Unmasked: Rask, Luongo could be next goalies to have numbers retired

Goalie number retirements in the NHL this season have been easy choices.

Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers and Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators each was the face of his team. So when Lundqvist's No. 35 was raised to the Madison Square Garden rafters Jan. 28 and Rinne's No. 35 went up at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday, the immortalizations were universally applauded.
But it left us wondering which five goalies should next be honored in the same manner.
Here's the Unmasked list of goalies who could soon see his number retired, a mix of retired and active players.
Though this list may not be as agreed upon as the two retirements this season, the debates about their candidacies are worth having.

Tuukka Rask , Boston Bruins

Might as well start with the one most likely to spark arguments, particularly in Boston, where Rask's place in Bruins lore somehow remains a divisive topic despite being Boston's leader in wins (308) and saves (14,345). Rask, who announced his retirement Feb. 10, also helped the Bruins reach the Stanley Cup Final twice (2013, 2019) and won the Vezina Trophy, voted as the best goalie in the NHL, in 2014.
Part of the problem is Rask took over the crease from Tim Thomas after being the backup when Boston won the Stanley Cup in 2011, and after Thomas also won the Conn Smythe Trophy voted Stanley Cup Playoffs MVP and the Vezina Trophy twice (2009, 2011).
The other problem is, there aren't any goalies among the 12 retired numbers in Boston, including Thomas and Hockey Hall of Fame goalie Gerry Cheevers. But with a .921 save percentage that trails only Dominik Hasek and Ken Dryden, who each had a .922 save percentage, in NHL history (minimum 200 games), it's hard to argue Rask's place in the game, even if some will disagree his No. 40 deserves a permanent spot in TD Garden.

Roberto Luongo , Vancouver Canucks

Luongo's No. 1 has been retired by the Florida Panthers, for whom he played 11 of his 19 NHL seasons, but in between were eight seasons in Vancouver (2006-14) when he became the Canucks leader in wins (252) and shutouts (38), with a .919 save percentage, highest among Vancouver goalies who played at least 100 games. He also helped the Canucks reach Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Bruins.
Luongo, who announced his retirement June 26, 2019, was often the best player on the best teams in Canucks history and, perhaps just as importantly, his time there marked the beginning of the end of Vancouver being, in the words of former general manager Brian Burke, "a goalie graveyard."

Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens

This one is premature given Price's knee injury that has kept him out this season. Regardless of whether, how much, or how well Price plays from here, his No. 31 deserves to hang inside Bell Centre.
That's not an easy statement given the gravitas of Canadiens hockey history and the list of retired goalie numbers that includes Jacques Plante (1), Dryden (29) and Patrick Roy (33), but Price has already passed each of them to lead Montreal in wins (360) and saves (19,174), and is third in shutouts with 49, nine behind Plante and 24 behind Canadiens leader George Hainsworth. Add in winning the 2015 Vezina and Hart Trophy, voted NHL MVP, and making the Stanley Cup Final in 2020, and Price has already done enough to cement himself in Montreal lore at age 34.

Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins

Like Price, this is another premature entry because Fleury is still playing. Like Luongo, it's complicated by the fact he's on his third team, having been selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft and then traded to the Chicago Blackhawks on July 28.
Fleury left Pittsburgh, which selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NHL Draft, as a three-time Stanley Cup Champion (2009, 2016, 2017) and with the most wins (375) in Penguins history. He may have won his first Vezina Trophy last season with the Golden Knights, who may also want to consider retiring his number given his impact in such a short time, but he built most of his legacy in Pittsburgh.
As former Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said, "He is one of the greatest Pittsburgh Penguins ever, and one of the best and most impactful sports figures in Pittsburgh history."
Surely that warrants a spot for Fleury's No. 29 in the rafters at PPG Paints Arena when the 37-year-old eventually retires.

Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings

Like Rask and Price (so far), Quick checks the increasingly rare box of having played for one NHL team. And though that could change before he's done playing in the NHL, it won't diminish the significance of Quick's time with the Kings. He won the Stanley Cup twice in Los Angeles (2012, 2014) and leads the Kings with 349 wins, more than double the total of the next goalie on the list, Rogie Vachon (171), whose No. 30 is retired. Quick is also the Los Angeles leader in games played (695), saves (17,090), save percentage (.913, minimum 100 games) and shutouts (56), more than deserving enough to have his No. 32 retired at Crypto.com Arena.