is now in his fourth season with the Wolf Pack. And while he still has yet to take the step to become a No. 2\/3 goalie, I think he has been better in the AHL than his career save percentage (which has hovered just above .900) indicates, which has included two superb playoffs where he carried the Wolf Pack (his AHL playoffs save percentage is .927 in 17 games) to back-to-back first-round upsets over the Providence Bruins. I thought he outplayed veteran tandem mate Louis Domingue last season, and the net has mostly been his this year. He has also shown well in early NHL starts.<\/p>\n

Garand is small by today\u2019s goalie standards at 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, but he also has most of the tools you look for in a smaller goalie, led by his quickness in the net (which helps him make acrobatic saves when he needs to), great hands (especially on the glove side) and a studious understanding of the game, his positioning and how he sees the way plays develop in front of him.<\/p>\n

He plays on his toes and is active in the net, but he does it without spinning and swimming by holding his outside edges when he settles into his stance before a shot, playing sharp angles and tracking pucks into his body. He also rarely looks panicked in the net, and his post-to-post movement is meticulous, so he never seems to pull past his parallels and always seems to find and hold his short side on bad-angle shots (his skate and shoulder are always in the right spot, even off switches when some goalies lose some of those habits, like sealing posts). That technical skill is present in the rest of his game, too.<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/p>\n

James Guillory \/ Imagn Images<\/p>\n


\n\"Connections:\"Connections:<\/p>\n

Apr 14, 2026<\/p>\n

Connections: Sports Edition<\/p>\n

Spot the pattern. Connect the terms<\/p>\n

Find the hidden link between sports terms<\/p>\n

Play today’s puzzle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to the first 2026 edition of my drafted NHL prospect rankings at The Athletic. This ranking of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[1809,4821,4824,1223,392,1786,393,1787,4826,4822,4823,385,1789,1790,835,99,1788,4829,1793],"class_list":{"0":"post-583844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-buffalo-sabres","9":"tag-carolina-hurricanes","10":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","11":"tag-colorado-avalanche","12":"tag-columbus-blue-jackets","13":"tag-detroit-red-wings","14":"tag-los-angeles-kings","15":"tag-montreal-canadiens","16":"tag-nashville-predators","17":"tag-new-jersey-devils","18":"tag-new-york-rangers","19":"tag-nhl","20":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","21":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","22":"tag-san-jose-sharks","23":"tag-sports","24":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","25":"tag-utah-mammoth","26":"tag-vegas-golden-knights"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}