Week 8: 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 RANKINGS:
Top 100 forwards
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Top 50 defensemen

TRENDING UP

Tristan Jarry, PIT (42 percent owned): Pittsburgh Penguins starter Matt Murray was trending down last week, even prior to his injury. Now that he's week to week with a lower-body injury, Jarry likely will get most of the starts. Jarry has seen his fantasy ownership skyrocket (up 36 percent in past two days) and is 2-0-2 with a 2.83 GAA and a .907 save percentage in four games (three starts) this season. He has made 41 saves on 45 shots in his past two appearances. Jarry has five games of NHL experience, but he had 28 wins, a 2.15 GAA and .925 save percentage in 45 American Hockey League games with Wilkes/Barre Scranton last season. Casey DeSmith (less than 1 percent owned) likely won't challenge Jarry, so the job is likely his, for better or worse, until Murray returns.
Carey Price, MTL: There were concerns from the Montreal Canadiens and fantasy owners alike when Price returned from his lower-body injury last weekend. So far, he's put all those questions to rest. Price has led the Canadiens to three straight wins, making 100 saves on 102 shots (.980 SV%) against the Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets and Ottawa Senators. He's looked sharp in each game, showing the form that won him the Vezina and Hart trophies in 2014-15. It's clear that as long as he's healthy, he's the No. 1 in Montreal. That's not to say fantasy owners should expect these types of performances every night, but Price looks like a different goalie than the one who was 3-7-1 with a 3.77 GAA and .877 SV% before the injury.
Aaron Dell, SJS (23 percent owned): Martin Jones sustained a lower-body injury in his 38-save shutout against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. Jones didn't leave the game and traveled with the San Jose Sharks on their four-game road trip, but Dell got the start on Tuesday. Dell made 22 saves in a 3-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers to improve to 3-3-1 with a 2.06 GAA and .924 SV%. He was very good backing up Jones last season (11-6-1, .200 GAA, .931 SV%) in 20 games (17 starts) and has already made nine appearances this season. Even if Jones is able to play Friday against the Florida Panthers, it's the first game of a back-to-back, meaning Dell likely would start against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. Dell is a high-end backup worth adding in deeper fantasy leagues.

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TRENDING DOWN

Devan Dubnyk, MIN: Dubnyk has regressed after three straight shutouts. He's allowed at least four goals in each of his past four starts for the Minnesota Wild, including a season-high six on 40 shots in a 6-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. Not surprisingly, his save percentage has been .882 or less in each of those starts. Dubnyk has also sat out two of the past three games in favor of backup Alex Stalock (2 percent owned). Dubnyk has made at least 63 starts in each of the past two seasons and has started 18 of the Wild's 24 games (75 percent). He likely will get the start against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, and another poor performance would be alarming for fantasy owners.
Jimmy Howard, DET (66 percent owned): The Detroit Red Wings have lost five straight games, including four at home. Howard, 0-3-2 in those five games, likely will be in goal against the Canadiens on Thursday. He's allowed four goals in three of four starts and has seen his GAA rise to 2.57 to go along with eight wins in 19 decisions. Backup Petr Mrazek (19 percent owned) left Detroit's game against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday with a concussion. However, his 3.19 GAA and .901 SV% haven't earned him much confidence from the coaching staff. It's best to play the matchup game with Howard if you own him; look at his opponents and splits instead of starting him every game.
Jake Allen, STL: The St. Louis Blues are 17-7-1 and have the best record in the Western Conference, but their defense has struggled recently, allowing three or more goals in six of the past eight games. Allen has won three of his past four starts, although he's allowed three goals in each of those games and has allowed at least that many in six of his past seven starts. Allen is 13-5-1 but his peripherals (2.75 GAA, .908 SV%) are much worse than his NHL career averages (2.42 GAA, .914 SV%). There's not much reason to worry yet, but if the numbers keep trending downward for Allen, backup Carter Hutton (17 percent owned) could see more time. He's 4-1-0 with a 1.59 GAA and .946 SV%.

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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. Any players with day-to-day injury concerns (DTD) are noted. NEW - INJ. indicates a player who has returned from injury and rejoined the rankings.
1. Sergei Bobrovsky, CBJ (SAME)
2. Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL (SAME)
3. Jonathan Quick, LAK (SAME)
4. Pekka Rinne, NSH (SAME)
5. Braden Holtby, WSH (+3)
6. Martin Jones, SJS (DTD)
7. Frederik Andersen, TOR (+4)
8. John Gibson, ANA (+2)
9. Devan Dubnyk, MIN (-3)
10. Jake Allen, STL (-1)
11. Carey Price, MTL (+8)
12. Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (+1)
13. Connor Hellebuyck, WPG (+2)
14. Ben Bishop, DAL (+3)
15. Cory Schneider, NJD (+1)
16. Tristan Jarry, PIT (NEW)
17. Tuukka Rask, BOS (+3)
18. Thomas Greiss, NYI (+3)
19. Mike Smith, CGY (-1)
20. Roberto Luongo, FLA (+2)
21. Anton Khudobin, BOS (+3)
22. Malcolm Subban, VGK (+3)
23. Semyon Varlamov, COL (NEW - INJ.)
24. Jimmy Howard, DET (-1)
25. Aaron Dell, SJS (NEW)
Key injuries: Corey Crawford, CHI (dropped out); Matt Murray, PIT (dropped out); Cam Talbot, EDM (dropped out)\; Marc-Andre Fleury (VGK); Antti Raanta (ARI); Oscar Dansk (VGK)
\Fantasy buzz: Impact of Talbot's injury
READ: Last week's Top 25 goalie rankings