One can argue that the hardest position to properly fill in hockey is the role of backup goaltender. Not only do you need an NHL-caliber goalie who is able to perform without having a consistent playing schedule, but he needs to be good enough to step into the starting role for weeks or even months should an injury strike the starter. Also, when a team lacks confidence in their backup, it can create a situation where the starter is overworked, causing play to slip by the end of the season.
When a backup goaltender is able to excel in their role, true magic can happen for a franchise. Suddenly, the starter can take nights off without worry, allowing the team to soldier on with the same confidence in their goaltending no matter who’s in the net.
However, having a backup that is NHL-ready can eventually cause trouble for a franchise, forcing the team to underutilize a player. This can cause a massive asset to be stuck on the bench as the established starter takes on the lion’s share of the nightly work.
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When that situation happens, the league takes notice, and teams will look to swing a trade for their next franchise goaltender to build around or for a veteran to stabilize goaltending in the short term.
So, who may be among the next wave of starting goaltenders in the NHL? Well, look no further than some of the current backups. The only problem for the majority of these masters of the meshed mansions is the man standing in front of their dream, an uber-talented starter.
Jeremy Swayman – Boston Bruins
After featuring Tuukka Rask as their sure-fire number-one starter for more than a decade, the Boston Bruins started planning for a new future once it became clear that he would not be ready to play for the 2021-22 season. Due to this, they went out and signed Linus Ullmark to a four-year, $20 million contract to lock down their net, while also promoting Alaskan native Jeremy Swayman from their prospect pool to take on the role of backup.
While there were some starts and struggles throughout their first tenure together, the 2022-23 NHL season was exceptional for this tandem. Ullmark won the 2023 Vezina Trophy, where Swayman won 24 games and did far more than just pick up the slack when called upon.
Also, he’s still incredibly young for a goaltender at 25 years old, meaning that Swayman is still growing into his game. When you take this into account, the expectation should be to see him taking over a net full-time in the near future, whether it’s with the Bruins or another franchise.
Joseph Woll – Toronto Maple Leafs
It wasn’t that long ago when the Toronto Maple Leafs had no good options in net, let alone a tandem of two potential starters. However, heading into the 2023-24 season, they featured Ilya Samsonov, who was coming off a massive season for Toronto, and Joseph Woll, who put up great numbers in the AHL and looked ready to take that next step in his career.
It’s important to note that Samsonov is only on a one-year contract with Toronto, and Woll is looking like he is ready to be far more than a backup goaltender. While injuries slowed Woll’s season, he still has the potential to take on a tandem role for a year or two before graduating to a top spot with a franchise. This could be with the Maple Leafs or another team depending on if they make changes to their current tandem.
Joey Daccord – Seattle Kraken
A reality of any sport is that injuries will change your team. For the Kraken, a long-term injury to starting goaltender Philipp Grubauer allowed up-and-comer Joey Daccord to showcase that he can be their future in the net. Even as he excelled with Coachella Valley, the Kraken’s American Hockey League Affiliate, few could have expected the breakout Daccord experienced when called upon. He posted a save percentage around .920 in nearly 50 games played, including the shutout of a career in the 2024 Winter Classic.
Games like those create legends, and it feels like we are just at the start of what could be an incredible career for Daccord. The problem is that Grubauer is being paid like a number-one starting goaltender in the NHL, so it’s hard to imagine him not getting the lion’s share of the starts should he stay healthy.
While there’s no reason for the Kraken to give away Daccord, it feels like he could blossom as a full-time starter. For now, he may just have to serve in a tandem role with Grubauer, but he’s good enough to steal the spotlight. Don’t be surprised if pushes himself into the 1A role if not the full-time starter.
Connor Ingram – Arizona Coyotes
Heading into the 2023-24 NHL season, expectations were a bit muted for the Arizona Coyotes, but trending upwards. They had a roster full of young, developing talent that had all the potential in the world, but still needed time to reach it. While a historic stretch of games put them in contention for a moment, they eventually fell to expectations and missed the playoffs again. Despite this, the future still feels bright for Connor Ingram, who elevated himself from backup to tandem starter this season.
While Karel Vejmelka became a name hockey fans recognize due to his solid play on bad Coyotes teams in recent years, he may be out of a starting job thanks to Ingram’s strength in net. While his record is overall mediocre, for the first half of the season he was one of the better goaltenders in the NHL. Also, while playing for a below-average team, he still posted a .909 SV% along with a GAA of 2.86, which are both totals well above average.
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Even though Arizona’s future as a franchise is uncertain, they seem to have their goaltending figured out in the short term. If Ingram can stay healthy, he can claim this starting spot in training camp, and push the Coyotes to move Vejmelka to a team in need.
NHL Backups Ready for the Next Step
As the season continues wraps up, expect to hear more about backup goaltenders if injuries strike during the playoffs. Plus, all it takes is a general manager seeing an answer to their goaltending woes on another team’s bench for one of these players to go from career backup to franchise hero.
*All stats from hockey-reference.com.
