Good morning people, today I've decided to take a look at some of the best back ups throughout the league this year. You may have streamed a few of these players throughout the year and sometimes it's not a bad draft strategy to stack a good back up with his more relied on counterpart. I've held onto a few back ups this year for weeks at a time since one of my leagues counts save percentage, and it's paid off more often than not by grabbing guys on strong teams. Onward we go!

Big Time Back Ups

Anthony Stolarz - Florida Panthers

Anthony Stolarz has been the best back up this year for my money. It certainly helps him that he plays behind the Florida Panthers every time he suits up. He leads all goalies with 500+ minutes played in save percentage with a .946 at five on five. A lot of that has to do with his ability to excel this year when guys are trying to finish from in tight, as his HDSV% is .884 at 5 on 5, also good for top of the league. He's only played in 21 games so far this year so he is firmly a backup. With Sergei Bobrovsky's contract and taking into account Spencer Knight's struggles this year, Stolarz and his 1.1 million dollar cap hit for the rest of this year heading into UFA looks great. You have to wonder if the Panthers are looking into bringing him back for his 31-year-old season.

Laurent Brossoit - Winnipeg Jets

There are only a few positions in the NHL that can be considered as much of a backup role as the one behind Connor Hellebuyck. The guy has been insane this year. But speaking of insane, Laurent Brossoit has played out of his mind as well to the tune of a .927 save percentage in all situations. This number puts him number one in the league amongst goalies with 500+ minutes. He's only started 19 games this year but he's been a safe bet for most of them in fantasy. Stacking him with Hellebuyck was a pretty good play if you went that route. He is another guy on a one-year deal at a modest 1.75 million cap hit. I think he signs in Winnipeg again unless he's looking for a bit of a raise, since there will most likely be a few suitors to shore up that position.

Jonathan Quick

Jonathan Quick has seemingly played pretty well in all of his landing spots in his post L.A. tour around the league. This year was no different. Although he took a bit of a stumble about a month or two ago he still ranks 10th in the league for all situations save percentage at .916. In all situations HDSV% he's fourth with an .852 which may not seem very good but when you think about how good some power plays in the league are it comes into perspective a bit. I feel for NHL goalies against some of these cannons. I still have nightmares about Quick dominating the team I support, so I am glad that I don't have to watch him on a regular basis anymore but luckily for the Rangers it looks like he's still got at least a few of those performances left in him. He's got a year left on his two-year deal and I doubt he will be going anywhere this offseason since his play has been good and he's got a 20 team no trade list regardless.

Calvin Pickard - Edmonton Oilers

Calvin Pickard was a bit of an odd one for the Oilers coming out of the Jack Campbell situation. Campbell is still playing well for the AHL Bakersfield Condors but it seems like at this point barring an injury, Pickard is the guy behind Skinner going into the playoffs. Pickard only has 15 starts due to a bit of a delay in his being on the roster at the start of the year, but he's done very well with it. He has a .919 all situations save percentage and came through with a stellar 41-save shutout against the Pittsburgh Penguins last week. Pickard probably isn't a guy you would have in a stack with Stuart Skinner but he's been pretty good for a spot start here and there throughout the season. He will be a 32-year-old UFA this summer. Hopefully he can land a job somewhere and keep going on this good work.

As always, thanks to all 10 of the people who have taken the time to read my column this week and I hope that everyone is doing well in their play offs this week! Feel free to find me on X/twitter @LOGoalz and let me know who has been the best goalie pick ups for you this year. I'm also always around for any fantasy related inquiries as well. Cheers folks!

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