Scott Wheeler's top 20 drafted NHL goalie prospects ranking, summer 2024 edition (2024)

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MIN

Wallstedt, who I’ve often talked about as a robot, had moments last season where — really for the first time in his career — he looked human. His body of work and game still combine to make him arguably the best goalie prospect in the sport for me, though, and it’s also important to contextualize him against last year’s team in Iowa (which really struggled defensively) and against his tandem partner in veteran Zane McIntyre (Wallstedt had a winning record and a .910 save percentage, while McIntyre struggled just to win games and finished with a .881).

Wallstedt’s game has real polish and maturity (it’s important to remember that even at 21, and even though last year was already his second AHL season, he was still one of the youngest goalies in the league). There’s just a control and soundness to his game that is rare in goalies his age. He’s also a big 6-foot-3, 214-pound (he fills the net, too) goalie who plays sharp lines positionally, holds those lines and swallows the first shot so that he doesn’t have to make a ton of second saves. He’s incredibly calm in the net, staring down shooters and reading them. He covers the bottom of the net extremely well and doesn’t seem to get beat along the ice. Few shots sneak through him. His movement is compact, he tracks through layers incredibly well to find pucks, and he reads opposing shooters so well that he’s rarely beaten cleanly.

There’s a minor question mark or two around every young goalie in the sport and with Wallstedt, I don’t see an obvious hole or area of weakness that worries me, though I do think he could stand to be in better shape. He doesn’t steal games quite like Predators goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov, but his consistency in his young career has, to use a cliché, always seemed to give his team a chance to win. I’d maybe like to see him develop a little more quickness (he’s strong across the net and low-to-high on pushes, but he sits a little heavy over his skates and I wouldn’t say his feet are fast per se). But otherwise, he’s got all of the makings of a No. 1 goalie in the NHL and I’d be surprised if he doesn’t become a good 1A at minimum.

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Jerome Miron / USA Today

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NSH

I thought about ranking Askarov, who has now played well — and a lot — across two seasons in North America and I expect to become a full-time NHLer this season, at No. 1 here. He had a stretch of play last year where he won 21 straight games in the AHL and looked completely unbeatable. And while he came back down to earth a little late in the year, that’s what Askarov is capable of.

Askarov’s got some high-end tools and legitimate No. 1 talent and remains one of the very best prospects at his position in the sport. His raw talent has always separated him. His ability to change directions in the net, stay on top of shooters, track their hands and make reactionary saves is elite. His athleticism is, too. He regularly makes second- and third-chance saves holding firm in his positioning even when he’s laying on the ice.

There are still times when he gets frozen over his glove hand, something NHL teams will exploit, but he has made important progress catching pucks. He can look jittery in the net, bouncing on his toes and moving to pucks (which he says is to keep himself focused and make some of those quick-twitch saves I talked about). But his agility and reads are so impressive that he can steal games when he’s at his best, and make the difficult saves that others just can’t get to or stick with. There isn’t a goalie prospect in the world with quicker feet through shuffles or more explosiveness side-to-side or low-to-high than Askarov. That blend of power and speed combined with his extended track record at a young age gives him very high upside.

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Maksim Konstantinov / Getty Images

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MTL

Fowler has established himself as one of the top goalie prospects in the sport with his play over the last three seasons. That started when he was named to the USHL’s All-Rookie Second Team three years ago and its First All-Star Team two years ago after leading the league in both save percentage and goals-against average. It was stamped last year with a stellar freshman year at BC that saw him play virtually every minute behind the top-ranked team in the country (and while the team in front of him helped, their strength was most pronounced at forward and he stole some games). (I should note that I’ve seen him look just OK with Team USA both in Gothenburg at the world juniors and Plymouth at the World Junior Summer Showcase, but he was also excellent at the World Jr. A Challenge.)

He’s the kind of goalie who if he can see a shot and move to it, he’s going to stop it.

He’s got work to do on some other things (conditioning/fitness, less business on scrambles, losing his posts at times) but he worked hard to cut some weight last summer, seems committed to staying in better shape, and has so many clear tools, highlighted by good hands, an ability to take space away through square angles and sound positioning, great tracking/reads, legitimate power/movement and a knack for making huge pad saves/stopping high-danger chances. He’s got a legitimate shot not just to be an NHL goaltender but to be a very good one, and there aren’t many goalies his age (or even a little older) I’m comfortable saying that about.

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Mike Mullholland / Getty Images

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FLA

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Jerome Miron / USA Today

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BUF

Levi’s numbers as a rookie in the NHL last season (.899) didn’t live up to the pedigree that preceded them, but they were about league average for these days and his play in the AHL did match his track record (.927). I’m still confident he’s going to leapfrog Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to become the Sabres’ goalies of the future in time. This is still a kid who had two seasons for the ages at Northeastern, winning the Mike Richter Award as college hockey’s top goalie in back-to-back years as a freshman and sophom*ore, and finishing his college career with a .942 save percentage (while mixing in three appearances at three different levels for Hockey Canada). His journey from the CCHL to the world juniors and then the Olympics, all during the pandemic, was one of the best stories in hockey for a little while there.

He still has pretty much exactly the skills smaller goalies (he’s listed at 6 feet and 192 pounds) need to be successful. Impressive control on his inside and outside edges (and the patience to hold them). Quick feet on his shuffles so that he can stick with dekes and go post-to-post or low-to-high to get to tough pucks. Good hands. Excellent reads on shooters. Excellent tracking through and under traffic. And a battler’s mentality in the net, which keeps him in plays even when he looks like he’s down and out. There aren’t a ton of 6-foot goalies in today’s NHL, at least not starting ones, but I still believe that Levi and Calgary’s Dustin Wolf each have the tools to become one (Wolf, too, hasn’t yet played to his standards in the NHL).

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Jayne Kamin Oncea / USA Today

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CGY

If you’ve been following my work for any amount of time, you’ll know that Wolf is my favourite goalie prospect in the sport (that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the best, but I really enjoy watching him play). When the Flames drafted him at the end of the seventh round, he ranked in the second round of my 2019 draft board, as my second-ranked goalie behind only Spencer Knight. He possesses elite footwork and tracking. He rarely loses sight of the puck and anticipates the movements of opposing carriers so, so well, making him extremely hard to beat with a deke. You’ll rarely see a player beat him side to side on a breakaway because he can stick on top of them. He’s athletic, he’s a superb positional goalie, he’s got good hands, he seals posts well for a smaller goalie, and his technical ability is refined on the whole. Wolf has everything you look for in a top goalie prospect today except for the size. The results are also undeniably there across an extended track record of success. He hasn’t yet demonstrated his ability in the NHL but Wolf has been the best goalie in the AHL across the last three seasons and was the best goalie in the CHL across the three seasons before that. That’s six consecutive years atop whatever level he has played at. He’s got another level in the NHL, too, and I’m very confident of that.

There have been times in the AHL when he has been virtually unbeatable. I’m confident he’s going to be really good and debated ranking him a little higher here.

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Gerry Thomas / NHLI via Getty Images

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DET

Cossa had a really positive season in Grand Rapids last year, making important progress in some important areas. He’s a huge (6-foot-6), powerful, athletic goalie, and those last two things don’t always come with the first. He’s also a fiery, confident, talkative competitor who doesn’t like to get beat (which contrasts with the stoic demeanor we see in many goalies) and wants to command the net and the room. Bigger goalies often struggle with their movements and their recoveries, but neither is an issue for Cossa. His positioning (he does a really good job holding his outside edges to be patient on shots) and reflexes (he’s got great hands up high) help him block and grab a lot of pucks. But it’s his ability to bounce back into his stance or change directions with passes that separates him. His power through his pushes gives him rare side-to-side ability for a goalie that big as well.

There have been times over the years where I’ve seen him look leaky and really struggle closing his five-hole because of his size (this remains a bit of a recurring issue, even though he has made some progress and he does a really good job kicking pucks aimed for the lower corners). He’ll still occasionally lose himself in his net on scramble plays (those strong pushes to get to tough lateral saves can pull him off his lines). He can get pulled out of his net overcommitting on dekes. But he has worked to settle down each of those areas and his natural gifts give him undeniable upside. He also outperformed veteran tandem partner Michael Hutchinson last season, which was big. When he’s set and square to shots, he’s tough to beat. I’ve seen him look unflappable and make point-blank save after point-blank save when he’s dialed in. I’ve also seen him look rattled as shots sneak through holes they shouldn’t be finding, though those moments seem to be becoming fewer and further between. I still think he’s got starter upside due to his combination of size, dexterity and explosiveness in the net, but ongoing patience is important. Though there’s a crowd in front of him with the NHL club, only Cam Talbot is signed beyond this year, so I wonder if there’s a path for him to challenge for an NHL job in 2025-26 after one more year in the AHL.

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Jamie Sabau / USA Today

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DET

The definition of calm, cool, and collected, Augustine is the best goalie prospect to come through the national program since Spencer Knight (I like him more now than I liked Blackhawks goalie prospect Drew Commesso at the same age, for example). I’ve seen him play a ton over the years and I’ve always been impressed by his composure and the consistency of his play, whether that was in Plymouth with the program, Germany and Switzerland at two U18 worlds, Halifax and Gothenburg at two world juniors, or a trip last fall to East Lansing to see him beat the then-top-ranked team in the country, Wisconsin.

He’s just dialed in, by all accounts just as much off the ice in the way he carries himself and goes about his business as on the ice, where his game has rare detail and intellect for a netminder his age. He’s got a good glove hand. He’s good moving on his knees/in a crouch. He’s good at tracking pucks through traffic and across ice on seam plays. He plays good, sharp angles. His rebound control steering pucks into the corners is good. He’s good at getting down into his butterfly to close his five-hole quickly. He’s got good control generally. He’s as good in the lower third as any goalie his age, kicking pucks into the corner instead of out into the slot, and sticking with dekes and five-hole plays. He’s just a good goalie.

While he’s not big for a goalie (he's listed at 6-foot-1 and 179 pounds), he’s a goalie I have a ton of confidence in projecting to have a good pro career. He doesn’t have obvious starter talent or size, but I could see him getting there (or at the very least becoming a solid, reliable tandem goalie). I’d trust him to play for my team and remain even-keeled any day.

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MSU Athletics

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CHI

After a .914 career at BU from age 18-20, where he was even named an alternate captain, Commesso was solid as a rookie in the AHL for Rockford last year, starting the majority of the team’s games and playing better and better as the year went on behind a team that struggled to score in front of him.

I see a mature makeup as a kid and goalie. At 6-foot-2, he’s not big for a goalie, but he blends a studious approach to the position with sharp angles, sound technique (including good habits and post integration), and a calming, poised demeanour to keep shots in his chest, control rebounds, settle down plays and hold firm to his edges. And while he’s not a dynamic athlete, he can fall back on his athleticism when the play does break down, he’s efficient in his movements, he’s quick on his feet and he doesn’t put himself into many scrambles because of the way he reads the play. Commesso reliably makes the saves that he should and plays the same game-to-game. He doesn’t steal a ton of starts and I wouldn’t say he’s got any A-plus tools that really pop, but there’s not a lot in his game that you can nitpick either. I’m not convinced he’s going to be a starter at the next level, but I — and the rest of the hockey world (including USA Hockey, who’ve already brought him to men’s worlds and the Olympics) — fully expect him to become a decent NHL goalie.

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Dave Reginek / Getty Images

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UTA

Early on two seasons ago, when Hrabal arrived from Czechia’s junior league and took the USHL by storm, putting up gaudy numbers through September and into early November, there was first-round buzz about him. Here was this massive goalie with an impressive track record. Then he hit a rut into the new year and lost his job for a spell, only to regain form in March and April, both down the stretch with the Lancers and then as one of the top three players on Czechia at U18 worlds, where I thought he was mostly excellent. Last season, as a freshman at UMass, he was mostly good and finished with a .912 save percentage, although his world juniors was more of a mixed bag (he was great in Czechia’s upset win over Canada but also had some really rough moments, giving up a number of bad goals).

The size jumps out at you right away, but there are layers, good and bad, to the rest of his game. Hrabal gets down into his butterfly a little slowly, opening up his five-hole for shooters (a common problem for bigger goalies). Once he’s on his knees he actually scrambles well for a goalie as tall as he is. His hands (both glove and blocker) need some obvious work up high and he has an odd tendency to try to catch low shots instead of making a pad save; I suspect it’s because he doesn’t trust his rebound control on quick shots. I’ve seen him look completely in command, fill the net and take everything away from shooters, and I’ve also seen him get beat cleanly and look like he’s not tracking pucks. I would like to see him work on playing the puck as well. The upside is hard to ignore, though. There will also be more strength that’s going to come to fill out his still-wiry 6-foot-7 frame (even at 215 pounds, he looks skinny), and he moves well for his size and can really take away a shooter’s options when his angles are dialled in. Patience will be key. He should spend three or four seasons in college.

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Joe Hrycych / Getty Images

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COL

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VGK

Eventually, a goalie starts to play well enough, for long enough, at enough levels that you can’t ignore the results. And it’s easier to get on board when they’re 6-foot-4, obviously. But more and more goalies in the 5-11 to 6-1 range are emerging as well, and Lindbom looks poised to be another recent success story. Two seasons ago, outside of one tough start in the bronze medal game at the world juniors (where he was named one of the team’s top three players) against Team USA, Lindbom was tremendous, winning HockeyAllsvenskan goalie of the year and rookie of the year to backstop Djurgardens to within one game of promotion with stellar numbers. Last year, on loan to Färjestad so that he could play in the SHL (where he belongs), Lindbom was again good, winning the majority of the starts in a tandem with veteran Max Lagacé.

He’s got quick hands (a great glove hand in particular, but also a good blocker) and shoulders reacting to shots. He’s got quick feet. He always seems set in his stance before shots are taken. Despite his quickness, he’s not busy in the net. Few shots beat him down low because of how fast he gets in and out of his butterfly. He holds his edges well and doesn’t go down until he has to. Ultimately, he has the right blend of control and athleticism and looks like he’s on a very good trajectory for being the third-last pick in the 2021 draft. Expect him in North America soon.

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Darren Calabrese / Canadian Press via AP

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LAK

After waiting for his turn in the Wolverines goal as a freshman, Portillo ran with the Michigan net as a sophom*ore and junior, playing every night to good results (including some of the better ones in the country while playing a rare 40-plus games to a .926 save percentage as a sophom*ore) and backstopping Michigan to a Frozen Four appearance. Though his numbers weren’t as glossy in his senior year, the team in front of him wasn’t as strong defensively either, he still played well, and he again performed well as an AHL rookie last season, playing 39 games as a rookie to a .918 save percentage with the Reign.

Portillo is massive, with a 6-foot-6 and 225-pound frame. He uses that frame to play a poised, deep-in-his-net style, rarely overcommitting to shooters in an effort to play between his posts and avoid scrambles when things start to break down. At his best, Portillo takes away all of a shooter’s space and looks unbeatable. He’ll let the odd soft goal squeak through and his rebound control can sometimes disappoint him but he’s got impressive control, coordination, skill and mobility for a goalie his size. I also like how loud he is in the net. You can really hear him back there (a lot like Detroit’s Sebastian Cossa) and it’s clear he wants to command play with directions and his impressive ability to play the puck and start breakouts. He’s also an excellent goalie one-on-one with shooters on breakaways. He’s not perfect and I’ve seen him play poorly over the years, but the highs are also high and there are legitimate tools to work with there. I think he becomes an NHL goalie, even without standout explosiveness and even with the odd moment of inconsistency/lapsed habits.

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Dave Reginek / Getty Images

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CHI

An overager in the 2023 draft, Gajan wasn’t even on anyone’s radar playing in Slovakia’s junior ranks three years ago in his first year of eligibility. Then he made the move to North America, impressed in the NAHL and USHL with Chippewa and Green Bay, became a late add to Slovakia’s world juniors team for Halifax, somehow grabbed the starting job and won the tournament’s top goaltender award, committing to the University of Minnesota-Duluth along the way before becoming the first goalie off the board with pick No. 35. He struggled with inconsistency in his return to Green Bay last year but had a second strong showing at the world juniors in Gothenburg and still has some really promising tools.

He impresses most going post to post, with standout athleticism and surprising control holding his outside edges when he moves into his spots. Add in good hands, a competitive disposition in the net to fight for pucks on scrambles and hold his pads down when he’s splayed out, a growth spurt that he has now settled into, and room to get stronger and more powerful in the net to complement his quickness, and there’s a lot to like. He’s an excellent goalie down low but stays up just long enough to make shoulder/high-blocker saves. He’s outstanding going left to right and right to left, and one-on-one with shooters on breakaways. And while his athletic ability and skill have been his strengths and he can get a little lost technically in the net at times, he does track and find pucks well. I think there’s some upside there even if he still feels quite raw at times.

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Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images

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PIT

After two strong seasons in Liiga (including one stellar one), Blomqvist became Wilkes-Barre’s starter and an All-Star as a rookie in the AHL last year, playing 45 games and posting a .921 save percentage.

He’s not a big goalie (6-foot-2, a little more than 180 pounds) but he plays aggressive, challenging lines on shooters and has real foundation of reads, tracking and technique to support it. And while I wouldn’t necessarily call him explosive as an athlete, he goes post to post and low to high quickly, tracks the play well and moves well within the net to stay with pucks or get to his spots before passes do so that he’s in control of his stance when the shot comes.

There are times when that can break down and he can look a little scrambled, or he’ll let a routine shot squeak through his body, but that isn’t uncommon for young goalies and his game is refined for his age by and large. On the whole, I’d qualify him as a technically sound goalie who does a good job squaring up on shots, making easy and difficult saves, and anticipating play, even if there isn’t a singular quality that defines his game. He looks like he’s going to be an NHL goalie and reminds me a little of Ducks goalie Lukáš Dostál.

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Jeanine Leech / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

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COL

The clock is ticking on Annunen, 24, to establish himself as a full-time NHLer but he has played NHL games in each of the last three seasons, AHL games in each of the last four, pro hockey for seven, and his 14-game showing last year (.928) seems to have earned him the Avs’ second job for 2024-25.

He’s got the tools as a 6-foot-4, 200-plus-pound goalie who has worked to hone his aggressive and challenging style, post-to-post and high-to-low power, sound rebound control, and quick hands. His movements have looked more controlled the last two seasons, which has helped to keep him on his lines so that his size can do most of the work for him. He’s also playing a more compact style, which has helped to prevent some of the stoppable pucks that used to find holes in him from squeaking through. If he can continue to refine in those two areas, he’s got the other tools needed to still become a competent No. 2 or 1B goalie. His play last year came at a critical juncture, too, because he was on a one-year deal and it earned him a two-year extension.

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Matthew Stockman / Getty Images

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LAK

George is a goalie I have a lot of time for and one I debated making my top-ranked netminder in the 2024 draft (he finished second on my list behind Nabokov). He made more saves than any other goalie in the OHL last season, was consistently good across 56 games for Owen Sound, performed well as a 16-year-old in splits between the OHL and GOJHL two years ago, played well at the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game and was one of — if not the — biggest reasons Canada won gold at U18 worlds. You get the picture. He’s just a good goalie.

George doesn’t ever seem to get frozen straight up with shooters because he’s got good hands (glove and blocker). He’s on the smaller side but knows when to stay on his feet and when to get down and pick pucks out because he reads it so well off the blade and he’s patient. He’s very, very communicative and shows a comfort level playing pucks. He tracks pucks through traffic really well. He’s got quick feet and closes his five-hole quickly. He plays a positionally sound and calm game for his age that shows a lot of maturity. He's mobile moving laterally and correcting. He’s not super explosive but he’s a smart, consistent goalie who should have a long pro career.

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Natalie Shaver / OHL Images

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CBJ

I liked the Blue Jackets’ decision to take Ivanov in the fifth round in 2022. He was one of a few netminders I would have considered taking in the draft’s later rounds, and I like his odds of becoming a No. 2/3 NHL goalie despite being very small by today’s goalie standards at barely six feet and 165 pounds. For years one of the top 2004-born goalies in Russia, Ivanov built a strong track record against his peers both internationally and domestically in the MHL and has now begun to do the same in the KHL (where he was been excellent behind a bad Vladivostok team last year) as a teenager. He’ll now play his 20-year-old season on loan from SKA to Sochi. He’s got excellent feet and tracking shuffling to stay with shooters one-on-one or on scrambles. He holds his lines really well to make himself look bigger than he is and then has the mobility to recover if the play moves side-to-side off of his challenges. He’s got good hands and rarely gets frozen glove or blocker side. He reads play at a high level, sticks with shooters, and plays the game with the control needed in smaller goaltenders (who require more movement).

Could he be the next Devon Levi or Dustin Wolf to break the mould as a smaller goalie? It’s going to be years before the Blue Jackets know what they have/he comes over here in all likelihood, but he’s a legitimate goalie prospect as far as I’m concerned and I think he’d have more notoriety had the Russians been allowed to participate in the world juniors.

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NYR

After winning CHL Goaltender of the Year, both of Garand’s first two seasons in the AHL with the Wolf Pack have played out similarly: He was fine in both regular seasons, playing to just below .900 but looking better than the numbers, the Wolf Pack stuck with him anyways and then he was excellent in back-to-back AHL playoffs to help Hartford to consecutive first-round upsets over the Providence Bruins.

Garand is small by today’s goalie standards at 6-1 and 176 pounds, but he also has most of the tools you look for in a smaller goalie, led by his quickness in the net (which helps him make acrobatic saves when he needs to), great hands (especially on the glove side), and a studious understanding of the game, his positioning, and how he sees the way plays develop in front of him.

He plays on his toes and is active in the net, but he does it without spinning and swimming by holding his outside edges when he settles into his stance before a shot, playing sharp angles, and tracking pucks into his body. He also rarely looks panicked in the net, and his post-to-post movement is meticulous so he never seems to pull past his parallels and always seems to find and hold his short side on bad-angle shots (his skate and shoulder are always in the right spot, even off of switches when some goalies lose some of those habits, like sealing posts). That technical skill is present in the rest of his game, too.

He’s got work to do given his size and occasionally he will get frozen by hard shots, but he’s got time and by all accounts a great attitude (I know his teammates like to play in front of him because of how talkative and engaged he is). I could see him becoming a No. 2/1B in time. Next year, the last of his entry-level deal, will be an important one though.

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TOR

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Frank Jansky / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images