Yahoo Head-to-Head Points League Rankings | 12-Team Format
The 2025–26 NHL season produced one of the deepest and most competitive goaltending landscapes in recent memory. From a legendary veteran making his case for a second Vezina to a journeyman backup who seized his opportunity and never looked back, the stories behind this fantasy rankings list are as compelling as the numbers themselves. Here is a breakdown of the top 10 fantasy goaltenders from the season just completed, ranked by total fantasy points in a standard 12-team Yahoo head-to-head points league.
#1 — Andrei Vasilevskiy | Tampa Bay Lightning | 83.55 FP
There was never really any doubt. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished the 2025–26 season as the undisputed top fantasy goaltender in the game, and his numbers backed up every bit of that billing. He led the NHL with 39 wins in 58 starts, posted a 2.31 GAA and a .912 save percentage, and delivered one of the most dominant individual runs of the entire season — going 17-0-1 with a 1.90 GAA and .925 save percentage between December 20th and February 25th, a stretch that single-handedly turned Tampa Bay from a division afterthought into an eight-point division leader. He led the Vezina Trophy voting wire-to-wire and looks set to win the award for the third time in his career. For fantasy managers, he was exactly what he always is — the model of durability, consistency, and elite performance. You drafted him, you started him every week, and you won your matchups. Simple as that.
#2 — Scott Wedgewood | Colorado Avalanche | 77.35 FP
Nobody saw Scott Wedgewood coming, and that is what makes his 2025–26 season one of the great goaltending stories in recent memory. A career backup who had never played more than 32 games in a single NHL season, Wedgewood stepped into the Colorado crease when Mackenzie Blackwood was sidelined by injury to open the year — and simply never gave the job back. He finished with a 31-6-6 record, a .921 save percentage, and a 20.73 goals saved above expected, leading the NHL in GAA and save percentage among goalies with 25 or more starts. The Avalanche were already one of the best teams in hockey in front of him, but Wedgewood more than held up his end of the bargain. Fantasy managers who identified him early in the season — or grabbed him off the waiver wire before he took off — were rewarded handsomely all year long.
#3 — Logan Thompson | Washington Capitals | 72.35 FP
Logan Thompson arrived in Washington before the 2024–25 campaign and immediately became one of the most reliable starters in the league. This season was even better. Thompson finished as a Vezina Trophy finalist, leading the NHL in goals saved above expected among all starters with a remarkable 29.3 mark and cementing himself as a legitimate number-one goaltender after years of being considered a question mark. His .912 save percentage matched Vasilevskiy and Sorokin for the league lead, and he appeared on the Canadian Olympic roster — a recognition that spoke to just how far he has come. For fantasy purposes, Thompson is the complete package: elite underlying numbers, a good team in front of him, and the kind of consistent workload that produces reliable weekly outputs. He was a set-and-forget starter all season long.
#4 — Jake Oettinger | Dallas Stars | 70.70 FP
Jake Oettinger delivered yet another strong season for Dallas, continuing a run of consistent production that has made him one of the safest fantasy investments at the position for five consecutive years. He is on pace for his fifth straight 30-win campaign — a testament to his durability and his team’s continued competitiveness. His underlying numbers were not quite as dominant as in previous seasons, but Oettinger is the kind of goaltender who finds ways to get the job done regardless. The Stars play excellent defensive structure in front of him, the offence is always capable of bailing out a bad start, and Oettinger rarely has a truly disastrous outing. In fantasy, that kind of floor is worth just as much as the elite ceiling. He ranked third in the NHL in wins heading into the playoffs and remains one of the most dependable starters in the game.
#5 — Ilya Sorokin | New York Islanders | 69.30 FP
Ilya Sorokin had one of the most polarizing and ultimately impressive goaltending seasons of the entire year. After two consecutive disappointing campaigns that had some questioning whether his brilliant 2022–23 season was a fluke, Sorokin came back with a vengeance — posting a league-leading 29.7 goals saved above expected, recording seven shutouts, and making the strongest case of anyone in the league to win the Vezina Trophy. His .912 save percentage led the league, and his underlying numbers — particularly in high-danger situations — were the best of any goaltender in the NHL. The Islanders were significantly better with him in the crease than without, and he was the primary reason New York remained in playoff contention for much of the season. Fantasy managers who held the faith through his rough start were rewarded with one of the best second halves any goalie produced all year.
#6 — Karel Vejmelka | Utah Mammoth | 68.35 FP
Karel Vejmelka deserves more recognition than he gets, and his 2025–26 season is the clearest evidence of that. He led the entire NHL in shots faced, logging more minutes than virtually any other starting goaltender in the league while carrying a Utah team that was still finding its identity as a first-year franchise. Despite the heavy workload, Vejmelka posted a 2.58 GAA and .904 save percentage — numbers that look modest on the surface but are genuinely impressive when you account for the volume of work he absorbed every single night. He was the backbone of Utah’s push for a Wild Card spot and proved, unambiguously, that he is a legitimate starting goaltender in this league. For fantasy purposes, his win total and sheer number of starts made him a volume producer all season long — a reliable weekly starter who was never going to hurt you.
#7 — Jeremy Swayman | Boston Bruins | 64.25 FP
After a difficult 2024–25 season that saw both Swayman and the Bruins struggle through a miserable year, the young Boston netminder bounced back in emphatic fashion. He posted a 22-12-3 record and finished second in the NHL in goals saved above expected with 28.8 — a number that made him a Vezina Trophy honourable mention and validated every bit of the faith Boston placed in him when they signed him to an eight-year, $66 million extension. Swayman’s ability to steal games and keep Boston in the postseason conversation all season was the defining reason the Bruins returned to the playoffs. For fantasy managers, he was a bounce-back story worth holding through the adversity of a tough start. His underlying numbers suggest the best is still ahead of him.
#8 — John Gibson | Detroit Red Wings | 59.85 FP
The John Gibson renaissance is one of the genuinely heartwarming stories of the 2025–26 season. After years of carrying bad Anaheim Ducks teams to the point of physical and statistical exhaustion, Gibson arrived in Detroit and found something he had not experienced in over a decade — a good team in front of him. The results were immediate and dramatic. Gibson posted 24 wins, entered the Vezina Trophy conversation with a scorching second half that included a .925 save percentage over his final 25 games, and helped the Red Wings finish in the top half of the Atlantic Division for the first time in years. For fantasy managers, he was a mid-season revelation — the kind of player who barely registered on draft day but quietly climbed into the top-ten conversation by February. If he stays healthy in Detroit, he is a high-value target heading into 2026–27 drafts.
#9 — Joel Hofer | St. Louis Blues | 59.80 FP
Joel Hofer’s 2025–26 season confirmed what Blues fans and astute fantasy managers have known for a while: he is the starter in St. Louis, full stop. He finished the year with a 24-13-5 record, a 2.61 GAA, and a .909 save percentage across 46 starts — pushing aside the aging and increasingly ineffective Jordan Binnington to establish himself as the unquestioned number one in the crease. At 25 years old, Hofer is only scratching the surface of his potential, and some of his individual performances this season were extraordinary — including a 46-save effort against the Islanders that had observers questioning why it took this long for him to get consistent starts. The Blues are not a great team, but Hofer makes them competitive every single night. He is a fantasy sleeper heading into next season who could vault significantly up these rankings with a more supportive roster around him.
#10 — Filip Gustavsson | Minnesota Wild | 59.70 FP
Filip Gustavsson rounds out the top ten with another quietly excellent season for the Minnesota Wild — and the word quietly deserves emphasis, because Gustavsson continues to be one of the most underappreciated starters in the entire NHL. His advanced numbers have been elite for four consecutive seasons, and 2025–26 was no different, with a quality start percentage and goals saved above expected that placed him comfortably among the game’s top goaltenders. The addition of Quinn Hughes via trade gave Minnesota’s blue line an elite shot-suppressor in front of him, making Gustavsson’s life even easier down the stretch. The only thing holding Gustavsson back in fantasy is the looming presence of Jesper Wallstedt, whose own strong play has created a legitimate depth dilemma for the Wild. For now, Gustavsson is the starter — and as long as he is, he belongs in every fantasy lineup.
– Nathan Add – The Add List +