For the last few seasons, I’ve published goaltender data in which I look at speed, rebound control and glove work. It’s served as a good bench mark when watching goaltenders and determining which goaltenders I’d fight for at the draft table.
In the past, I have published my data on Tableau, but due to time constraints I decided to publish my data in a post.
For my 2023 NHL Draft set, I tracked games of Martin Neckar (4 games), Trey Augustine (6 games), Yegor Zavragin (6 games), Jacob Fowler (6 games), Johnny Hicks (4 games), Scott Ratzlaff (4 games), Carson Bjarnason (6 games), Damian Clara (6 games), Michael Hrabal (6 games), Adam Dybal (4 games) and Adam Gajan (6 games).
Speed
When it comes to speed, the goaltenders who are smaller in frame need to be speedy to eliminate gaps when reacting to rapid side to side oppositional puck movement. The goaltenders that have a bigger frame can afford to slow down their side to side speed because they have a wider frame to work with. But, regardless of frame, goaltenders need to be able to drop into the butterfly on a dime.
The fastest goaltender that I tracked was Martin Neckar (Langnau U20). His side to side pace was unmatched by anyone else. His Up / Down Time tied Trey Augustine, Yegor Zavragin and Jacob Fowler.
| Goalie | Up/Down Time | Side/Side Time |
| Martin Neckar | 0.14 | 0.30 |
| Trey Augustine | 0.14 | 0.35 |
| Yegor Zavragin | 0.14 | 0.36 |
| Jacob Fowler | 0.14 | 0.38 |
| Scott Ratzlaff | 0.15 | 0.38 |
| Johnny Hicks | 0.15 | 0.37 |
| Carson Bjarnason | 0.15 | 0.41 |
| Damian Clara | 0.15 | 0.42 |
| Michael Hrabal | 0.15 | 0.45 |
| Adam Dybal | 0.16 | 0.46 |
| Adam Gajan | 0.15 | 0.50 |
Glove / Save Rate
In this section, I looked at glove / save rate and found that Michael Hrabal of the Omaha Lancers had the most success with his glove of the crop tracked.
Next year, I plan to add a bit more context around glove saves and where the shots originated from (similar to what the high danger rebound origination data that I track).
| Goalie | Glove / Save Rate |
| Martin Neckar | 12.63% |
| Scott Ratzlaff | 18.83% |
| Adam Dybal | 18.51% |
| Yegor Zavragin | 24.57% |
| Jacob Fowler | 20.92% |
| Johnny Hicks | 17.82% |
| Trey Augustine | 20.27% |
| Carson Bjarnason | 19.77% |
| Damian Clara | 22.28% |
| Adam Gajan | 17.65% |
| Michael Hrabal | 27.08% |
Rebound Rates
When tracking rebound control, I identify where the puck ends up after the goaltender makes contact with the puck after it’s been shot.
Ideally, you want a goaltender who pushes rebounds to medium and low danger. If a goaltender is giving up too many high danger rebounds, they put themselves at risk of a quick follow up shot.
While some goaltenders might have higher rebound / save rates then others, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to have a high rebound / save rate. A goaltender that has a slightly weaker glove is going to give up more rebounds. It’s as simple as that.
| Goalie | Total Rebound / Save Rate | High Danger Rebound Rate | Medium Danger Rebound Rate | Low Danger Rebound Rate |
| Martin Neckar | 69.71% | 26.92% | 4.33% | 38.46% |
| Scott Ratzlaff | 69.20% | 23.20% | 6.52% | 39.48% |
| Adam Dybal | 74.53% | 26.03% | 5.55% | 42.96% |
| Yegor Zavragin | 66.11% | 24.01% | 6.56% | 35.54% |
| Jacob Fowler | 72.63% | 22.58% | 10.10% | 39.94% |
| Trey Augustine | 71.33% | 24.99% | 8.72% | 37.62% |
| Carson Bjarnason | 74.87% | 25.22% | 8.38% | 41.27% |
| Damian Clara | 71.47% | 23.88% | 10.52% | 37.08% |
| Johnny Hicks | 74.45% | 30.79% | 6.80% | 36.86% |
| Adam Gajan | 73.79% | 32.36% | 3.17% | 38.26% |
| Michael Hrabal | 58.96% | 22.35% | 3.88% | 32.73% |
Where Do High Danger Rebounds Originate?
In the above section, I looked at rebound control and where rebounds were ending up. Prior to the 2022 NHL Draft, I expanded upon rebound control and where rebounds were ending up. I wanted to identify where high danger rebounds were originating from because a goaltender’s high danger rebound rate but it could be because they faced quite a bit of high danger shots compared to the others tracked.
Based on the data below, Carson Bjarnason and Damian Clara were the stronger goaltenders. At least 50% of their high danger rebounds came from high danger shots.
| Goalie | High Danger Rebound From High Danger Shot Rate | High Danger Rebound From Medium Danger Shot Rate | High Danger Rebound From Low Danger Shot Rate |
| Martin Neckar | 37.80% | 27.53% | 34.67% |
| Scott Ratzlaff | 32.29% | 9.38% | 58.33% |
| Adam Dybal | 23.75% | 14.38% | 61.88% |
| Yegor Zavragin | 30.53% | 20.92% | 48.55% |
| Johnny Hicks | 20.00% | 45.00% | 35.00% |
| Jacob Fowler | 30.42% | 29.03% | 40.56% |
| Trey Augustine | 28.83% | 11.78% | 59.39% |
| Carson Bjarnason | 56.44% | 13.29% | 30.28% |
| Damian Clara | 53.91% | 23.57% | 22.52% |
| Adam Gajan | 35.43% | 23.59% | 40.98% |
| Michael Hrabal | 34.03% | 7.64% | 58.33% |
Data tracked by Josh Tessler.
If you would like to follow Josh on Twitter, his handle is @JoshTessler_.