Week 16: Fantasy top 25 goalie rankings for 2017-18

Each week during the regular season, NHL.com has you covered with an overview of the fantasy goaltender landscape. With production trends, injury news and top 25 rankings based on performance and upside in standard Yahoo leagues, fantasy owners should use this information as a basis for roster decision-making.

MORE FANTASY COVERAGE:
Top 100 'F'
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Top 50 'D'
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Daily projected lineups

TRENDING UP

Ben Bishop, DAL (91 percent owned): The Dallas Stars have won eight of their past 11 games and have done so with defense, allowing two goals or fewer nine times. Bishop has started nine of those 11 games, going 6-2-1 with a .944 save percentage and one shutout. After a slow start to the season, he's 21-12-3 with a 2.42 GAA, .918 SV% and four shutouts. Kari Lehtonen (7 percent owned), who was challenging Bishop for playing time, has almost identical numbers (2.42 GAA, .914 SV%), and although he's won four of his past five starts, has been relegated to a backup role again.

Casey DeSmith, PIT (9 percent owned): When Matt Murray left the Pittsburgh Penguins because of the death of his father, Tristan Jarry (28 percent owned) was thought to be the No. 1 in his absence. However, he's been very inconsistent, following up a shutout by being pulled in a five-goal game and then allowing one, two and four goals before being sent to the American Hockey League on Wednesday. That's led to the emergence of DeSmith, who is 2-1-0, having allowed four goals on 100 shots, and has had a SV% of .944 or better in each. There's a good chance he starts against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, the Penguins' last game before the All-Star break, for those in need of a spot start. The picture after the break remains unclear, with Murray returning and DeSmith and Jarry vying for the backup job.
Michal Neuvirth/Brian Elliott, PHI: The Philadelphia Flyers have climbed back into Stanley Cup Playoff position with eight wins in their past nine games and good goaltending. Elliott (71 percent owned), who has started the past two games, allowed a combined three goals in overtime wins against the Washington Capitals on Sunday and the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. He had struggled previously, opening the door for Neuvirth (12 percent owned), who has been outstanding in his past three starts. Neuvirth allowed a total of four goals in wins against the Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils. Because this has turned into a timeshare, it's best to own both or neither of them, as opposed to one.

TRENDING DOWN

Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (93 percent owned): The Rangers play seven of their next 10 games on the road, which isn't good news for Lundqvist. He allowed three goals on seven shots and was pulled in the first period of a 6-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, and is 6-8-2 with a 2.90 GAA in 18 road starts this season. Lundqvist has allowed at least three goals in four of six starts. He likely will continue to see majority of the starts with backup Ondrej Pavelec (4 percent owned) struggling; Pavelec is 3-7-1 with a 2.96 GAA in 12 games (eight starts). It's worth considering benching Lundqvist with the Rangers facing a tough upcoming schedule; New York is at the San Jose Sharks on Thursday and comes out of the All-Star break with games against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets.
Jake Allen, STL (94 percent owned): The St. Louis Blues goalie hasn't started since Jan. 9 and has played once since then. He allowed five goals on 23 shots and was pulled in the second period of a 7-4 loss to the Florida Panthers in that most recent start, and allowed two goals in relief of Carter Hutton in a 5-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday. Allen (2.74 GAA, .909 SV%) has lost starts to Hutton, who's made 16 this season and played 20 games. Hutton is among the NHL leaders in GAA (1.79) and SV% (.941), and he responded to his rough outing against Arizona with a 25-save shutout against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday. It appears as if the Blues will continue to ride the hot hand in Hutton (53 percent owned) until he cools off, which is bad news for Allen owners.

TOP 25 GOALIE RANKINGS

Standard Yahoo categories include wins, goals-against average, save percentage and shutouts for goaltenders. ... Value has been quantified based on factors including but not limited to past production, team goaltender situations, anticipated start volume, projected goal support (or lack thereof), injury history, age, sleeper, bounce-back or breakout potential, potential regression, contract status and overall upside for this season.
1. Tuukka Rask, BOS (+1)
2. Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL (-1)
3. Pekka Rinne, NSH (SAME)
4. Marc-Andre Fleury, VGK (+1)
5. Frederik Andersen, TOR (-1)
6. Braden Holtby, WSH (+1)
7. Sergei Bobrovsky, CBJ (+1)
8. Connor Hellebuyck, WPG (+3)
9. Ben Bishop, DAL (+4)
10. Jonathan Quick, LAK (DTD)
11. Devan Dubnyk, MIN (+1)
12. John Gibson, ANA (-3)
13. Mike Smith, CGY (+2)
14. Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (-2)
15. Matt Murray, PIT (DTD)
16. Carey Price, MTL (SAME)
17. Carter Hutton, STL (+3)
18. Jonathan Bernier, COL (+3)
19. Cory Schneider, NJD (DTD)
20. Brian Elliott, PHI (NEW)
21. Jake Allen, STL (-2)
22. Aaron Dell, SJS (NEW)
23. Cam Talbot, EDM (-1)
24. Michael Neuvirth, PHI (NEW)
25. Casey DeSmith, PIT (NEW)
Dropped out: Juuse Saros, NSH; Jimmy Howard, DET; Tristan Jarry, PIT
Key injuries: Corey Crawford, CHI; Martin Jones, SJS (dropped out); Roberto Luongo, FLA; Semyon Varlamov, COL; Oscar Dansk, VGK
READ: Last Week's Top 25 goalie rankings