NHL goalie tandem rankings for 2022-23

The NHL didn't exactly have goalie tandems last season. It was more like gaggles of goaltenders.

Due to COVID-19 absences, injuries and ineffectiveness, a record 119 goalies appeared in 2021-22 regular-season games, from Akira Schmid to Zach Fucale. As a result, NHL scoring numbers climbed to their highest levels in nearly 30 years.

The 2022-23 NHL regular season should offer a bit more normalcy as far as who is minding the net for teams. But if we know anything about goalies, what looks one way on paper can look a lot different on the ice.

Here are the goalie tandem rankings for this season. They were formulated through discussions with a variety of goalie experts — coaches, analytics gurus, former players — as well as through stats from sites like Evolving Hockey, Money Puck and Hockey Reference. They also incorporate information from Clear Sight Analytics, former NHL goalie Stephen Valiquette's analytics firm.

Keep in mind that these are a combination of past performance and projections for the 2022-23 NHL season.

The Rangers have the NHL's best goalie tandem because they have the NHL's best goalie. Shesterkin's .935 save percentage and 2.07 goals-against average in 53 appearances led the NHL. His 34.1 goals saved above expected led the NHL, per Money Puck. So did his 42.46 goals saved above average, according to Evolving Hockey.

Traditional stats, fancy stats, eye test, sniff test… Shesterkin put together one of the most dominant seasons we've seen from a goaltender in recent memory, and then followed it with a .929 save percentage in leading the Rangers to the Eastern Conference finals. His Vezina Trophy was perfunctory at that point. The only thing Shesterkin didn't have was a high work rate, although his health