Research Report: Comparative Goaltending Efficacy (2022-23 Season)

Inclusion Criteria

Restricted to goaltenders with a minimum of 15 Games Played during the 2022-23 season.

Primary Findings: The Season’s Elite

The following table represents the top 20 goaltenders for the 2022-23 season, ranked by their average standing across all five pillars.

Rank	Player	Team	GP	Composite Score
1	Jeremy Swayman	BOS	37	3.9
2	Antti Raanta	CAR	27	6.0
3	Ilya Samsonov	TOR	42	6.4
4	Linus Ullmark	BOS	49	7.8
5	Jake Oettinger	DAL	62	8.5
6	Filip Gustavsson	MIN	39	9.2
7	Alexandar Georgiev	COL	62	9.8
8	Igor Shesterkin	NYR	58	12.9
9	Vitek Vanecek	NJD	52	12.9
10	Akira Schmid	NJD	18	16.0
11	Alex Lyon	FLA	15	16.5
12	Ilya Sorokin	NYI	62	16.6
13	Pyotr Kochetkov	CAR	24	18.4
14	Connor Hellebuyck	WPG	64	18.5
15	Pheonix Copley	LAK	37	18.9
16	Andrei Vasilevskiy	TBL	60	19.9
17	Logan Thompson	VGK	37	20.0
18	Stuart Skinner	EDM	50	23.0
19	Adin Hill	VGK	27	23.2
20	Frederik Andersen	CAR	34	23.9

Detailed Logical Analysis

1. The Boston Tandem at the Top

Boston places two goaltenders in the top four — Jeremy Swayman at #1 (3.9) and Linus Ullmark at #4 (7.8) — the season's most prominent dual-goaltender system signal. Ullmark won the Vezina Trophy by reputation and traditional metrics (he leads the Composite's Win Rate, Save Efficiency Ratio, and Victory Efficiency pillars all at #1), but Swayman's broader pillar consistency (#3 in three categories, #5 in two) outranks him on the Composite. The methodology surfaces a structural finding the Vezina vote missed: Boston's tandem produced two top-five Composite Scores from the same defensive system.

2. The Vezina-Composite Divergence

Linus Ullmark wins three of the five pillars outright (Win Rate, Save Efficiency Ratio, Victory Efficiency) but finishes #4 on the Composite because his Shutout Rate ranks #34. His Win Rate of 0.816 is the highest single-season figure in any dataset we have produced — but the multi-pillar model penalizes the absence of peak-performance frequency (shutouts) in the average. This is the methodology's design at work: the Composite rewards balanced excellence, not single-pillar dominance, and Ullmark's profile illustrates the trade-off precisely.

3. Workload Pattern Persists

Connor Hellebuyck (64 GP) and Juuse Saros (64 GP) again carry the highest workloads, with Hellebuyck at Composite #14 (18.5) and Saros outside the top 20 (Composite 25.2). Of the four goaltenders with 60+ GP this season, only Jake Oettinger (#5) finishes in the top 10. The single-season pattern continues: the goaltenders with the heaviest annual workload are not those producing the most efficient cross-pillar profiles.

Conclusions

The 2022-23 season produces three structural findings: a top-four dual-tandem from Boston, a clean methodological divergence between the Vezina narrative (Ullmark) and the multi-pillar leader (Swayman), and the consistent presence of the workload tax. The Composite functions as a corrective lens — it does not contradict reputation outright, but it surfaces the structural reasons reputation can mislead.

Thesis: When the Composite Diverges from the Vezina

The Boston System Effect

Boston's #1 and #4 placements are produced by the same defensive system on different volume profiles. Swayman (37 GP) and Ullmark (49 GP) post complementary cross-pillar profiles, each finishing inside the top 4. The tandem is the season's clearest demonstration that team-system quality is not a goaltender-talent confound to be controlled away — it is itself a measurable production factor that the Composite captures cleanly.

The Multi-Pillar Penalty for Single-Pillar Excellence

Ullmark wins three pillars outright but falls to #4 because his Shutout Rate ranks #34. The Composite's design penalizes single-axis dominance when other axes underperform, and 2022-23 produces the cleanest example of this trade-off in any dataset. The methodology treats the absence of peak performance as costly, not optional.

The Workhorse Compression

Saros and Hellebuyck repeat their 2021-22 pattern. Of the four 60+ GP goaltenders, only Oettinger reaches the top 10. The workload tax persists across consecutive seasons — not as a one-year anomaly, but as a structural feature of high-volume usage that the Composite reliably surfaces.

Final Conclusion

The 2022-23 season demonstrates the Composite's value as a corrective lens: it produces a tandem signal (Boston), surfaces a Vezina-Composite divergence (Ullmark vs. Swayman), and confirms the workload tax. The methodology's discriminating power becomes clearest in seasons where reputation and multi-pillar measurement disagree.

The complete table

75 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	Jeremy Swayman	BOS	37	33	24	6	4	953	877	76	0.92	2.27	4	0.649	3.5	0.121	3	11.54	5	0.182	5	3.17	3	3.9
2	Antti Raanta	CAR	27	26	19	3	3	644	586	58	0.91	2.23	4	0.704	2	0.154	2	10.10	23	0.115	1	3.05	2	6.0
3	Ilya Samsonov	TOR	42	40	27	10	5	1184	1088	96	0.919	2.33	4	0.643	6	0.100	4.5	11.33	8	0.250	9	3.56	4.5	6.4
4	Linus Ullmark	BOS	49	48	40	6	1	1457	1366	91	0.938	1.89	2	0.816	1	0.042	34	15.01	1	0.125	2	2.27	1	7.8
5	Jake Oettinger	DAL	62	61	37	11	11	1776	1633	144	0.919	2.37	5	0.597	11	0.082	10	11.34	7	0.180	4	3.89	10.5	8.5
6	Filip Gustavsson	MIN	39	37	22	9	7	1173	1092	81	0.931	2.1	3	0.564	18	0.081	11	13.48	2	0.243	8	3.68	7	9.2
7	Alexandar Georgiev	COL	62	62	40	16	6	1904	1749	156	0.919	2.53	5	0.645	5	0.081	12	11.21	10	0.258	10	3.90	12	9.8
8	Igor Shesterkin	NYR	58	58	37	13	8	1719	1575	144	0.916	2.48	3	0.638	7	0.052	30	10.94	11	0.224	6	3.89	10.5	12.9
9	Vitek Vanecek	NJD	52	48	33	11	4	1333	1214	119	0.911	2.45	3	0.635	8	0.062	21.5	10.20	22	0.229	7	3.61	6	12.9
10	Akira Schmid	NJD	18	14	9	5	2	408	376	32	0.922	2.13	1	0.500	29	0.071	16.5	11.75	4	0.357	26	3.56	4.5	16.0
11	Alex Lyon	FLA	15	14	9	4	2	488	446	43	0.914	2.89	1	0.600	10	0.071	16.5	10.37	21	0.286	15	4.78	20	16.5
12	Ilya Sorokin	NYI	62	60	31	22	7	1838	1699	140	0.924	2.34	6	0.500	29	0.100	4.5	12.14	3	0.367	31.5	4.52	15	16.6
13	Pyotr Kochetkov	CAR	24	23	12	7	5	627	570	57	0.909	2.44	4	0.500	29	0.174	1	10.00	25	0.304	18	4.75	19	18.4
14	Connor Hellebuyck	WPG	64	64	37	25	2	1964	1807	157	0.92	2.49	4	0.578	15	0.062	21.5	11.51	6	0.391	36	4.24	14	18.5
15	Pheonix Copley	LAK	37	35	24	6	3	947	855	92	0.903	2.64	1	0.649	3.5	0.029	45	9.29	35	0.171	3	3.83	8	18.9
16	Andrei Vasilevskiy	TBL	60	60	34	22	4	1875	1716	159	0.915	2.65	4	0.567	17	0.067	19	10.79	14	0.367	31.5	4.68	18	19.9
17	Logan Thompson	VGK	37	36	21	13	3	1132	1036	96	0.915	2.65	2	0.568	16	0.056	26	10.79	15	0.361	27	4.57	16	20.0
18	Stuart Skinner	EDM	50	48	29	14	5	1536	1404	133	0.914	2.75	1	0.580	14	0.021	49	10.56	19	0.292	16	4.59	17	23.0
19	Adin Hill	VGK	27	25	16	7	1	721	660	62	0.915	2.5	0	0.593	12	0.000	64	10.65	17	0.280	14	3.88	9	23.2
20	Frederik Andersen	CAR	34	33	21	11	1	849	767	82	0.903	2.48	1	0.618	9	0.030	43	9.35	33	0.333	21.5	3.90	13	23.9
21	Tristan Jarry	PIT	47	47	24	13	7	1414	1286	128	0.909	2.9	2	0.511	26	0.043	32	10.05	24	0.277	13	5.33	27	24.4
22	Juuse Saros	NSH	64	63	33	23	7	2099	1928	171	0.919	2.69	2	0.516	24	0.032	40	11.27	9	0.365	30	5.18	23	25.2
23	Semyon Varlamov	NYI	23	22	11	9	2	689	629	60	0.913	2.7	2	0.478	33	0.091	6.5	10.48	20	0.409	39	5.45	29	25.5
24	Marc-Andre Fleury	MIN	46	45	24	16	4	1367	1241	126	0.908	2.85	2	0.522	22	0.044	31	9.85	28	0.356	25	5.25	24.5	26.1
25	Pavel Francouz	COL	16	16	8	7	1	493	451	42	0.915	2.61	1	0.500	29	0.062	21.5	10.74	16	0.438	45	5.25	24.5	27.2
26	Matt Murray	TOR	26	26	14	8	2	761	687	74	0.903	3.01	1	0.538	21	0.038	36.5	9.28	36	0.308	19	5.29	26	27.7
27	Martin Jones	SEA	48	42	27	13	3	1145	1016	131	0.887	2.99	3	0.562	19	0.071	16.5	7.76	67	0.310	20	4.85	21	28.7
28	Brian Elliott	TBL	22	22	12	8	2	689	614	75	0.891	3.4	2	0.545	20	0.091	6.5	8.19	61	0.364	29	6.25	39	31.1
29	Scott Wedgewood	DAL	21	18	9	8	3	603	552	51	0.915	2.72	1	0.429	44	0.056	26	10.82	13	0.444	49	5.67	33	33.0
30	Jack Campbell	EDM	36	34	21	9	4	1027	912	115	0.888	3.41	1	0.583	13	0.029	44	7.93	66	0.265	12	5.48	30	33.0
31	Joonas Korpisalo	CBJ,LAK	39	37	18	14	4	1206	1103	104	0.915	2.87	1	0.462	38	0.027	46.5	10.61	18	0.378	34	5.78	35	34.3
32	Dan Vladar	CGY	27	23	14	6	5	667	597	72	0.895	2.91	0	0.519	23	0.000	64	8.29	57	0.261	11	5.14	22	35.4
33	Ville Husso	DET	56	56	26	22	7	1603	1436	167	0.896	3.11	4	0.464	37	0.071	16.5	8.60	49	0.393	37	6.42	40	35.9
34	Kevin Lankinen	NSH	19	18	9	8	1	583	534	49	0.916	2.75	0	0.474	34.5	0.000	64	10.90	12	0.444	49	5.44	28	37.5
35	Darcy Kuemper	WSH	57	56	22	26	7	1674	1521	154	0.909	2.87	5	0.386	56	0.089	8	9.88	26	0.464	53	7.00	46	37.8
36	Jaroslav Halak	NYR	25	24	10	9	5	680	614	66	0.903	2.72	1	0.400	50	0.042	34	9.30	34	0.375	33	6.60	41	38.4
37	Spencer Knight	FLA	21	19	9	8	3	627	565	62	0.901	3.18	1	0.429	44	0.053	28.5	9.11	41	0.421	41	6.89	44	39.7
38	Sergei Bobrovsky	FLA	50	49	24	20	3	1466	1321	145	0.901	3.07	1	0.480	32	0.020	50	9.11	43	0.408	38	6.04	37	40.0
39	Cam Talbot	OTT	36	32	17	14	2	935	840	95	0.898	2.93	1	0.472	36	0.031	41.5	8.84	47	0.438	45	5.59	32	40.3
40	Anton Forsberg	OTT	28	25	11	11	2	817	737	80	0.902	3.26	2	0.393	53	0.080	13	9.21	37	0.440	47	7.27	53	40.6
41	Craig Anderson	BUF	26	24	11	11	2	823	747	76	0.908	3.06	1	0.423	46	0.042	34	9.83	29	0.458	52	6.91	45	41.2
42	Carter Hart	PHI	55	54	22	23	10	1665	1510	155	0.907	2.94	2	0.400	50	0.037	38	9.74	31	0.426	43	7.05	47	41.8
43	Mackenzie Blackwood	NJD	22	20	10	6	2	563	503	60	0.893	3.2	0	0.455	39	0.000	64	8.38	56	0.300	17	6.00	36	42.4
44	Thatcher Demko	VAN	32	32	14	14	4	1005	906	99	0.901	3.16	1	0.438	41	0.031	41.5	9.15	38	0.438	45	7.07	48	42.7
45	Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen	BUF	33	32	17	11	4	1054	940	115	0.892	3.61	0	0.515	25	0.000	64	8.17	62	0.344	23	6.76	43	43.4
46	Collin Delia	VAN	20	18	10	6	2	526	464	62	0.882	3.28	0	0.500	29	0.000	64	7.48	71	0.333	21.5	6.20	38	44.7
47	Alex Stalock	CHI	27	24	9	15	2	804	730	74	0.908	3.01	2	0.333	61	0.083	9	9.86	27	0.625	70.5	8.22	56	44.7
48	Philipp Grubauer	SEA	39	36	17	14	4	930	832	98	0.895	2.85	0	0.436	42	0.000	64	8.49	52	0.389	35	5.76	34	45.4
49	David Rittich	WPG	21	18	9	8	1	506	456	50	0.901	2.67	0	0.429	44	0.000	64	9.12	40	0.444	49	5.56	31	45.6
50	Jordan Binnington	STL	61	60	27	27	6	1826	1632	194	0.894	3.31	2	0.443	40	0.033	39	8.41	55	0.450	51	7.19	49	46.8
51	Eric Comrie	BUF	19	19	9	9	1	594	526	68	0.886	3.67	1	0.474	34.5	0.053	28.5	7.74	68	0.474	54	7.56	54	47.8
52	Karel Vejmelka	ARI	50	49	18	24	6	1670	1503	168	0.9	3.43	3	0.360	58	0.061	24	8.95	44	0.490	57	9.33	58	48.2
53	Charlie Lindgren	WSH	31	26	13	11	3	853	767	86	0.899	3.05	0	0.419	48	0.000	64	8.92	45	0.423	42	6.62	42	48.2
54	Jacob Markstrom	CGY	59	58	23	21	12	1542	1376	166	0.892	2.92	1	0.390	55	0.017	52	8.29	58	0.362	28	7.22	50	48.6
55	Jonathan Quick	LAK,VGK	41	36	16	15	6	1080	953	127	0.882	3.41	2	0.390	54	0.056	26	7.50	70	0.417	40	7.94	55	49.0
56	Mads Sogaard	OTT	19	17	8	6	3	524	466	58	0.889	3.32	0	0.421	47	0.000	64	8.03	64	0.353	24	7.25	51	50.0
57	Casey DeSmith	PIT	38	33	15	16	4	1142	1033	109	0.905	3.17	0	0.395	52	0.000	64	9.48	32	0.485	55	7.27	52	51.0
58	Thomas Greiss	STL	21	16	7	10	0	626	561	66	0.896	3.64	1	0.333	61	0.062	21.5	8.50	51	0.625	70.5	9.43	59	52.6
59	James Reimer	SJS	43	41	12	21	8	1335	1188	147	0.89	3.48	3	0.279	63	0.073	14	8.08	63	0.512	60	12.25	65	53.0
60	Connor Ingram	ARI	27	26	6	13	8	960	871	89	0.907	3.37	1	0.222	71	0.038	36.5	9.79	30	0.500	58.5	14.83	69	53.0
61	Samuel Montembeault	MTL	40	39	16	19	3	1345	1212	133	0.901	3.42	0	0.400	50	0.000	64	9.11	42	0.487	56	8.31	57	53.8
62	Jake Allen	MTL	42	41	15	24	3	1335	1190	145	0.891	3.55	1	0.357	59	0.024	48	8.21	60	0.585	66	9.67	60	58.6
63	John Gibson	ANA	53	52	14	31	8	1983	1783	200	0.899	3.99	1	0.264	65	0.019	51	8.91	46	0.596	68	14.29	68	59.6
64	Alex Nedeljkovic	DET	15	13	5	7	2	466	417	49	0.895	3.53	0	0.333	61	0.000	64	8.51	50	0.538	61	9.80	62	59.6
65	Anthony Stolarz	ANA	19	12	5	6	0	494	444	51	0.899	3.73	0	0.263	66	0.000	64	8.71	48	0.500	58.5	10.20	64	60.1
66	Lukas Dostal	ANA	19	17	4	10	3	679	612	67	0.901	3.78	0	0.211	72	0.000	64	9.13	39	0.588	67	16.75	72	62.8
67	Petr Mrazek	CHI	39	38	10	22	3	1248	1116	132	0.894	3.66	0	0.256	67	0.000	64	8.45	53	0.579	65	13.20	66	63.0
68	Kaapo Kahkonen	SJS	37	37	9	20	7	1149	1014	135	0.883	3.85	1	0.243	68	0.027	46.5	7.51	69	0.541	62	15.00	70	63.1
69	Magnus Hellberg	OTT,DET	18	14	5	8	1	447	397	50	0.888	3.2	0	0.278	64	0.000	64	7.94	65	0.571	64	10.00	63	64.0
70	Spencer Martin	VAN	29	27	11	15	1	830	723	107	0.871	3.99	0	0.379	57	0.000	64	6.76	75	0.556	63	9.73	61	64.0
71	Daniil Tarasov	CBJ	17	16	4	11	1	528	471	57	0.892	3.91	0	0.235	69	0.000	64	8.26	59	0.688	74	14.25	67	66.6
72	Arvid Soderblom	CHI	15	13	2	10	2	453	405	48	0.894	3.45	0	0.133	74	0.000	64	8.44	54	0.769	75	24.00	74	68.2
73	Elvis Merzlikins	CBJ	30	27	7	18	2	889	779	110	0.876	4.23	0	0.233	70	0.000	64	7.08	73	0.667	72.5	15.71	71	70.1
74	Felix Sandstrom	PHI	20	18	3	12	3	575	506	69	0.88	3.72	0	0.150	73	0.000	64	7.33	72	0.667	72.5	23.00	73	70.9
75	Michael Hutchinson	CBJ	16	10	2	6	3	432	379	54	0.877	4.29	0	0.125	75	0.000	64	7.02	74	0.600	69	27.00	75	71.4

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.