Canadian goaltending talent falling behind
European and American goalies now dominate the NHL, with Canadians less prominent among elite netminders.
- By Bruce Penton
May 12, 2025
key points from this story:
- Canadian goalies less dominant in NHL
- Europeans and Americans lead goalie stats
- Connor Hellebuyck tops Vezina Trophy race
- Few Canadians in top 10 goalie rankings
- Development focus stronger in Europe, U.S.
- Canada won 4 Nations FaceOff with Binnington
The days of Canadian goaltending dominance in the National Hockey League are long gone. The Europeans have taken over the position made glamorous by the likes of Canadian stars Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Ken Dryden, Jacques Plante, Carey Price and Roberto Luongo. Check out the most recent NHL goaltending stats and you’ll find a preponderance of European stars, a few Americans and then a couple of Canadians in the latter half of the top 10. At the top of the list is the Winnipeg Jets’ American goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who will likely win this year’s Vezina Trophy as the league’s best. The Russian, Andrei Vasilevskiy, is generally regarded as No. 2 while Russian Sergei Bobrovsky of the defending Cup champion Florida Panthers, Swede Filip Gustavsson of Minnesota, American Jake Oettinger of Dallas and Russian Ilya Sorokin are scattered among the top 10.
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