Research Report: Comparative Goaltending Efficacy (2021-22 Season)

Inclusion Criteria

Restricted to goaltenders with a minimum of 15 Games Played during the 2021-22 season.

Primary Findings: The Season’s Elite

The following table represents the top 20 goaltenders for the 2021-22 season, ranked by their average standing across all five pillars.

Rank	Player	Team	GP	Composite Score
1	Igor Shesterkin	NYR	53	3.9
2	Jacob Markstrom	CGY	63	6.6
3	Darcy Kuemper	COL	57	6.8
4	Frederik Andersen	CAR	52	7.2
5	Pavel Francouz	COL	21	7.8
6	Jack Campbell	TOR	49	9.4
7	Sergei Bobrovsky	FLA	54	12.2
8	Ville Husso	STL	40	13.0
9	Tristan Jarry	PIT	58	16.2
10	Cam Talbot	MIN	49	16.2
11	Linus Ullmark	BOS	41	16.2
12	Antti Raanta	CAR	28	16.7
13	Ilya Sorokin	NYI	52	17.0
14	Brian Elliott	TBL	19	17.3
15	Andrei Vasilevskiy	TBL	63	19.1
16	Eric Comrie	WPG	19	19.4
17	Mike Smith	EDM	28	19.9
18	Jeremy Swayman	BOS	41	21.1
19	Dan Vladar	CGY	23	21.3
20	Casey DeSmith	PIT	26	21.7

Detailed Logical Analysis

1. Shesterkin’s Individual Dominance

Igor Shesterkin's 3.9 Composite Score is built on individual shot-stopping rather than team support. He ranks #1 in Save Efficiency Ratio, #1 in Victory Efficiency, #3 in Win Rate, and #5 in Shutout Rate, with only Loss Suppression (#9.5) holding him back from a sub-3 score. His 14.30 Svs/GA is the highest single-season Save Efficiency Ratio in any of our datasets — the methodology surfaces him as the season's outright individual leader, not coincidentally aligning with his Vezina Trophy win.

2. The Colorado Tandem — Pre-Cup Signal

Colorado places two goaltenders in the top 5 — Darcy Kuemper at #3 (6.8) and Pavel Francouz at #5 (7.8). Francouz did so on only 21 GP, the smallest sample among the season's top 5, but his rank profile (#2 WinRate, #6 SO Rate, #14 LossRate) suggests a starter-tier efficiency profile in a backup workload. Colorado would win the Stanley Cup four months later, with both goaltenders contributing to a system that produced the most efficient dual-goaltender presence of the regular season.

3. The Workload Drag

The two goaltenders with the highest game loads of the season — Juuse Saros (67 GP) and Connor Hellebuyck (66 GP) — finish at Composite Scores of 22.0 and 36.0 respectively, well outside the top 10. Of the five highest-volume goaltenders (67, 66, 64, 63, 63), only Markstrom (#2) cracks the top 10. The pattern that defines the historical thesis — that high game load erodes Loss Suppression and GA/Win pillars — is observable inside the season's first frame.

Conclusions

The 2021-22 season presents three structural truths the Composite captures: an individual outlier driven by Save Efficiency (Shesterkin), a system-built tandem foreshadowing a Stanley Cup run (Colorado), and the early instance of the workload tax on the league's iron-men. The methodology produces results consistent with the season's most prominent reputational outcome — Shesterkin's Vezina — while also surfacing structural patterns invisible to single-metric ranking.

Thesis: The Vezina-Composite Alignment Year

The Individual Apex

Shesterkin's #1 Composite ranking aligns with the season's actual Vezina Trophy result, providing external validation for the multi-pillar model. His Save Efficiency Ratio of 14.30 is the highest single-season figure in any dataset we have produced — the methodology is sensitive enough to identify a true individual-skill outlier and rank him decisively.

The Cup-Bound Tandem

Colorado's dual top-five placement (Kuemper #3, Francouz #5) is the season's clearest team-system signal. Both goaltenders held the same statistical territory across multiple pillars, indicating that the team's defensive structure produced parallel efficiency profiles. The Cup result months later confirms what the Composite already showed.

The Workload Tax

Saros and Hellebuyck — the league's two highest-volume goaltenders this season — each finished outside the top 20 on Composite, with their Loss Suppression and GA/W pillars dragging composites in the 22-36 range. The single-season data shows the workload effect cleanly: even competent Save Efficiency cannot compensate for the loss-rate accumulation that comes with a 60+ game workload.

Final Conclusion

The 2021-22 season demonstrates the Composite functioning at three levels: it identifies a true individual peak (Shesterkin), surfaces a team-system tandem (Colorado), and confirms the early presence of the workload tax. Read alongside the multi-year baseline, this season is the methodology's first proof of single-season relevance.

The complete table

67 qualifying goaltenders · every pillar value and rank

#	Player	Team	GP	GS	W	L	OT	SA	Svs	GA	Sv%	GAA	SO	Win Rate	Rk	SO Rate	Rk	Svs/GA	Rk	Loss Rate	Rk	GA/Win	Rk	Composite
1	Igor Shesterkin	NYR	53	52	36	13	4	1622	1516	106	0.935	2.07	6	0.679	3	0.115	5	14.30	1	0.250	9.5	2.94	1	3.9
2	Jacob Markstrom	CGY	63	63	37	15	9	1754	1617	137	0.922	2.22	9	0.587	15	0.143	1	11.80	4	0.238	7	3.70	6	6.6
3	Darcy Kuemper	COL	57	57	37	12	4	1754	1616	138	0.921	2.54	5	0.649	6	0.088	11	11.71	5	0.211	5	3.73	7	6.8
4	Frederik Andersen	CAR	52	51	35	14	3	1431	1320	111	0.922	2.17	4	0.673	4	0.078	14	11.89	3	0.275	13	3.17	2	7.2
5	Pavel Francouz	COL	21	18	15	5	1	608	557	51	0.916	2.55	2	0.714	2	0.111	6	10.92	14	0.278	14	3.40	3	7.8
6	Jack Campbell	TOR	49	47	31	9	6	1430	1307	123	0.914	2.64	5	0.633	8	0.106	7	10.63	19	0.191	3	3.97	10	9.4
7	Sergei Bobrovsky	FLA	54	53	39	7	3	1566	1429	137	0.913	2.67	3	0.722	1	0.057	32	10.43	23	0.132	1	3.51	4	12.2
8	Ville Husso	STL	40	38	25	7	6	1236	1136	100	0.919	2.56	2	0.625	9.5	0.053	34	11.36	8	0.184	2	4.00	11.5	13.0
9	Tristan Jarry	PIT	58	56	34	18	6	1711	1573	138	0.919	2.42	4	0.586	16	0.071	22	11.40	7	0.321	23	4.06	13	16.2
10	Cam Talbot	MIN	49	48	32	12	4	1488	1356	132	0.911	2.76	3	0.653	5	0.062	25.5	10.27	27	0.250	9.5	4.12	14	16.2
11	Linus Ullmark	BOS	41	39	26	10	2	1140	1045	95	0.917	2.45	1	0.634	7	0.026	45	11.00	12	0.256	12	3.65	5	16.2
12	Antti Raanta	CAR	28	26	15	5	4	706	644	62	0.912	2.45	2	0.536	24	0.077	16.5	10.39	24	0.192	4	4.13	15	16.7
13	Ilya Sorokin	NYI	52	52	26	18	8	1643	1520	123	0.925	2.4	7	0.500	31	0.135	2	12.36	2	0.346	28	4.73	22	17.0
14	Brian Elliott	TBL	19	17	11	4	3	489	446	43	0.912	2.43	1	0.579	17	0.059	29.5	10.37	25	0.235	6	3.91	9	17.3
15	Andrei Vasilevskiy	TBL	63	63	39	18	5	1868	1712	156	0.916	2.49	2	0.619	11	0.032	43	10.97	13	0.286	17	4.00	11.5	19.1
16	Eric Comrie	WPG	19	16	10	5	1	550	506	44	0.92	2.58	1	0.526	25.5	0.062	25.5	11.50	6	0.312	21	4.40	19	19.4
17	Mike Smith	EDM	28	27	16	9	2	874	800	74	0.915	2.81	2	0.571	18	0.074	19.5	10.81	15	0.333	26	4.62	21	19.9
18	Jeremy Swayman	BOS	41	39	23	14	3	1111	1015	96	0.914	2.41	3	0.561	21	0.077	16.5	10.57	21	0.359	31	4.17	16	21.1
19	Dan Vladar	CGY	23	19	13	6	2	608	551	57	0.906	2.75	2	0.565	20	0.105	8	9.67	38.5	0.316	22	4.38	18	21.3
20	Casey DeSmith	PIT	26	24	11	6	5	769	703	66	0.914	2.79	3	0.423	40	0.125	4	10.65	18	0.250	9.5	6.00	37	21.7
21	Jake Oettinger	DAL	48	46	30	15	1	1331	1217	114	0.914	2.53	1	0.625	9.5	0.022	50.5	10.68	17	0.326	24	3.80	8	21.8
22	Juuse Saros	NSH	67	67	38	25	3	2107	1934	173	0.918	2.64	4	0.567	19	0.060	28	11.18	9	0.373	34	4.55	20	22.0
23	Spencer Knight	FLA	32	27	19	9	3	876	795	81	0.908	2.79	2	0.594	14	0.074	19.5	9.81	35	0.333	26	4.26	17	22.3
24	Anthony Stolarz	ANA	28	23	12	8	3	809	742	67	0.917	2.67	3	0.429	39	0.130	3	11.07	10	0.348	29	5.58	33	22.8
25	Logan Thompson	VGK	19	17	10	5	3	569	520	49	0.914	2.68	1	0.526	25.5	0.059	29.5	10.61	20	0.294	18	4.90	24	23.4
26	Vitek Vanecek	WSH	42	39	20	12	6	1117	1014	103	0.908	2.67	4	0.476	35	0.103	9	9.84	34	0.308	19.5	5.15	28	25.1
27	Jonathan Quick	LAK	46	46	23	13	9	1284	1168	116	0.91	2.59	2	0.500	31	0.043	37	10.07	32	0.283	16	5.04	26	28.4
28	Mikko Koskinen	EDM	45	43	27	12	4	1397	1261	136	0.903	3.1	1	0.600	12.5	0.023	46	9.27	44	0.279	15	5.04	25	28.5
29	Ilya Samsonov	WSH	44	39	23	12	5	1145	1026	119	0.896	3.02	3	0.523	27.5	0.077	16.5	8.62	54	0.308	19.5	5.17	29	29.3
30	Thatcher Demko	VAN	64	61	33	22	7	1967	1799	168	0.915	2.72	1	0.516	29	0.016	54	10.71	16	0.361	32	5.09	27	31.6
31	Calvin Petersen	LAK	37	35	20	14	2	1002	897	105	0.895	2.89	3	0.541	23	0.086	12	8.54	55	0.400	39	5.25	31	32.0
32	Anton Forsberg	OTT	46	44	22	17	4	1457	1336	121	0.917	2.82	1	0.478	34	0.023	48	11.04	11	0.386	36.5	5.50	32	32.3
33	Marc-Andre Fleury	CHI,MIN	56	56	28	23	5	1732	1573	159	0.908	2.9	4	0.500	31	0.071	22	9.89	33	0.411	41.5	5.68	35	32.5
34	Alexandar Georgiev	NYR	33	28	15	10	2	832	747	85	0.898	2.92	2	0.455	37	0.071	22	8.79	52	0.357	30	5.67	34	35.0
35	Robin Lehner	VGK	44	44	23	17	2	1288	1168	120	0.907	2.83	1	0.523	27.5	0.023	48	9.73	37	0.386	36.5	5.22	30	35.8
36	Connor Hellebuyck	WPG	66	66	29	27	10	2155	1962	193	0.91	2.97	4	0.439	38	0.061	27	10.17	30	0.409	40	6.66	45	36.0
37	Adin Hill	SJS	25	22	10	11	1	648	587	61	0.906	2.66	2	0.400	43.5	0.091	10	9.62	40	0.500	52.5	6.10	38.5	36.9
38	Petr Mrazek	TOR	20	18	12	6	0	520	462	58	0.888	3.34	0	0.600	12.5	0.000	61	7.97	64	0.333	26	4.83	23	37.3
39	Jordan Binnington	STL	37	37	18	14	4	1135	1023	112	0.901	3.13	2	0.486	33	0.054	33	9.13	46	0.378	35	6.22	41	37.6
40	Elvis Merzlikins	CBJ	59	56	27	23	7	1920	1742	178	0.907	3.22	2	0.458	36	0.036	40.5	9.79	36	0.411	41.5	6.59	42	39.2
41	James Reimer	SJS	48	46	19	17	10	1450	1321	129	0.911	2.9	1	0.396	45	0.022	50.5	10.24	29	0.370	33	6.79	46	40.7
42	Craig Anderson	BUF	31	31	17	12	2	945	848	97	0.897	3.12	0	0.548	22	0.000	61	8.74	53	0.387	38	5.71	36	42.0
43	Braden Holtby	DAL	24	22	10	10	1	700	639	61	0.913	2.78	0	0.417	41.5	0.000	61	10.48	22	0.455	47	6.10	38.5	42.0
44	Mackenzie Blackwood	NJD	25	24	9	10	4	731	652	79	0.892	3.39	2	0.360	47	0.083	13	8.25	59	0.417	43	8.78	51	42.6
45	Alex Nedeljkovic	DET	59	52	20	24	9	1796	1618	178	0.901	3.31	4	0.339	52	0.077	16.5	9.09	47	0.462	48	8.90	52	43.1
46	Semyon Varlamov	NYI	31	29	10	17	2	978	891	87	0.911	2.91	2	0.323	55.5	0.069	24	10.24	28	0.586	61	8.70	50	43.7
47	Laurent Brossoit	VGK	24	21	10	9	3	588	526	62	0.895	2.9	1	0.417	41.5	0.048	36	8.48	56	0.429	45.5	6.20	40	43.8
48	Kaapo Kahkonen	MIN,SJS	36	33	14	14	4	1056	963	93	0.912	2.87	0	0.389	46	0.000	61	10.35	26	0.424	44	6.64	44	44.2
49	Scott Wedgewood	NJD,ARI,DAL	37	32	13	15	6	1218	1108	110	0.91	3.14	1	0.351	49	0.031	44	10.07	31	0.469	50	8.46	49	44.6
50	David Rittich	NSH	17	12	6	3	4	431	382	49	0.886	3.57	0	0.353	48	0.000	61	7.80	66	0.250	9.5	8.17	48	46.5
51	Dustin Tokarski	BUF	29	28	10	12	5	900	809	91	0.899	3.27	1	0.345	50	0.036	40.5	8.89	50	0.429	45.5	9.10	53	47.8
52	Chris Driedger	SEA	27	24	9	14	1	722	649	73	0.899	2.96	1	0.333	53	0.042	38	8.89	49	0.583	60	8.11	47	49.4
53	Jake Allen	MTL	35	35	9	20	4	1123	1016	107	0.905	3.3	2	0.257	61	0.057	31	9.50	42	0.571	58	11.89	61	50.6
54	Nico Daws	NJD	25	23	10	11	1	617	551	66	0.893	3.11	0	0.400	43.5	0.000	61	8.35	57	0.478	51	6.60	43	51.1
55	John Gibson	ANA	56	56	18	26	11	1789	1617	172	0.904	3.19	1	0.321	57	0.018	53	9.40	43	0.464	49	9.56	57	51.8
56	Matt Murray	OTT	20	20	5	12	2	640	580	60	0.906	3.05	1	0.250	63	0.050	35	9.67	38.5	0.600	62.5	12.00	62	52.2
57	Carter Hart	PHI	45	44	13	24	7	1441	1304	137	0.905	3.16	1	0.289	59	0.023	48	9.52	41	0.545	56.5	10.54	59	52.7
58	Philipp Grubauer	SEA	55	54	18	31	5	1479	1315	164	0.889	3.16	2	0.327	54	0.037	39	8.02	63	0.574	59	9.11	54	53.8
59	Martin Jones	PHI	35	33	12	18	3	1141	1027	114	0.9	3.42	0	0.343	51	0.000	61	9.01	48	0.545	56.5	9.50	56	54.5
60	Jaroslav Halak	VAN	17	14	4	7	2	400	361	39	0.903	2.94	0	0.235	65	0.000	61	9.26	45	0.500	52.5	9.75	58	56.3
61	Thomas Greiss	DET	31	28	10	15	1	842	750	92	0.891	3.66	0	0.323	55.5	0.000	61	8.15	62	0.536	55	9.20	55	57.7
62	Karel Vejmelka	ARI	52	49	13	32	3	1669	1499	170	0.898	3.68	1	0.250	63	0.020	52	8.82	51	0.653	65	13.08	64	59.0
63	Samuel Montembeault	MTL	38	30	8	18	6	1124	1002	122	0.891	3.77	1	0.211	66	0.033	42	8.21	60	0.600	62.5	15.25	66	59.3
64	Kevin Lankinen	CHI	32	29	8	15	6	973	867	106	0.891	3.5	0	0.250	63	0.000	61	8.18	61	0.517	54	13.25	65	60.8
65	Filip Gustavsson	OTT	18	16	5	12	1	574	512	62	0.892	3.55	0	0.278	60	0.000	61	8.26	58	0.750	67	12.40	63	61.8
66	Joonas Korpisalo	CBJ	22	17	7	11	0	634	556	78	0.877	4.15	0	0.318	58	0.000	61	7.13	67	0.647	64	11.14	60	62.0
67	Jon Gillies	STL,NJD	20	15	3	10	2	550	488	62	0.887	3.7	0	0.150	67	0.000	61	7.87	65	0.667	66	20.67	67	65.2

Pillars: Win Rate (W/GP) · Shutout Rate (SO/GS) · Save Efficiency Ratio (Svs/GA) · Loss Suppression (L/GS) · Victory Efficiency (GA/W). Composite = mean of the five pillar ranks; lower is better. Full definitions: methodology.