Monday Ramblings: Goaltenders With A High ROI Ft. Markstrom, Hill, Gustavsson and more

Welcome fantasy managers to another week of the Monday Ramblings. This week we are going to take a look at a few goaltenders who are giving their respective owners a phenomenal return on their investment so far this year. Let’s get to it!

Woll Building On Strong Start

The Toronto Maple Leafs are enjoying a strong run of play from their goaltenders so far this year with the current tandem of Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll. We have seen these stretches of high level play from Stolarz over the past few years, however, this is the longest run of high level goaltending that we have seen from Woll since the 2022-2023 season.

Since his return from injury at the end of October, Woll has gone on quite an impressive streak to begin his 2024-2025 NHL season with an 8-3-0 record accompanied by a stellar 2.14 goals against and .921 save percentage with a 54.5% quality starts rate. It is the type of goaltending that Toronto has been craving for some time and with the news of Stolarz being day-to-day with an injury, there could be a small runway for Woll to demonstrate that he can indeed be this teams' true number one.

It is something that the Toronto Maple Leafs envisioned when making him their third round selection 62nd overall in 2016 out of the U.S. National Team Development Program. At 26 years old, he is maturing as a goaltender with some NHL experience under his belt, albeit somewhat limited by a string of injuries which has stunted his development a bit to this point in his short career.

All that being said, from a fantasy perspective I would expect the Leafs to continue with a timeshare between both Woll and Stolarz for the foreseeable future to ensure that the workload remains manageable for both netminders, with the long-term play of Woll being given every opportunity to run with the number one role.

Markstrom Solidifies Crease In New Jersey

The New Jersey Devils had a revolving door when it came to their goaltending last year. So general manager Tom Fitzgerald simply went out and rectified the issue by acquiring a true number one netminder in Jacob Markstrom during what was a busy offseason. The results have paid off in spades for both oranization and player as Markstrom has come out of the gate strong with a 14-6-2 record combined with a solid if unspectacular 2.41 goals against and .907 save percentage along with one shutout.

The Devils are just now at the beginning of their contention window with an offensively gifted collection of forwards plus and a sound group on the backend to better insulate their new number one. All this bodes quite well for Markstrom who has carried teams on his back for long stretches in the past and now finds himself in a great situation with the young Devils.

The 6’6” 207lbs native of Gavle, Sweden has helped New Jersey regain their rightful spot amongst the league elite as the club currently sits within the NHL’s top five teams with a strong 19-10-3 record while in a battle for supremacy of the Metro division with the Washington Capitals. Quite simply, the New Jersey Devils are no longer losing games due to their goaltending but rather winning them because of Markstom's presence.

Looking at it from a fantasy perspective, Markstrom will be a great source of wins and offer some solid value as it pertains to shutouts as well. The peripheral stats may take a little longer to come around as the Swedish netminder continues to acclimatize himself to his new surroundings/teammates.

Hill Shines Bright In Vegas

Adin Hill never seems to be in the conversation when it comes to the league's elite, yet all he does is continue to offer the Vegas Golden Knight solid and consistent play when he is in the crease. Again this year, the former Stanley Cup winner has given the Knights good goaltending, as Hill sports a 13-5-2 record to go along with a 2.78 goals against and .900 save percentage and two shutouts.

In my eyes he’s just battles. It may not be pretty sometimes but Hill has shown time and again that when the chips are down he is more than up to the task. Simply look back to the 2022-2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs where Hill took the reins to the Knights crease due to an injury to starter Laurent Brossoit and fashioned himself a rather impressive 11-2-2 record with a phenomenal 2.17 goals against and .932 save percentage on the games biggest stage.

The biggest question surrounding Hill would have to be his band-aid boy status as he has dealt with several injuries throughout his career and a limited workload, as the 6’4” 215lbs netminder has never played more than 35 games in any one season. As it stands, Hill has been relatively healthy to start the 2024-2025 NHL season and is playing at a level the Golden Knights organization has come to expect. This of course is a major reason for his selection to the Four Nations Face-Off in February as a member of the Canadian roster.

From a fantasy managers perspective, Hill is offering incredible value as it relates to a points only based league where wins and shoutout tend to be the only stats for goaltenders, as Ilya Samsonaov poses little threat to steals starts. Hill’s value takes a bit of a hit when it comes to any league that would count peripheral stats such as goals against or save percentage. That being said, his floor remains a solid and reliable source of wins and shutouts moving forward.

Gustavsson At Elite Level

Filip Gustavsson’s level of play this season has him squarely in the conversation as the league's top netminder. Sporting an incredible stat line of 14-5-3 combined with a 2.24 goals against and .922 save percentage, plus two shutouts and a ridiculous 77.3% Quality Start Rate. Gustavsson has this Minnesota Wild team hell bent on contending regardless of the fact they are dealing with almost 14.8M in dead cap space………..having Kirill Kaprizov leading the charge offensively doesn't hurt either!

Along with future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury, Gustavsson has Minnesota in a tie for first defensively at only 2.50 goals against per game played, giving fantasy managers even more reason to invest in the Wild’s number one goaltender with such a stout defense. The native of Skelleftea, Sweden has shown us flashes of this type of play before as he put together a great run in 2022-2023 to the tune of a 22-9-7 record, accompanied by a stunning 2.10 goals against and .931 save percentage.

So to see Gustavsson regaining his elite play from two years ago will only strengthen the hold fantasy managers have on him as it relates to any dynasty or keeper league. As an added bonus, Gustavsson will certainly be receiving the lion’s share of the crease with Fleury having just turned 40 years old.

From a fantasy perspective, if Gustavsson is healthy and playing, it’s set it and forget it! The way that player and team have been performing so far this year should have owners smiling from ear to ear as they enjoy such a sizable return on their investment

There you are folks, I hope you enjoyed my look into some of the league’s goaltenders who to this point in the season are giving their respective owners a solid return on their investment with their strong individual play.

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See you all again next Monday!