Game 1, Canucks Coach, Fantasy Goalies at the IIHF Worlds

Hello and good day to you, hockey fans!

There’s only been 1 game played, so far, in the Stanley Cup Finals, but it looks like both goalies have their work cut out for them in the series ahead. Carter Hart picked up the game 1 victory for the Golden Knights while allowing 4 goals on 29 shots faced (.862 SV%). Meanwhile, across the ice, Hurricanes keeper Freddie Andersen allowed 5 goals on 23 shots fired (.763 SV%). Expect the defenses to tighten up as the series continues and at least one of these goalies to step up their game. And if not …

If it comes to backup options, we should grant Vegas the edge. Adin Hill has already backstopped the Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup Victory (2023), while Carolina’s Brandon Bussi has just 0 games of playoff experience. Still Bussi had 0 games of NHL regular season experience and then went on to win 11 of his first 12 starts.

In other NHL news, we have a coaching hire to report, too, out in Vancouver. Manny Malhotra was hired to replace Adam Foote as head coach of the Canucks as the team enters a rebuild. Malhotra won the AHL Calder Cup as head coach of Abbotsford in 2024-25, but it was last year’s injury riddled campaign that apparently gave GM Ryan Johnson the confidence that Malhotra was the right choice, noting Malhotra’s ability to stay the course when his team was faced with adversity. Well, given that the Canucks have sold off nearly every player over the age of 26, there should be no shortage of adversity for Malhotra and the Canucks next season.

Also, fun tidbit - Malhotra is a brother-in-law to NBA legend Steve Nash.

How this hiring effects Thatcher Demko, Kevin Lankinen, and Nikita Tolopilo remains to be seen, but for what it’s worth, Tolopilo put up 8 wins in 19 games, alongside a 3.07 GAA and .893 SV% last season and 20 wins in 36 games with a 2.66 GAA and .902 SV% in 2024-25 with AHL Abbotsford. Given his familiarity with Malhotra, combined with Canucks management’s buy into a full rebuild, there’s a good shot that Tolopilo surpasses the 21 NHL appearances he made in 2025-26. The 26 year old Belarusian went 6-11-2 with a 3.61 GAA and .881 SV% in the NHL last season, but we have to bear in mind just how bad the Canucks were (NHL worst 3.85 GA/G).

While most fantasy hockey enthusiasts have been tuned into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, many may have missed that Team Finland just won gold at the 2026 IIHF World Championship in Zurich. Aleksander Barkov skated and captained Finland to a 1-0 victory over host country Switzerland in the Gold Medal game. He would end with 11 points and was named to the tournament’s All-Star team. Switzerland’s Genoni Leonardo would earn that honor amongst goalies after picking up 6 wins and leading the Swiss to a silver medal finish (0.56 GAA, and .971 SV%).

Nashville’s Justus Annunen was the starter for Finland’s gold medal run and he ended the tournament with a healthy 1.47 GAA and a .934 SV% on 181 shots faced. The Finnish netminder made 27 saves against Team Canada in the Semi-Final round, relegating Sidney Crosby and Macklin Celebrini to the Bronze Medal matchup. Annunen was no stranger to the starter’s crease in Nashville down the stretch last season where he started 8 of the Predators last 17 games. His 2.68 GAA and .907 SV% in 28 games played surpassed incumbent Juuse Saros’ metrics of 3.16 GAA and .894 SV% (59 GP).

Devin Cooley led the crease for Team USA and finished with a 1.76 GAA and .934 SV% in 7 games. After winning this tournament in 2025, Team USA would fall out of medal contention with a 4-0 loss to Jet Greaves and Team Canada. Greaves posted a respectable 1.88 GAA and .920 SV% in 10 games, but Canada would finish in 4th place after dropping the Bronze Medal game to Team Norway. Congratulation to Norway for their first ever IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship medal!

Other fantasy relevant goaltenders included Denmark’s Mads Sogaard and Germany’s Philipp Grubauer. The 25 year old Dane settled for a 2.74 GAA and a .902 SV%, while the Kraken veteran managed a 2.52 GAA alongside a .889 SV%. Neither would finish in medal position.

In deeper fantasy leagues, Italy’s Damian Clara (Anaheim Ducks) turned isome heads in his limited action. The 21 year old Italian faced a whopping 127 shots across 3 games and stopped 117 of them (3.35 GAA, .921 SV%). His performance in a 3-1 loss against Team Czechia (2 goals allowed on 57 shots) looked like it was out of a video game. He passed the eye test at the 2026 Winter Olympics, too, keeping a vastly outmatched Italy club in games they had no business being close in.

That’s all for this week, thanks for reading! My name is Garrett Finlay and you can follow me on X @garrett_fi51284 and on Bluesky @garrettfinlay.bsky.social where I am often talking goalies and fantasy hockey. I’ll be back here next Thursday, so until then - Happy Hockeying and good luck out there!