Goalie "Studs and Duds" From Weeks 7 and 8
Which Goalies Had Good Fantasy Weeks? And Who Didn't?
I wasn’t able to get in a “Studs and Duds” post last Sunday, and things got busy last night. However, I wanted to get a post in for the upcoming week, even with some games going on Monday night in the NHL.
In this post, I am going to review the top goalies from weeks seven and eight, some that had disappointing stretches, and a streamer to pick up for the upcoming week of fantasy play.
Streaming for Week Nine
Per usual for these posts, I typically look at the streaming schedule via TJ Stats’ Fantasy Hockey schedule tool. Here’s what TJ’s team rankings look like for week nine.
The Sharks have the best schedule, with a 4.7 rating from TJ, including four games and three off-night games. The second-best schedule is Anaheim with a 4.6 mark. They have the same four-game, three-off-night slate, but are playing one back-to-back this week (they play tonight in St. Louis after losing to Chicago on Sunday). To avoid Sharks bias on this blog (I am a San Jose fan), I am going to focus on an Anaheim player to stream this week.
My streamer of the week is Olen Zellweger, a Ducks blue-liner who is rostered in 23% of Yahoo leagues.
Zellweger has four points in his last five games. For the year, has 10 points (5 goals) and is averaging 2.04 SOG/G in 26 games played. He is also proving to be a blocks machine, averaging 1.08 Blocks/G, and 0.42 Hits/G to boot.
The 22-year-old Canadian is on a bit of a heater shooting-wise to begin the season, sporting a 9.4% shooting percentage, significantly higher than expected, according to Dobber. His IPP is also a little low at 33.3%, which feels low, even for a defenseman. Thus, there could
On a positive note, his PDO and 5-on-5 shooting percentage are solid and stable, at 1,053 and 11.5%, respectively. Furthermore, Zellweger is getting second-line defenseman and power play duties, resulting in an average TOI of 18:31 and a PP TOI of 1:30. That’s pretty solid for a blue-liner available in 77% of Yahoo leagues.
Considering the Ducks are over-performing and tied for first in the Pacific Division with the rival Kings, I doubt Anaheim changes things up in a way that would negatively affect Zellweger’s ice time anytime soon. That makes him not just a nice streamer for this week, but also one with some season-long upside (especially given his youth).
Now let’s move on to analyzing our goalie “Studs and Duds” from weeks seven and eight.
Stud: Dan Vladar, PHI (46% Rostered)
Samuel Ersson came into the season as the slight favorite, but Vladar has clearly become the goalie one in Philly now, with 16 starts to Ersson’s eight. However, based on the metrics, one can see why the Flyers have opted to utilize Vladar more in the net this season.
In his 16 games this season, the 28-year-old has 10 wins and 12 quality starts, for a quality start percentage of 75%. He also sports a 2.59 GAA, .906 save percentage, and GSAA of 4.11. The GSAx is also really high at 6.14, the inverse of what his GSAx was a season ago in Calgary (-6.23). He also hasn’t been hurt by Really Bad Starts too severely, but an RBS% of 25% is still higher than his mark a year ago (20%). Seeing some regression there would help him stave off Ersson as the Flyers’ leading goaltender.
Over the past five games, Vladar has four wins and four quality starts with a 2.46 GAA and .913 save percentage. He’s accumulated 30.9 FPTS in KKUPFL over the past two weeks, ranking him ahead of Toronto’s Joseph Woll (30.3 FPTS) and Utah’s Karel Vejmelka (24.3 FPTS).
He has 54% availability on Yahoo, so he’s not widely available in most 12-team formats, especially in category leagues with goalie scoring. However, he may be available in 10-team leagues or more shallow points formats, making him worth a stream for those looking for a goalie boost.
Dud: Frederik Andersen, CAR (51% Rostered)
Andersen leads the Hurricanes' goaltenders with 13 starts. However, that’s been more due to injury issues with Pyotr Kochetkov than Andersen’s play.
The Danish goaltender has only five wins this year, as well as a quality start percentage of 23%, which matches his Really Bad Start percentage. His GAA is 3.07, and his save percentage is .878, both mediocre marks. He also sports a GSAA of -6.32 and GSAx of -1.32, so even the expected metrics don’t paint the 36-year-old in a rosy light.
The last two weeks have been abysmal. He has zero wins and zero quality starts in his previous five games and has accumulated only 0.3 FPTS in KKUPFL formats in his last three starts. In the previous two weeks, he has had a GAA of 3.00, a save percentage of 0.836, and -3.34 GAA with a 66.7% RBS%.
Hence, Andersen is not trending in the right direction statistically, and it’s hard to see him get much better at his age. That could mean even fewer starts in the future for him, especially once Kochetkov returns healthy.
Stud: Brandon Bussi, CAR (16% Rostered)
A reason why Andersen may be expendable is the emergence of Bussi, a former Bruins prospect whom the Hurricanes acquired off waivers in October. Even though things didn’t quite pan out for Bussi in the Boston organization, he’s been a rookie sensation for Carolina this season.
In eight starts, he has seven wins, a 63% quality start percentage, a 2.11 GAA, 1.75 GSAA, and a .907 save percentage. Over the past two weeks, he has five wins and three quality starts, with a 1.31 GAA, .927 save percentage, and 1.67 GSAA. The GSAA is a little low, but his 4.13 GSAx is a bit more encouraging and suggests Bussi may be in line for more quality starts down the road, especially after his first career shutout in his most recent start against Calgary.
The good thing about Bussi is that the Hurricanes are a quality team, sitting first in the Metropolitan Division with 34 points. That puts him in line for wins on a nightly basis, even when he doesn’t have his best stuff going. That is a profile worth streaming, especially for a goalie available in 84% of Yahoo leagues.
The only issue will be the pending return of Kochetkov, who likely will retake primary goalie duties when he’s healthy. That said, Bussi is showing that he can handle backup goalie duties, which should put Andersen’s tenure in Carolina in jeopardy.
Dud: Justus Annunen, NSH (1% Rostered)
It’s hard to get too worked up about a backup goalie on a bad team (the Predators rank last in the Central with 20 points). Still, even for the most desperate fantasy manager, Annunen is one to avoid on the waiver wire.
In eight games this season, the Finnish goalie has only one win, a quality start percentage of 25% and a Really Bad Start percentage of 63%. His GAA is 3.79, his save percentage is .847, and his GSAA is -8.49. In the last two weeks, he is 0-2-1 with a 3.00 GAA, .836 save percentage, and -3.34 GSAA. He’s also averaged 2.10 FPTS/G in KKUPFL in the last two weeks, not exactly sterling for a backup goalie.
It hasn’t been pretty this year for Annunen, and even with star goalie Juuse Saaros going through a down year (7-9-3, 3.08 GAA, .888 save percentage), it doesn’t seem like Annunen is going to be getting more starts or fantasy production anytime soon.
Stud: Devin Cooley, CGY (4% Rostered)
After spending all of 2024-2025 in the AHL, Cooley has gotten his shot to back up Dustin Wolf in Calgary, and the 28-year-old American has made the most of his opportunity this year. In 10 games, the Flames’ backup goalie has three wins, an 80% quality start percentage, a 1.88 GAA, a .930 save percentage, and a GSAA of 8.13.
He’s been especially stellar recently, with three wins and five quality starts in his last five games played. Also, in the previous two weeks, he has sported a 1.99 GAA, a .926 save percentage, a 4.01 GSAA, an 8.05 GSAx, and has accumulated 31.8 FPTS in KKUPFL. His latter mark is better than Vladar, Washington’s Logan Thompson, Seattle’s Joey Daccord (23.4 FPTS), and St. Louis’ Jordan Binnington (23.1 FPTS), all primary goalies for their respective teams.
Cooley and Bussi actually had quite the goalie battle in their most recent starts on November 30th. Bussi earned the shutout and victory, but Cooley only gave up one goal and finished with 0.96 GAA and .941 save percentage in the Flames’ 1-0 loss.
Wolf seems entrenched as the primary goalie in Calgary, but Cooley should be a widely sought-after backup in fantasy. This is especially true when the Flames have four-game weeks or three-game weeks with back-to-backs on the slate (which is the case in week nine).
Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Image