Best goalie entering this season debated by NHL.com

Who are the best goalies in the NHL entering the 2024-25 season?

That is a question NHL Network will answer when a panel of its producers and analysts selects the top 10 goalies in the League right now during the first of a nine-part series that looks at the League's best players, both by position and as an overall ranking.

As an appetizer for the show, which airs on NHL Network on Thursday (6 p.m. ET), here are some of the goalies, in alphabetical order, who should be considered for the No. 1 spot, according to a panel of NHL.com writers.

Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida Panthers

A two-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL (2013, 2017), Bobrovsky added the biggest accomplishment missing from this career resume when he helped the Panthers win the Stanley Cup for the first time last season. Bobrovsky, who turns 36 on Sept. 20, showed no signs of slowing down last season when he was a Vezina finalist again after going 36-17-4 with a 2.37 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and six shutouts (tied for the NHL lead) in 58 regular-season games. He was 16-8 with a 2.32 GAA, .906 save percentage and two shutouts in starting all 24 Stanley Cup Playoff games for Florida. That included a 32-save shutout in a 3-0 victory in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers and 23 saves in a 2-1 Cup-clinching victory in Game 7. -- Tom Gulitti, staff writer

Thatcher Demko, Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks goalie finished second in voting for the Vezina Trophy last season after he helped the Canucks to a dramatic turnaround and first place in the Pacific Division with a 35-14-2 record, 2.45 GAA, five shutouts, and NHL career-high .918 save percentage in 51 games (all starts). He was the first Canucks goalie to be a Vezina finalist since Roberto Luongo in 2011, and he matched the highest finish in voting by a Vancouver goalie (Luongo, 2007; Kirk McLean, 1992). Demko was limited to 32 games in 2022-23 because of a knee injury, and Vancouver went 38-37-7 and missed the playoffs by 12 points. It's obvious how much a healthy Demko means to the Canucks, which is why I feel he is the best at his position entering 2024-25. In fact, I expect the 28-year-old to be included on the United States roster for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off in February. -- Mike G. Morreale, senior draft writer

Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets

The two-time Vezina Trophy winner (2020, 2024) is still among the best goalies in the NHL and has posted impressive stats during his nine seasons with the Jets. Hellebuyck has a 2.63 GAA and .917 save percentage in 505 NHL games (496 starts). Since debuting in 2015-16, he leads NHL goalies in games played, is tied for the most with 37 shutouts, and his 275 wins are second to the Tampa Bay Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy (286). Hellebuyck may have struggled in the Jets' five-game loss to the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference First Round last season, but it was one of the few times he was not on top of his game. Hellebuyck was 37-19-4 with a 2.39 GAA, .921 save percentage and five shutouts in 60 games last season. He had the highest save percentage of any goalie who played at least 30 games, and at 31 years old is a favorite to be the starter for the United States at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off in February and the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. -- Derek Van Diest, staff writer

Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators

Among the best goalies in the NHL for years, the Predators goalie was the busiest last season. The 29-year-old led the League in games played (64), starts (64), shots faced (1,845) and saves (1,672). He was fifth in voting for the Vezina Trophy after he helped guide the Predators into the playoffs, going 35-24-5 with a 2.86 GAA, .906 save percentage and three shutouts. Nashville showed its belief that Saros is a franchise goalie when it signed him to an eight-year, $61.92 million contract ($7.74 million average annual value) on July 1. He has one season remaining on a four-year, $20 million contract ($5 million AAV) he signed with the Predators on Aug. 16, 2021. He should be Finland's No. 1 goalie at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. -- William Douglas, staff writer

Igor Shesterkin, New York Rangers

Anyone who watched the playoffs last season knows just how good Shesterkin is. The Rangers goalie was the biggest reason they got by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round and reached Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final against the eventual Stanley Cup champion Panthers. In the six-game series win against Carolina, the 28-year-old had a .919 save percentage and 2.80 GAA. Against Florida he was even more impressive, with a .935 save percentage and 2.25 GAA, allowing 14 goals in the six-game series. The Vezina Trophy winner in 2022, Shesterkin has been a workhorse, playing the sixth-most games (166) since the start of the 2021-22 season, with the most wins (109) and tied for the second most shutouts (13). How high of a bar has he set? Last season, he was 36-17-2 with a .913 save percentage and 2.58 GAA and it was considered by some a down season. If I had to win one game with the Stanley Cup on the line, Shesterkin would be my pick. -- Bill Price, Editor-in-Chief

Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins

Swayman might not be at the top of this list yet, but he's certainly in the conversation when it comes to the game's handful of elite goalies. The scary part, at least for opposing shooters: he's only 25 and hasn't reached his prime. Considering his impressive ascension, who knows how high his ceiling can be, given that he's at least three years younger than Shesterkin (28), Demko (28), Saros (29), Vasilevskiy (30), Hellebuyck (31) and Bobrovsky (35). With a 49-16-12 record in 81 games the past two seasons, he's now the No. 1 goalie for the Bruins after partner Linus Ullmark, the 2023 winner of the Vezina Trophy, was traded to the Ottawa Senators on June 24. If Swayman's career path doesn't encounter any speed bumps, don't be surprised if he's the United States' starter at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off in February. He's worked his way into the mix with Demko and Hellebuyck. -- Mike Zeisberger, staff writer

Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning

Vasilevskiy has been in the conversation for the League's best goaltenders for years now, and he absolutely should still be in it. A four-time finalist and 2019 winner of the Vezina Trophy, Vasilevskiy, who turned 30 on July 25, was 30-20-2 with a 2.90 GAA, .900 save percentage and two shutouts in 52 games (all starts) last season. That's the highest GAA of his 10-season NHL career, but for a goalie who had a microdiscectomy to address a lumbar disk herniation in his back last September, I'd stay that's still pretty darn good. Vasilevskiy returned from that surgery Nov. 24 and still had more than 50 starts. He remained a workhorse following surgery and he's still among the best in the League. -- Tracey Myers, staff writer