{"id":54700,"date":"2019-08-28T17:47:40","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T21:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=54700"},"modified":"2019-08-28T17:47:40","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T21:47:40","slug":"fantasy-hockey-breakouts-2019-20-goalies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2019\/08\/28\/fantasy-hockey-breakouts-2019-20-goalies\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Hockey Breakouts 2019-20: Goalies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Word on Hockey continues its fantasy hockey coverage with a fresh series. The hockey season is almost here, and fantasy platforms are opening up for registration. Our next topic of discussion is fantasy hockey breakouts. This three-part series will look in-depth at the league\u2019s best candidates for making the leap from useful fantasy player to must-own status. First up is a look at forwards, then defencemen, then finally goalies. The lists are in no particular order.<\/em><\/p>\n

Note: Some goalies in this list may have “broken out” in a limited sense last season, but for the purposes of this article, they will be considered full breakouts for the entire season.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Link to forwards here<\/a>. Link to defencemen here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues<\/h2>\n

It would be remiss if rookie Stanley Cup winner\u00a0Jordan Binnington<\/a><\/strong> were left off this list. The 26-year-old’s season was simply magical. He went from virtual obscurity to being thrust into the midst of the unlikeliest of post-season runs. Binnington ultimately, quite literally, saved the St. Louis Blues<\/a>, taking them from league laughingstock to lifting Lord Stanley for the first time in their 52-year history.<\/p>\n

Binnington only made 30 starts last season, but they the numbers were astounding. His record was an astounding 24-5-1. He finished first in the NHL in GAA (1.89), fourth in SV% (.927), and even sixth in shutouts (five). ‘Quality Starts’ are defined as either a start with a save percentage above league average or with an .885 percentage when facing fewer than 20 shots. Of his 30 starts, 65.6% were quality starts, good for fourth among starters \u2013 just a hair behind superstar Andrei Vasilevskiy<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The former third-round pick, way back in 2011, had been playing well in the AHL, but his call-up to St. Louis wasn’t part of the plan. Jake Allen<\/a> <\/strong>and the rest of the Blues were playing flat-out terrible hockey and were dead last in the league entering 2019. Top goalie prospect Ville Husso<\/strong> was supposed to get the call, but he was hurt. Binnington got his chance and immediately wowed with a shutout against the Philadelphia Flyers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It would be a little foolish to expect Binnington to repeat those numbers, but it also would be foolish to ignore how good he was. He showed he can be a franchise goalie, becoming the winningest rookie goalie in Stanley Cup Playoffs history. The Blues signed him<\/a> to a two-year deal this offseason, and he is undeniably the number one goalie moving forward. The Blues play a tough style of hockey – they were the sixth-best team in terms of total goals against. There’s no reason Jordan “Winnington” couldn’t enjoy a full breakout season playing behind the defending champs.<\/p>\n

Elvis Merzlikins, Columbus Blue Jackets<\/h2>\n

The Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> will enter the 2019-20 looking very different than the Cinderella team that swept the Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> and won the hearts of sports fans everywhere. Three key departures this offseason \u2013 Artemi Panarin<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Matt Duchene<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Sergei Bobrovsky<\/a> <\/strong>\u2013\u00a0will provide room for a big roster shake-up this coming season. Top goalie prospect\u00a0Elvis Merzlikins<\/strong> should benefit from the new vacancy between the pipes.<\/p>\n

Widely considered one of the best goalies, if not the best, outside of the NHL, the 25-year-old Latvian will compete with\u00a0Joonas Korpisalo<\/a><\/strong> for the starting role. The Blue Jackets showed their investment in Merzlikins by signing him to an extension<\/a> before Bobrovsky walked away. Merzlikins has spent his career so far playing for Swiss team Lugano, where he posted back-to-back .921 SV% seasons. Last season in five games for Team Latvia, he had a 2.78 GAA and a .914 SV%. The year before was even better \u2013 a 1.56 GAA and a .937 SV% in seven games.<\/p>\n

Korpisalo, Merzlikins’s only threat to the starting job, has been a career backup, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he continued to do just that. Korpisalo’s career numbers are nothing to write home about. He had a nice rookie season, but since then the’s never had better than a .905 SV%. Last year he had a grisly .897 SV% in 27 appearances, and it was identical the year before.<\/p>\n

It may be a bit of a timeshare to start the season since he has no NHL experience, but make no mistake: Merzlikins belongs with these other fantasy hockey breakouts and is the goalie of the future in Columbus.<\/p>\n

David Rittich, Calgary Flames<\/h2>\n

If things go as well as they did last year, David Rittich<\/a><\/strong> could easily take over the full-time gig for the Calgary Flames<\/a>. Rittich had a very nice 2018-19 season, where he went 27-9-5, with a 2.61 GAA and a .911 SV%. The problem is there’s a new goalie in town,\u00a0Cam Talbot<\/a><\/strong>, who won 42 games back in 2016-17 with the Edmonton Oilers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The good news for Rittich owners is that Talbot was pretty terrible last season. But the flip side of that is that he was playing for a rather terrible hockey team in Edmonton. Talbot finished the year with the Philadelphia Flyers (only appearing in four games), and his overall numbers were an 11-17-3 record, a 3.40 GAA, and an .892 SV%. But, if Talbot can find the form he displayed in his first few seasons, Rittich could be in some trouble.<\/p>\n

Rittich will get his opportunities early on, however. And if last season is any indication, he could get rolling quick enough that Talbot never gets a chance to create much momentum of his own. It’s not too far-fetched to assume Rittich gets the most looks in the early going while the new guy takes a back seat. Talbot is now 32, while Rittich just turned 27, so that’s another factor in Rittich’s favor.<\/p>\n

Rittich’s fantasy hockey breakouts status is a tad more high-risk, high-reward, but either way he should be a serviceable fantasy option playing behind the best regular season team in the Western Conference a year ago.<\/p>\n

Carter Hart, Philadelphia Flyers<\/h2>\n

Philadelphia Flyers netminder\u00a0Carter Hart<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>went toe-to-toe with Jordan Binnington<\/a> as rookie sensations. Like Binnington, Hart also started 30 games, earning a 16-13-1 record while posting\u00a0 a 2.83 GAA and a .917 SV%. While Binnington inarguably had the bigger splash as a rookie, the age difference between the two is in Hart’s favor. At only 21 years old, one has to think even better days are just ahead.<\/p>\n

Before making his NHL debut in December, Hart had started 18 AHL games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. On the surface, his numbers don’t look fantastic. He had a 3.05 GAA and a .902 SV%, but those are respectable numbers for a rookie.<\/p>\n

As a full-time starter for half an NHL season, Hart more than held his own for a 20-year-old. Just over half of his starts (16\/30) were quality starts. Really Bad Starts (RBS) are starts with a save percentage below .850 – Hart only had four of those<\/a>. And that’s on a team that was 29th overall in goals against.<\/p>\n

Additionally, in the 2019 World Championships, Hart made three starts for Team Canada. He put up a very impressive showing: a 0.70 GAA and a .964 SV%.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hart should have the starting role entering the season, making him a fit for fantasy hockey breakouts. He will certainly cede starts to veteran Brian Elliott<\/a><\/strong>, but Hart will have every chance to be the franchise goalie the Flyers organization hopes he can be.<\/p>\n

Philipp Grubauer, Colorado Avalanche<\/h2>\n

The final goalie in our list of fantasy hockey breakouts is\u00a0Philipp Grubauer<\/a><\/strong>. The Colorado Avalanche<\/a> netminder upped his game to outlandish levels in the latter part of the 2018-19 season. Avalanche fans have a lot to be excited about heading into the new season, even more so if Grubauer can keep things going throughout a full campaign.<\/p>\n

Much of last season was forgettable for Grubauer. Before the All-Star break, he was 9-6-3 in 21 games as Semyon Varlamov<\/a><\/strong>‘s backup. He posted a 3.38 GAA and an .891 SV%. Something clicked after the break, though. In 16 games, he went 9-3-2, earning a 1.69 GAA and a .948 SV%. Twelve of his final 13 games were quality starts.<\/p>\n

Grubauer carried his scorching end to the regular season into the playoffs. Colorado upset the Flames in five games, but succumbed to the San Jose Sharks<\/a> in seven in the second round. In 12 postseason starts, Grubauer has a 2.30 GAA and a .925 SV%.<\/p>\n

As the undisputed lead man between the pipes, look for Grubauer and the heavily hyped Avalanche to come storming out of the gate after a heartbreaking and controversy-laden playoff exit.<\/p>\n

Main Image Credit:<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n