Best NHL Goalies of All-Time
Ultimately, a team won’t fare well in the NHL regular season and will be especially prone to crumbling in the playoffs if they’re not backed up by a reliable or hot-handed goaltender. Just looking at the preseason Stanley Cup odds, you can see leading teams with proven goalies, while the Edmonton Oilers sit as dark horse contenders.
The NHL has been the stage for many incredible goaltenders, each of whom has been tasked with pulling off what could be argued as being the toughest job in team sports. Here, we’re looking at the best NHL goalies of all-time, from the legends of yesteryear like Jacques Plante to modern greats and record holders like Martin Brodeur.
Top 10 NHL Goalies of All-Time
While the selection process was certainly difficult towards the bottom of the top ten, these are the goaltenders who stand out for their career statistics, achievements, and influence on the game to be named among the best NHL goalies of all time.
Martin Brodeur
Hailing from Montréal, Martin Brodeur was picked 20th overall by the New Jersey Devils in 1990. By 1993/94, he was in a tandem, taking over the crease fully with a goliath 77-game season in 1995/96. The netminder would continue to play an inordinate number of games and take the Devils to their first Stanley Cup in 1995, and then two more by 2003. Brodeur’s 804 wins and 149 shutouts across the regular and postseason remain NHL records.
Brodeur had an extra weapon in his arsenal. The goaltender was rather masterful with the puck on his stick, often venturing beyond his crease to essentially give his team another passing option. This helped him to get to a second-best 47 points as a goalie and a record two goals. However, his play brought about “The Brodeur Rule,” which limits goaltender puck handling beyond the crease.
He remains the NHL’s games played leader at 1,471 across the regular season and playoffs and has the Calder Trophy, five William M. Jennings Trophies, and four Vezina Trophies on his shelf. Now the executive vice president of business development with the New Jersey Devils – having ended his playing career in 2014/15 with the St. Louis Blues – he remains keen to see his team conquer the Metropolitan Division odds.
Patrick Roy
Born in Québec City, Patrick Roy was landed by the Montréal Canadiens in 1984, waiting a season before throwing him into the crease in a more full-time role. That kicked off what was the most impressive NHL goaltender career until Martin Brodeur came along. He’d feature in goal for the Habs and the Colorado Avalanche before he hung up his mask in 2003. Even in that last season for the Avs, he put up 35 wins in 63 games and a .920 save percentage.
Combining the playoffs and the regular season, Roy is only second to Brodeur with 1,276 games, 702 wins, and sits ninth with 89 shutouts. Importantly, he made the Stanley Cup stage his own. He won the trophy twice with the Habs and twice with the Avs, but in 1986, 1993, and 2001, he was also awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy. On his glittering mantle, these join his five William M. Jennings Trophies and three Vezina Trophies.
Widely credited as being the goalie to popularise the now-ubiquitous hybrid style, Roy took his talents into coaching. He was the head coach of the Avs from 2013 to 2016 and jumped back into the hot seat in 2024. This time, he came in to help further the New York Islanders' rebuild. Next season, his team is an outside shot to take the division, but will be favoured in the hockey lines more so than last season.
Dominik Hašek
Across his time with the Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, and Ottawa Senators, Dominik Hasek collected a good-for-17th 389 wins in the NHL. What lands him among the best NHL goaltenders of all-time, however, were his performances en route to those wins in just 735 games. In the crease, he was awe-inspiring, truly opening the door to European goalie prowess in the league at a time when North Americans dominated.
Boasting a rather unorthodox approach labelled a kind of “flop” style, he was a highlight reel darling. He was quick on his feet, incredibly flexible, and always happy to make up the distance with an erratic dive. At the time of his retirement, Hašek had snagged two Stanley Cups and held the record for NHL career save percentage at 0.9223 – just ahead of Ken Dryden. His haul of six Vezina Trophies is also a modern (since 1981) record.
Ken Dryden
Standing 6’4’’ and 205lbs, Ken Dryden was quite the presence in the Montréal Canadiens net. The Ontario native impressed in his cameo showing of six games in the 1970/71 season, putting up a .957 save percentage and 1.65 goals against average to be named the Habs’ starting goalie in the playoffs. Riding the hot hand, Dryden stood on his head to defy the odds and help Montréal beat the Boston Bruins, going all the way to win the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Dryden would complete eight seasons for the Habs, going to the playoffs in every single one. Until the Czech shot-stopper described above came into the league, Ken Dryden boasted the record for save percentage across his 397 games played. During this time, he also held a 2.24 goals against average – marginally worse than Hašek’s 2.20 – and an absurd 74.3 win percentage. By the end of his short but impactful career, he had five Vezina Trophies, three of which were shared with Michel Larocque, and six Stanley Cups.
Jacques Plante
With Gerry McNeil in goal for the Habs and continuing to play very well, Jacques Plante had to patiently wait for two seasons in the AHL after his initial call-up in their Cup-winning 1952/53 campaign. After a February call-up in the 1953/54 season, he’d then be cemented as the Canadiens’ starting goalie. From there, Plante would put up 437 wins in 837 games to still stand ninth in the record books and backstop the team to five successive Stanley Cups from 1956 to 1960.
Plante’s influence on the NHL and the sport as a whole goes well beyond his stats and accolades, though. He was the first NHL netminder to wear a mask regularly, which he developed and tested himself. Further, the Québec native was also the first in his position to leave the crease and regularly play the puck, calling plays from behind his teammates. His career would run from 1947 to 1975, across six teams, and a joint-record seven Vezina Trophies.
Terry Sawchuk
In terms of raw goaltending talent, there are many who hail Terry Sawchuk as the best there ever was. At the time of his death in the 1969-70 season – due to a pulmonary embolism as a result of horseplay gone wrong – he was the NHL’s wins and shutouts leader at 447 and 103, respectively. Only Brodeur boasts more shutouts in the regular season and when combining playoff stats than Sawchuk, who played for five teams across his 21-season career.
One record that Sawchuk still holds that’s unlikely to ever be matched is his GAA across his first five full NHL seasons. Across this stretch, he held a goals against average of under 2.00, which has never been matched. These powerhouse performances greatly helped the Detroit Red Wings to win three Stanley Cups in that time. Now, the Red Wings crave a goalie close to Sawchuk’s calibre to try to pull them up in the Atlantic Division odds.
Sawchuk would add another Stanley Cup in 1967 with the Toronto Maple Leafs. By his untimely departure, the netminder had been named to the All-Star Game 11 times, won the Calder Trophy as a rookie, and collected four Vezina Trophies.
Glenn Hall
You don’t earn the nickname “Mr Goalie” for nothing.
Glenn Hall manned the crease for every game of each season from 1955-56 to 1961-62, totalling 490 regular season games with 49 playoff games on top for the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks.
Over the next nine seasons with the Black Hawks and St. Louis Blues, Hall would continue to play the majority of games, finishing with 1,021 total games in the books and a 456-391-164 record.
Hall would get a taste of NHL action with the Red Wings in 1952-53 and 1954-55 before his rookie season proper in 1955-56, where he’d post a 2.10 GAA and .921 save percentage across 30 wins in 70 games. This earned him the Calder Trophy, which was followed by three Vezina Trophy wins, two Stanley Cups, and the Conn Smythe Trophy in a losing Finals effort for the Blues against the Habs.
It was also in his rookie season – which saw Hall take over from Sawchuk in the Red Wings’ net – that he rolled out the butterfly style. In the mid-50s, this was very unconventional, with Hall using an inverted “Y” shape to great effect. That style would become the go-to in goaltending until the 1980s when Roy established the hybrid style.
Grant Fuhr
Born in Alberta, Grant Fuhr was mightily impressive in the WHL with the Victoria Cougars, which earned him Edmonton’s eighth overall selection in the 1981 NHL Draft. He was thrown straight into the NHL roster to form a dynamic, dominating tandem with Bill Ranford. He wouldn’t play more than 48 regular season games for the Oilers until his 75-game marathon in 1987-88, which would in his fourth Stanley Cup with the team.
It was that year that Fuhr won his first Vezina Trophy, proving beyond doubt that his talents certainly could have won him many more if not for the team preference of a tandem. He’d later play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, and Calgary Flames, to total 1,018 games, 456 wins, and 90 shutouts across the regular season and postseason.
Ed Belfour
Still fifth in the all-time regular season wins column, Ed Belfour actually went undrafted. After three strong seasons in the MJHL, he’d join the North Dakota Fighting Sioux in NCAA Division I, where his efforts that led to the 1986/87 National Title caught the eye of the Chicago Blackhawks. By the 1988/89 season, Belfour would be battling in the NHL, getting his first 70-plus game season in 1990/91.
The prime of Belfour’s playing time came in the late 1990s. With the Dallas Stars, he’d man the crease for at least 60 regular season games from 1997/98 to 1999/00. In that time, he and the Stars won the Presidents’ Trophy twice, went to the Stanley Cup Finals in successive years, and the franchise won its one and only title in 1999.
To this day, Belfour remains fifth in the all-time NHL wins record with 484 across his 963-game career across five teams. His 572 wins across the regular and postseason also ranks him fourth in NHL history. With the current Central Division odds, and with the very talented Jake Oettinger in goal, the Stars are getting closer to repeating Belfour’s glory days.
Roberto Luongo
Consistency epitomized the career of Roberto Luongo. One of the greats of the modern era, “Bobby Lou” remains seventh in all-time save percentage at .919, fourth for regular season wins at 489 and fifth for wins when you include playoff appearances with 523. In total, he put up 82 shutouts across his time with the New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks, and two stints with the Florida Panthers.
While he didn’t get his hands on the Stanley Cup on the ice, Luongo has been a part of the Panthers’ front office as an executive since the end of his playing career, helping to build the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions. Next year, his team will once again be regular favourites in the NHL betting, following an offseason that swiftly addressed all of the major contract concerns.
Honourable Mentions
The top ten best NHL goalies of all-time was a tough list to fill out because of how many legendary netminders the league has seen. These are a few of the honourable mentions who narrowly missed out on a top ten spot.
Mike Richter
Overall, Mike Ritcher’s figures of 301 wins, a 2.89 GAA, and a .904 save percentage are very good, but not quite legendary. What makes Ritcher one of the all-time greats is his impact on the New York Rangers and ability to step up on big occasions. He guided the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup in 54 years in 1994 and became a fan favourite across his 15 seasons at Madison Square Garden.
Pekka Rinne
Another one-team goalie who reached legendary status, Pekka Rinne firmly established himself as one of the modern greats of the NHL. His consistency and reliability in net helped the Nashville Predators to go to their first-ever Stanley Cup Finals in 2017. Importantly, the Vezina Trophy winner was also around to impart his wisdom onto fellow Finn Juuse Saros, who is now also seen as one of the league’s best goalies.
Jonathan Quick
A Conn Smythe winner, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, and a three-time Stanley Cup champion, Jonathan Quick may yet add to his illustrious legacy. Signed on for another year with the New York Rangers, he has an eye on conquering the Eastern Conference odds and getting to the Stanley Cup Finals. Already, Quick has collected 404 wins and 63 shutouts en route to becoming a Los Angeles Kings legend.