As many eyes of the hockey world focus on Alex Ovechkin’s chase of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record, Minnesota Wild netminder Marc-Andre Fleury recently became the second-winningest goalie in NHL history. After winning game 552, he took second place, passing his childhood hero Patrick Roy and coming within 139 wins of Martin Brodeur, the game’s all-time winner with 691 victories.
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As one of only three goalies ever drafted from the first overall spot in the NHL Entry Draft, Fleury has one of the most distinguished careers between the pipes, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins win three Stanley Cups during the Sidney Crosby era. Interestingly, despite being the game’s biggest prankster, he’s one of today’s most respected players.
Even though he’s achieved all his success in the salary cap era, Fleury has passed by some of the most iconic goalie names in NHL history, which leads us to dig deeper into the list of the game’s winningest goalies.
10. Tony Esposito* (423 wins)
Tony Esposito is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and one of the best right-handed catching goalies in NHL history. After a brief stint with the Montreal Canadiens in 1968-69, he joined the Chicago Blackhawks the following season as a 26-year-old and remained their starting goalie for the next 15 seasons.
Upon retirement in 1984, Esposito was the third-winningest goalie in league history, thanks to 423 wins collected over 886 games. Statistically, he had eight 30-win seasons, compiling a league-leading 38 wins in 1969-70, the best season of his career. Although he won three Vezina Trophies and was Rookie of the Year (Calder), Esposito never won the Stanley Cup.
9. Jacques Plante* (437 wins)
Before Patrick Roy came along and broke all his records, Jacques Plante was the greatest statistical goalie for the Canadiens. During his 11 seasons in Montreal, he was a six-time Stanley Cup winner, captured the Hart Trophy (1962) and six Vezina Trophies while compiling a franchise record 314 wins in 556 games.
Widely regarded as the first player to don the goalie mask in an NHL game, Plante was the NHL’s second-winning goalie when he retired in 1975, thanks to three seasons of 40 or more wins. Additionally, he had seven seasons with over 30 victories, setting a career-high of 42 in 1995-56 and matching it in 1961-62.
8. Terry Sawchuk* (445 wins)
When Terry Sawchuk hung up his skates in 1970 after 21 years as an NHL goalie, many considered him the greatest since he owned most of the position records. Statistically, he won at least 20 games in 11 seasons, with 44 victories (a career-high) in consecutive seasons in 1951 and 1952.
Interestingly, Sawchuk played for four Original Six teams, never skating with the Canadiens or Blackhawks. As a former Calder Trophy winner and four-time Stanley Cup champion, he entered the Hall of Fame within a year of retirement in 1971. He maintained many records until Roy and Brodeur took them over in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
7. Curtis Joseph (454 wins)
Besides Fleury, who is still an active player, Curtis Joseph is the NHL’s winningest netminder who is not in the Hall of Fame. Throughout 19 seasons, where he played six franchises, he compiled 454 wins in 943 games, earning a personal best 36 victories in the 1993-94 and 1999-00 seasons.
Although Joseph never played in the Stanley Cup Final or won the Vezina Trophy, many consider him one of the better goalies of his era, collecting at least 20 wins in 12 seasons. Despite being overshadowed by Roy, Brodeur, and Dominik Hasek, Joseph was a reliable netminder who logged many minutes, sometimes carrying mediocre teams into the playoffs.
6. Henrik Lundqvist* (459 wins)
Henrik Lundqvist just entered the Hall of Fame in November 2023. As the winningest European-born goalie in NHL history, the one-time Vezina Trophy winner never won the Stanley Cup, the only thing missing from his impeccable resume. During his 15 seasons patrolling the crease on Broadway, he won a personal best 39 games in 2011-12, the same season he was voted the league’s best goalie.
Overall, Lundqvist won at least 30 games in 11 of his 15 NHL seasons, becoming the New York Rangers all-time wins leader while retiring with the sixth most wins in league history. Despite coming one championship short of joining the Triple Gold Club, there’s no denying he departed professional hockey with one of the most highly regarded legacies of any netminder.
5. Ed Belfour* (484 wins)
Ed Belfour won the Vezina, Jennings, and Calder Trophies as a rookie in 1990-91 while setting a personal record with 43 wins as a 25-year-old. Within two seasons, he would capture the Vezina again but continued to chase the Stanley Cup, something he would finally achieve with the Dallas Stars in 1999.
Even though Belfour bounced around with several teams on the backside of his career, he finished a 17-year run in the NHL with 484 wins in 963 games, collecting the bulk of those victories with the Blackhawks. As a four-time Jennings Trophy winner, he entered the Hall of Fame in 2011, four years after retiring.
4. Roberto Luongo* (489 wins)
Roberto Luongo is the last NHL goalie to serve as a team captain, leading the Vancouver Canucks from 2008 to 2010. During his time with the club, he became the franchise winner in wins with 252 before finishing his career with the Florida Panthers, where he also owns the wins record with 247.
Although Luongo only won the Jennings Trophy on one occasion, he entered the Hall of Fame in 2022, largely thanks to his international record, including two Olympic Gold Medals, two World Championships, and a World Cup title. As one of his generation’s most durable netminders, he won a personal best 47 games in 2006-07 and had 20 or more victories in 12 seasons.
3. Patrick Roy* (551 wins)
Roy changed the goaltender position forever, becoming one of the first goalies to succeed using the “butterfly” style, resulting in four Stanley Cup titles and three Vezina Trophies. Additionally, he’s the only skater in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP on three occasions.
Arguably the greatest netminder of all time, Roy was the first player to break Sawchuk’s wins record, achieving the feat in 2000 and holding the record for nine seasons before being surpassed by Brodeur in 2009. Whether you loved him or rooted against him, his 1995 trade changed the NHL forever, and his place amongst the immortals was certified with an induction into the Hall of Fame in 2006.
2. Marc-Andre Fleury (552 wins)
Three-time Stanley Cup winner Fleury made NHL history with a victory over the New York Islanders on Jan. 15, 2024, becoming the league’s second-winningest goalie with win #552. Growing up in Quebec, he idolized Roy and recently surpassed his childhood hero to secure his place near the top of this list.
Initially drafted first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2004, he began his Hall-of-Fame-worthy career collecting 375 wins with the club over 13 seasons before leading the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in their first season in 2017-18. At 36, he won his first Vezina Trophy and continues to play regularly with the Minnesota Wild in what could be his last season in 2023-24. Although only a two-time 40-game winner, with a career-high of 42 in 2011-12, Fleury has collected at least 20 wins in 15 seasons.
1. Martin Brodeur* (691 wins)
Brodeur has been the NHL’s winningest netminder since the night he defeated the Blackhawks on Mar. 17, 2009. He is considered the greatest statistical goalie in league history because he owns the games played, wins, losses, and shutout records. Although many love to debate his merits as the best of all time, the counterarguments always focus on the teams he played with and the system they deployed, which helped him get wins.
Ultimately, there is no denying how remarkable Brodeur’s run with the New Jersey Devils was, where he won at least 40 games in eight seasons and had 14 seasons with more than 30 wins. Naturally, he owns the NHL record for most victories in the regular season, achieving 48 in 2006-07, a mark he now shares with Braden Holtby (2015-16).
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As a three-time Stanley Cup champion and two-time Olympic goal medalist, he was a four-time Vezina Trophy winner, earning the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in 1993-94. After setting some of the game’s most sought-after records, Brodeur retired in 2015 and entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.
Historical Perspective
Fleury is today’s active wins leader at 552, with Jonathan Quick the next closest at 384, followed by Sergei Bobrovsky at 381. After those three, Carey Price is next on the list at 361, and no other active goalie has surpassed 300 wins. At 35, Bobrovsky is a long shot to get to 400, meaning that Fleury’s place among the immortals is secure for the foreseeable future.
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Considering Sawchuk held the wins record for 30 years, Brodeur has only been the king for 15 seasons, which means we may not see anyone come close to catching Fleury or Brodeur for at least another decade. In the meantime, hockey fans should appreciate Fleury’s legendary run because it is a once-in-a-lifetime, something everyone must have felt when Roy and Brodeur went head to head in the 2001 Stanley Cup Final.
