Projected NHL starting goalies for 8 October 2026. There are 10 games on the schedule. Every name below is a projection, not a confirmation, and the reasoning behind each one is printed beside it so you can judge it yourself.
The goaltender is the single biggest input into a puck line or a total, and starters are rarely confirmed until the morning skate. We build these NHL starting goalies projections from who has actually been starting, who played the night before, and who is unavailable. Check the skate before you bet.
Projected starting goalies tonight
| Game | Puck drop | Away goalie (projected) | Home goalie (projected) | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utah Mammoth at Boston Bruins | 7:00pm ET | Karel Vejmelka | Jeremy Swayman | High |
| Dallas Stars at Buffalo Sabres | 7:00pm ET | Jake Oettinger | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | High / Medium |
| Nashville Predators at Montréal Canadiens | 7:00pm ET | Juuse Saros | Jakub Dobes | High |
| Philadelphia Flyers at Ottawa Senators | 7:00pm ET | Joseph Woll | Samuel Ersson | Low / Medium |
| Minnesota Wild at Tampa Bay Lightning | 7:00pm ET | Jesper Wallstedt | Andrei Vasilevskiy | High |
| Vancouver Canucks at Carolina Hurricanes | 7:00pm ET | Kevin Lankinen | Brandon Bussi | High |
| Chicago Blackhawks at New York Islanders | 7:30pm ET | Spencer Knight | Ilya Sorokin | High / Medium |
| San Jose Sharks at St. Louis Blues | 8:00pm ET | Yaroslav Askarov | Joel Hofer | High |
| Colorado Avalanche at Calgary Flames | 9:00pm ET | Mackenzie Blackwood | Dustin Wolf | High |
| Toronto Maple Leafs at Vegas Golden Knights | 10:00pm ET | Sergei Bobrovsky | Carter Hart | Low / High |
Why we have projected these goalies
Utah Mammoth at Boston Bruins
Utah Mammoth: Karel Vejmelka. 3 of the 4 starts have gone to Vejmelka. That was 2 days back, Vejmelka stopping 30 of 33.
Boston Bruins: Jeremy Swayman. Swayman has started 3 of 4. 3 days on from that start, Swayman finished it 20/24.
Dallas Stars at Buffalo Sabres
Dallas Stars: Jake Oettinger. Oettinger owns 2 of 3 starts so far. That was 3 days back, Oettinger stopping 13 of 13.
Buffalo Sabres: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Ellis started the last game, but Luukkonen has 2 of the 3 starts and has had 2 days’ rest. Ellis last appeared 2 days ago and made 18 saves on 20 shots. Unavailable: Alex Lyon (injured reserve), Topias Leinonen (injured reserve).
Nashville Predators at Montréal Canadiens
Nashville Predators: Juuse Saros. Saros owns 3 of 3 starts so far. Saros went 32/37 in that game, 2 days ago. Unavailable: Justus Annunen (injured reserve).
Montréal Canadiens: Jakub Dobes. 3 of the 3 starts have gone to Dobes. Dobes last appeared 2 days ago and made 27 saves on 32 shots. Unavailable: Sam Montembeault (day-to-day).
Philadelphia Flyers at Ottawa Senators
Philadelphia Flyers: Joseph Woll. Vladar and Woll have split the starts 2-2. Vladar went last, so Woll is the likelier call, but this one is a toss-up until the morning skate. 3 days on from that start, Vladar finished it 32/35.
Ottawa Senators: Samuel Ersson. 1 of the 3 starts have gone to Ersson. That was 2 days back, Ersson stopping 31 of 35. Unavailable: Linus Ullmark (day-to-day).
Minnesota Wild at Tampa Bay Lightning
Minnesota Wild: Jesper Wallstedt. Wallstedt has started 3 of 3. 2 days on from that start, Wallstedt finished it 25/28. Unavailable: Filip Gustavsson (injured reserve).
Tampa Bay Lightning: Andrei Vasilevskiy. Vasilevskiy owns 3 of 3 starts so far. That was 3 days back, Vasilevskiy stopping 14 of 15.
Vancouver Canucks at Carolina Hurricanes
Vancouver Canucks: Kevin Lankinen. 3 of the 4 starts have gone to Lankinen. 4 days on from that start, Lankinen finished it 25/28. Unavailable: Thatcher Demko (injured reserve).
Carolina Hurricanes: Brandon Bussi. Bussi has started 3 of 4. That was 2 days back, Bussi stopping 16 of 20.
Chicago Blackhawks at New York Islanders
Chicago Blackhawks: Spencer Knight. Knight owns 3 of 4 starts so far. 2 days on from that start, Knight finished it 25/27.
New York Islanders: Ilya Sorokin. Varlamov started the last game, but Sorokin has 2 of the 3 starts and has had 2 days’ rest. Varlamov went 19/22 in that game, 2 days ago.
San Jose Sharks at St. Louis Blues
San Jose Sharks: Yaroslav Askarov. Askarov owns 3 of 3 starts so far. Askarov last appeared 3 days ago and made 21 saves on 26 shots. Unavailable: Kyle Keyser (injured reserve).
St. Louis Blues: Joel Hofer. 2 of the 3 starts have gone to Hofer. Hofer went 17/19 in that game, 2 days ago.
Colorado Avalanche at Calgary Flames
Colorado Avalanche: Mackenzie Blackwood. Blackwood has started 3 of 3. Blackwood last appeared 1 day ago and made 16 saves on 19 shots. Unavailable: Trent Miner (injured reserve).
Calgary Flames: Dustin Wolf. Wolf owns 2 of 3 starts so far. Wolf went 21/27 in that game, 4 days ago.
Toronto Maple Leafs at Vegas Golden Knights
Toronto Maple Leafs: Sergei Bobrovsky. Stolarz and Bobrovsky have split the starts 2-2. Stolarz went last, so Bobrovsky is the likelier call, but this one is a toss-up until the morning skate. That was 2 days back, Stolarz stopping 21 of 25. Unavailable: Elvis Merzlikins (injured reserve).
Vegas Golden Knights: Carter Hart. Hart owns 3 of 4 starts so far. 2 days on from that start, Hart finished it 25/27.
How we project a starting goalie
Four rules, applied in order. We would rather print a projection you can argue with than a name with nothing behind it.
1. Anyone unavailable comes out. Injured, suspended or otherwise out, taken from the league injury feed and checked by hand.
2. Back-to-backs go to the partner. If a club played last night and its main starter went, the second night usually falls to the other goalie.
3. Otherwise the workload leader starts. Whoever has the most starts this season, which through October is a small sample and is treated as one.
4. If none of that resolves it, we say so. A club with an even split and no back-to-back gets “not projected” rather than a coin flip.
Confidence is high when one goalie has 60 per cent or more of his club’s starts, medium when the split is closer or a back-to-back is forcing the change, and low when we cannot support a name at all.
Every NHL team’s goalie situation
Starts, record and rates for every club, listed alphabetically. Through the opening weeks a tandem split of 2-2 carries less weight than a coach’s quotes, so treat October splits lightly.
| Team | Leading starter | Starts | Record | GAA / SV% | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anaheim Ducks | Lukas Dostal | 3/3 | 2-1-0 | 3.67 / .872 | Ville Husso |
| Boston Bruins | Jeremy Swayman | 3/4 | 2-1-0 | 2.30 / .914 | Michael DiPietro |
| Buffalo Sabres | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 2/3 | 1-1-0 | 4.03 / .784 | Colten Ellis |
| Calgary Flames | Dustin Wolf | 2/3 | 0-2-0 | 6.01 / .797 | Devin Cooley |
| Carolina Hurricanes | Brandon Bussi | 3/4 | 1-1-1 | 3.24 / .851 | Pyotr Kochetkov |
| Chicago Blackhawks | Spencer Knight | 3/4 | 1-2-0 | 3.36 / .890 | Arvid Soderblom |
| Colorado Avalanche | Mackenzie Blackwood | 3/3 | 2-1-0 | 2.68 / .895 | T. Miner injured reserve |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Jet Greaves | 2/2 | 1-1-0 | 3.50 / .877 | – |
| Dallas Stars | Jake Oettinger | 2/3 | 1-1-0 | 1.01 / .943 | Casey DeSmith |
| Detroit Red Wings | John Gibson | 3/3 | 1-2-0 | 2.38 / .903 | – |
| Edmonton Oilers | Devon Levi | 3/4 | 3-0-0 | 3.35 / .863 | Tristan Jarry |
| Florida Panthers | Jacob Markstrom | 3/4 | 2-0-1 | 1.27 / .927 | Akira Schmid |
| Los Angeles Kings | Darcy Kuemper | 2/3 | 0-2-0 | 5.11 / .830 | Anton Forsberg |
| Minnesota Wild | Jesper Wallstedt | 3/3 | 2-0-1 | 1.63 / .933 | F. Gustavsson injured reserve |
| Montréal Canadiens | Jakub Dobes | 3/3 | 1-1-1 | 4.43 / .856 | S. Montembeault day-to-day |
| Nashville Predators | Juuse Saros | 3/3 | 1-1-1 | 2.95 / .907 | J. Annunen injured reserve |
| New Jersey Devils | Jake Allen | 2/3 | 1-1-0 | 3.47 / .875 | Nico Daws |
| New York Islanders | Ilya Sorokin | 2/3 | 1-1-0 | 1.02 / .968 | Semyon Varlamov |
| New York Rangers | Igor Shesterkin | 4/5 | 3-1-0 | 1.75 / .926 | Dylan Garand |
| Ottawa Senators | Samuel Ersson | 1/3 | 0-1-0 | 3.85 / .886 | L. Ullmark day-to-day |
| Philadelphia Flyers | Dan Vladar | 2/4 | 0-2-0 | 5.12 / .863 | Joseph Woll |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Arturs Silovs | 3/4 | 2-1-0 | 3.38 / .859 | Sergei Murashov |
| San Jose Sharks | Yaroslav Askarov | 3/3 | 2-1-0 | 3.86 / .862 | K. Keyser injured reserve |
| Seattle Kraken | Joey Daccord | 3/4 | 2-1-0 | 2.64 / .911 | Philipp Grubauer |
| St. Louis Blues | Joel Hofer | 2/3 | 1-1-0 | 1.01 / .955 | Jordan Binnington |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | Andrei Vasilevskiy | 3/3 | 2-1-0 | 2.05 / .900 | – |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Anthony Stolarz | 2/4 | 2-0-0 | 2.44 / .904 | Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Utah Mammoth | Karel Vejmelka | 3/4 | 2-1-0 | 2.02 / .913 | Sebastian Cossa |
| Vancouver Canucks | Kevin Lankinen | 3/4 | 1-2-0 | 6.50 / .824 | Leevi Merilainen |
| Vegas Golden Knights | Carter Hart | 3/4 | 2-1-0 | 2.70 / .890 | Adin Hill |
| Washington Capitals | Logan Thompson | 2/3 | 2-0-0 | 2.50 / .921 | Charlie Lindgren |
| Winnipeg Jets | Stuart Skinner | 3/4 | 2-0-1 | 2.62 / .920 | Clay Stevenson |
Goalies currently unavailable
13 goaltenders are out across the league. A club losing its starter is the single most useful thing on this page, because it is the change the market reacts to slowest.
| Team | Goalie | Status | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Sabres | Alex Lyon | Injured Reserve | Lyon (upper body) was spotted practicing at Tuesday’s optional morning skate, per Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic. |
| Buffalo Sabres | Topias Leinonen | Injured Reserve | Leinonen (lower body) was placed on the injured non-roster list Monday. |
| Colorado Avalanche | Trent Miner | Injured Reserve | ir-nr |
| Edmonton Oilers | Frederik Andersen | Injured Reserve | Andersen (knee) isn’t expected back until “maybe” December, head coach Mike Babcock told NHL.com on Tuesday. |
| Minnesota Wild | Filip Gustavsson | Injured Reserve | Gustavsson (hip) was placed on injured reserve Monday, according to Dylan Loucks of The Hockey News. |
| Montréal Canadiens | Sam Montembeault | Day-To-Day | Montembeault sustained an undisclosed injury during Wednesday’s practice, per Canadiens beat reporter Priyanta Emrith. |
| Nashville Predators | Justus Annunen | Injured Reserve | ir |
| New York Rangers | Joonas Korpisalo | Injured Reserve | ir |
| Ottawa Senators | Linus Ullmark | Day-To-Day | day-to-day |
| San Jose Sharks | Kyle Keyser | Injured Reserve | Keyser (upper body) was placed on non-roster injured reserve by the Sharks on Monday, Curtis Pashelka of The San Jose Mercury News… |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Elvis Merzlikins | Injured Reserve | Merzlikins is expected to miss 4-6 months to begin the 2026-27 regular season while recovering from a shoulder injury, per Luke Fo… |
| Vancouver Canucks | Thatcher Demko | Injured Reserve | Co-president of hockey operations Henrik Sedin said Monday that he hopes Demko (hip) will be ready to return before Christmas, Kev… |
| Winnipeg Jets | Connor Hellebuyck | Suspended | Suspended by Winnipeg on 17 September after a trade request. No end date. |
The seven Canadian clubs
Toronto Maple Leafs go with Anthony Stolarz. 2 of 4 starts, 2-0-0, 2.44 and a .904 save percentage. Out: Elvis Merzlikins (injured reserve).
Montréal Canadiens go with Jakub Dobes. 3 of 3 starts, 1-1-1, 4.43 and a .856 save percentage. Out: Sam Montembeault (day-to-day).
Ottawa Senators go with Samuel Ersson. 1 of 3 starts, 0-1-0, 3.85 and a .886 save percentage. Out: Linus Ullmark (day-to-day).
Winnipeg Jets go with Stuart Skinner. 3 of 4 starts, 2-0-1, 2.62 and a .920 save percentage. Out: Connor Hellebuyck (suspended).
Calgary Flames go with Dustin Wolf. 2 of 3 starts, 0-2-0, 6.01 and a .797 save percentage.
Edmonton Oilers go with Devon Levi. 3 of 4 starts, 3-0-0, 3.35 and a .863 save percentage. Out: Frederik Andersen (injured reserve).
Vancouver Canucks go with Kevin Lankinen. 3 of 4 starts, 1-2-0, 6.50 and a .824 save percentage. Out: Thatcher Demko (injured reserve).
Availability across the league is on our NHL injury report, and how each club is rating is on our NHL power rankings.
The table at the top of this page carries a projected starter for every game on today’s schedule, with the reasoning and a confidence rating beside each one. It rebuilds every morning.
No. They are projections. The NHL does not publish confirmed starters in advance, and most are only known after the morning skate. We project from who has been starting, who played the night before and who is unavailable, and we show the reasoning so you can judge it.
Unavailable goalies come out first. If a club played the night before and its main starter went, we project the partner. Otherwise we project whoever has the most starts this season. If none of that resolves it, we say not projected rather than guess.
Goaltending swings hockey results more than any other single input, and a change of starter moves both the moneyline and the total. A backup starting is often the largest piece of information available before puck drop.
Every morning. Lineups and availability change through the day, so check the morning skate before betting.
You must be 19+ to bet in most of Canada, or 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Québec. If gambling is causing you harm, help is free and confidential: ConnexOntario on 1-866-531-2600 in Ontario, or the provincial line where you live. Odds and lineups move; check both before you bet.