Two of the best goalies in fantasy hockey are off the board for very different reasons. Igor Shesterkin is out for the year after a right-knee injury on Oct. 9, and Connor Hellebuyck has not played a minute for Winnipeg while serving a team suspension tied to his trade request. That suspension is scheduled to end this Friday, Oct. 23. Add in a crop of goalies whose win totals are outrunning their save percentages, and late October is the best window all season to reshape your crease. Here is where things stand, with every number below current through Tuesday’s games.
The Hellebuyck Countdown
The Jets suspended Hellebuyck without pay in September after he skipped training camp, following his public trade request in late August. Winnipeg informed him the suspension ends Friday, but nobody should assume that means he is back in a Jets sweater this weekend. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has reported that Winnipeg would rather trade him than reintegrate him, and that paying him to stay home is a real option if no deal materializes. Buffalo and Utah have been the suitors most consistently reported, with the Rangers and Carolina also linked by Friedman.
For fantasy purposes, the destination matters as much as the date:
- Buffalo: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is sitting at a 3.59 GAA and .860 save percentage over seven appearances. A Hellebuyck trade would turn Luukkonen into a backup almost overnight.
- Utah: Karel Vejmelka has the wins (5-2-0) but an .879 save percentage. He would drop from starter to tandem piece at best.
- Rangers: The biggest swing. Dylan Garand, covered below, would lose nearly all of his value.
- Carolina: Would end the Pyotr Kochetkov and Brandon Bussi split and make whoever is left a handcuff.
Meanwhile, Winnipeg’s current pair holds value only as long as Hellebuyck stays away. Stuart Skinner has been fine at 3-1-2 with a 2.65 GAA and .910 save percentage, while Clay Stevenson is 1-2-0 at .893. If Hellebuyck is traded, Skinner becomes a steady volume starter on a team that has kept itself afloat. If he returns to Winnipeg, Skinner goes back to backup duty. Managers holding Hellebuyck on IL or bench spots should keep holding — wherever he lands, he will start.
Garand’s Audition in New York
Shesterkin was off to a typical start before the injury, 3-1-0 with a 1.79 GAA and .927 save percentage. The 24-year-old Garand stepped in and has matched him: 4-2-1, 1.85 GAA, .929 save percentage and a shutout across seven appearances. Those are top-ten ratios on a team that has been better than expected.
Garand should be rostered in every league right now. The risk is entirely external — if the Rangers win the Hellebuyck sweepstakes, Garand becomes a backup. Treat him as a high-end streamer with upside rather than a long-term cornerstone, and do not pay a premium in a trade until the Hellebuyck situation resolves.
Hot Starts That Look Real
These goalies combine wins with ratios that hold up under scrutiny:
- Jake Oettinger, DAL: 4-2-1, 1.13 GAA, .945 save percentage and three shutouts in seven starts. The shutout pace will not hold, but he has been a top-five fantasy goalie for years and the underlying ratios back it up.
- Linus Ullmark, OTT: 6-1-0, 1.33 GAA, .945. Ullmark’s history as a high-save-percentage goalie makes this more believable than most early heaters. The workload is the question; Samuel Ersson has made two starts and allowed 5.26 goals per 60, which should keep Ullmark firmly in the crease.
- Jeremy Swayman, BOS: 6-1-1, 1.98 GAA, .928 in eight starts. Workload and quality together — exactly what you drafted him for.
- Ilya Sorokin, NYI: 5-2-0, 1.72 GAA, .934 and a shutout. Business as usual.
Win-Column Mirages
Wins are the stickiest goalie category week to week, but they ride on the team in front of the goalie. Save percentage tells you whether the goalie himself is holding up his end. These three have records that are running ahead of their play:
- Pyotr Kochetkov, CAR: 6-0-0 with a 1.98 GAA but only an .899 save percentage. The team in front of him is doing the heavy lifting, and Bussi (5 starts) is getting nearly half the work. Kochetkov is a hold, but sell him if someone values the unbeaten record like an elite starter — and keep in mind Carolina’s reported interest in Hellebuyck.
- Devon Levi, EDM: 5-1-0, but a 2.83 GAA and .898 save percentage. Edmonton’s offense is bailing him out. Fine as a wins source; a ratio risk in roto leagues.
- Karel Vejmelka, UTA: 5-2-0 with an .879 save percentage. The worst ratio among goalies with a winning record and at least seven starts, plus the trade-rumor overhang.
Cold Starts and Timeshares to Watch
Montreal: Fowler Is Pushing Dobes
Jakub Dobes is 1-2-2 with a 4.47 GAA and .847 save percentage in five starts. Jacob Fowler has been the better goalie, going 3-1-0 with a 2.16 GAA, .900 save percentage and a shutout in four starts. Fowler is the Canadiens goalie to roster in shallow leagues right now; Dobes is bench-only until his ratios stabilize.
San Jose: Nedeljkovic Over Askarov, For Now
Yaroslav Askarov is 2-4-0 with a 3.67 GAA and .865 save percentage. Alex Nedeljkovic has collected points in all four of his starts (3-0-1, .917). Askarov is the long-term starter and should be held in dynasty, but in redraft he belongs on your bench until the split tilts back his way.
Vancouver: Avoid Lankinen
Kevin Lankinen has the ugliest line in the league among regulars: 1-6-0, 6.40 GAA and .807 save percentage across seven appearances. Leevi Merilainen has been far steadier at .917, though his 1-2-1 record shows Vancouver’s struggles are not all on the goaltending. Merilainen is a deep-league dart; Lankinen should be on waivers in standard formats.
Calgary: Wolf’s Rough Opening
Dustin Wolf is 1-4-0 with a 4.85 GAA and .834 save percentage. The talent is real, but Calgary has been among the worst teams in the league early. Hold Wolf if you drafted him as a starter — this is a buy-low window, not a drop — but bench him against strong offenses until the team stabilizes.
Volume King: Jesper Wallstedt
No goalie has started more games than Wallstedt, who is 6-1-2 with a 2.20 GAA and .915 save percentage in nine starts. Filip Gustavsson is recovering from offseason hip surgery and is not expected back before November, so Wallstedt’s workload stays near the top of the league for at least another couple of weeks. Even after Gustavsson returns, Wallstedt has made a strong case to keep the larger share.
Buy-Low Targets
Two elite names are posting middling ratios that are worth buying into:
- Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL: 5-2-0 but a .898 save percentage. His track record says that number climbs, and the wins are already there.
- Logan Thompson, WSH: 4-3-0, 2.90 GAA, .901. Still a top-two goalie in several consensus rest-of-season rankings, with ratios well below his norm. A manager frustrated by a slow start is a manager you can deal with.
The Bottom Line
Friday is the date to circle. A Hellebuyck trade reshuffles at least one starting job and maybe two, so if you are rostering Garand, Luukkonen, Vejmelka or a Carolina goalie, plan your next move before the news breaks rather than after. Until then, ride Oettinger, Ullmark, Swayman and Sorokin, pick up Garand and Fowler where they are available, and buy Vasilevskiy and Thompson before their ratios catch up to their reputations.
See today's NHL lines on DFS Lines, each one set against the player's last ten games.