Research Report: Comparative Goaltending Efficacy (2023-24 Season)

Inclusion Criteria

Restricted to goaltenders with a minimum of 15 Games Played during the 2023-24 season.

Primary Findings: The Season’s Elite

The following table represents the top 20 goaltenders for the 2023-24 season, ranked by their average standing across all five pillars.

Rank	Player	Team	GP	Composite Score
1	Frederik Andersen	CAR	16	1.0
2	Laurent Brossoit	WPG	23	3.1
3	Thatcher Demko	VAN	51	7.3
4	David Rittich	LAK	24	8.5
5	Sergei Bobrovsky	FLA	58	9.6
6	Anthony Stolarz	FLA	27	9.7
7	Jonathan Quick	NYR	27	10.4
8	Connor Hellebuyck	WPG	60	11.6
9	Jeremy Swayman	BOS	44	12.9
10	Igor Shesterkin	NYR	55	13.6
11	Pyotr Kochetkov	CAR	42	15.2
12	Semyon Varlamov	NYI	28	16.0
13	Linus Ullmark	BOS	40	16.4
14	Jake Oettinger	DAL	54	17.7
15	Charlie Lindgren	WSH	50	19.4
16	Stuart Skinner	EDM	59	22.2
17	Adin Hill	VGK	35	22.2
18	Calvin Pickard	EDM	23	24.2
19	Cam Talbot	LAK	54	24.7
20	Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen	BUF	54	25.5

Detailed Logical Analysis

1. The Andersen Perfect-Score Anomaly

Frederik Andersen's Composite Score of 1.0 is the lowest possible value the methodology can produce — he ranks #1 in all five pillars. No other goaltender in any dataset we have produced has achieved a perfect-pillar profile. The result must be qualified: he played only 16 GP, the smallest qualifying sample of any top-five finisher across the era. The Composite faithfully captures what the data shows — Andersen was statistically perfect across every measured dimension during a partial season — while leaving the volume question explicit through his GP column.

2. Three Teams with Dual Top-10 Goaltenders

The 2023-24 season produces a structural signal not seen in prior single-season cuts: three franchises place both of their primary goaltenders inside the top 10. Carolina holds #1 (Andersen) and #11 (Kochetkov, just outside), with Florida placing Bobrovsky (#5) and Stolarz (#6), Winnipeg placing Brossoit (#2) and Hellebuyck (#8), and the New York Rangers placing Quick (#7) and Shesterkin (#10). The pattern foreshadows the more pronounced dual-tandem clusters that emerge in the 2025-26 season.

3. The Hellebuyck Vezina Profile

Connor Hellebuyck wins the Vezina Trophy this season but finishes the Composite at #8 (11.6). His pillar profile is consistent rather than dominant — #8 in WinRate, #16 in SO Rate, #5 in Svs/GA, #21 in LossRate, #8 in GA/W. The methodology recognizes him as a top-tier goaltender but ranks him below seven others whose lower-volume seasons produced more dominant cross-pillar averages. The result is the year's clearest illustration of the volume-versus-efficiency trade-off the Composite is designed to expose.

Conclusions

The 2023-24 season produces both the methodology's most extreme single goaltender finding (Andersen's perfect Composite) and the year's most consistent system-level signal (three dual-tandem teams). The Hellebuyck case continues the Vezina-Composite divergence pattern observed in 2022-23 with Ullmark — high-volume goaltenders whose reputational value exceeds their multi-pillar Composite ranking.

Thesis: The Limit of the Composite

The Perfect-Score Outlier

Andersen's 1.0 Composite is the methodology's mathematical floor. He cannot be ranked any higher by this model. The result raises a real question about sample-size handling — should a 16-GP sample be eligible for the same ranking as a 60-GP sample? — but the methodology is intentionally agnostic on volume above its 15-GP threshold. Andersen's #1 finish reflects what the data shows; his GP column tells the rest of the story.

The Dual-Tandem Foreshadowing

Four teams in 2023-24 place two goaltenders in or near the top 10. The pattern is more dispersed than the explicit dual-top-10 clusters of 2025-26 (Colorado, Buffalo, Minnesota), but it shows the team-system signal building across the era. The system-quality variable that the Composite captures appears to be a cumulative phenomenon, not a one-season event.

The Vezina-Composite Repeat

For the second consecutive season, the Vezina winner does not lead the Composite. Hellebuyck (Vezina) ranks #8; Ullmark (2022-23 Vezina) ranked #4. The methodology does not contradict the awards — both are top-10 goaltenders by the Composite's own measure — but it consistently identifies different #1s. The discriminating power of the multi-pillar model is most visible in years when reputation and balanced-pillar measurement diverge.

Final Conclusion

The 2023-24 season produces the methodology's clearest mathematical floor (Andersen's 1.0 Composite) and confirms the building system-level signals that culminate in 2025-26. Read alongside the prior seasons, the season demonstrates that the Composite is sensitive to extremes the traditional metrics blur over.

The complete table

70 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	Frederik Andersen	CAR	16	16	13	2	0	410	382	28	0.932	1.84	3	0.812	1	0.188	1	13.64	1	0.125	1	2.15	1	1.0
2	Laurent Brossoit	WPG	23	22	15	5	2	620	575	45	0.927	2.0	3	0.652	5	0.136	2.5	12.78	2	0.227	4	3.00	2	3.1
3	Thatcher Demko	VAN	51	51	35	14	2	1492	1369	123	0.918	2.45	5	0.686	2	0.098	12.5	11.13	7	0.275	11	3.51	4	7.3
4	David Rittich	LAK	24	22	13	6	3	621	572	49	0.921	2.15	3	0.542	20	0.136	2.5	11.67	4	0.273	10	3.77	6	8.5
5	Sergei Bobrovsky	FLA	58	58	36	17	4	1584	1449	135	0.915	2.37	6	0.621	7	0.103	9	10.73	10	0.293	17	3.75	5	9.6
6	Anthony Stolarz	FLA	27	24	16	7	2	684	633	51	0.925	2.03	2	0.593	11	0.083	16	12.41	3	0.292	15.5	3.19	3	9.7
7	Jonathan Quick	NYR	27	26	18	6	2	771	702	69	0.911	2.62	2	0.667	3	0.077	19	10.17	18	0.231	5	3.83	7	10.4
8	Connor Hellebuyck	WPG	60	60	37	19	4	1798	1656	142	0.921	2.39	5	0.617	8	0.083	16	11.66	5	0.317	21	3.84	8	11.6
9	Jeremy Swayman	BOS	44	43	25	10	8	1287	1179	108	0.916	2.53	3	0.568	14	0.070	23.5	10.92	8	0.233	6	4.32	13	12.9
10	Igor Shesterkin	NYR	55	55	36	17	2	1606	1466	141	0.913	2.58	4	0.655	4	0.073	21	10.40	15	0.309	19	3.92	9	13.6
11	Pyotr Kochetkov	CAR	42	40	23	13	4	1031	939	92	0.911	2.33	4	0.548	16	0.100	10.5	10.21	17	0.325	22	4.00	10.5	15.2
12	Semyon Varlamov	NYI	28	27	14	8	4	837	768	69	0.918	2.6	3	0.500	27	0.111	7	11.13	6	0.296	18	4.93	22	16.0
13	Linus Ullmark	BOS	40	39	22	10	7	1207	1105	103	0.915	2.57	2	0.550	15	0.051	33	10.73	11	0.256	8	4.68	15	16.4
14	Jake Oettinger	DAL	54	53	35	14	4	1476	1336	140	0.905	2.72	3	0.648	6	0.057	30	9.54	33	0.264	9	4.00	10.5	17.7
15	Charlie Lindgren	WSH	50	48	25	16	7	1431	1304	127	0.911	2.67	6	0.500	27	0.125	5	10.27	16	0.333	24	5.08	25	19.4
16	Stuart Skinner	EDM	59	57	36	16	5	1553	1406	147	0.905	2.62	2	0.610	9	0.035	45	9.56	32	0.281	13	4.08	12	22.2
17	Adin Hill	VGK	35	35	19	12	2	979	890	89	0.909	2.71	2	0.543	19	0.057	29	10.00	21	0.343	26	4.68	16	22.2
18	Calvin Pickard	EDM	23	20	12	7	1	581	528	53	0.909	2.45	1	0.522	22	0.050	34.5	9.96	22	0.350	28.5	4.42	14	24.2
19	Cam Talbot	LAK	54	52	27	20	6	1490	1361	130	0.913	2.5	3	0.500	27	0.058	28	10.47	13	0.385	36.5	4.81	19	24.7
20	Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen	BUF	54	51	27	22	4	1470	1338	132	0.91	2.57	5	0.500	27	0.098	12.5	10.14	19	0.431	48	4.89	21	25.5
21	Ilya Samsonov	TOR	40	40	23	7	8	1087	967	120	0.89	3.13	3	0.575	13	0.075	20	8.06	65	0.175	2	5.22	28	25.6
22	Logan Thompson	VGK	46	42	25	14	5	1298	1179	119	0.908	2.7	1	0.543	18	0.024	53	9.91	24	0.333	24	4.76	17	27.2
23	Alexandar Georgiev	COL	63	62	38	18	5	1770	1588	183	0.897	3.02	2	0.603	10	0.032	47	8.68	50	0.290	14	4.82	20	28.2
24	Juuse Saros	NSH	64	64	35	24	5	1845	1672	173	0.906	2.86	3	0.547	17	0.047	37	9.66	31	0.375	32.5	4.94	24	28.3
25	Jordan Binnington	STL	57	55	28	21	5	1786	1630	156	0.913	2.84	3	0.491	32	0.055	32	10.45	14	0.382	35	5.57	31	28.8
26	Martin Jones	TOR	22	19	11	8	1	574	518	56	0.902	2.87	2	0.500	27	0.105	8	9.25	39	0.421	44	5.09	26.5	28.9
27	Joel Hofer	STL	30	27	15	12	1	830	759	72	0.914	2.65	1	0.500	27	0.037	42.5	10.54	12	0.444	50	4.80	18	29.9
28	Kevin Lankinen	NSH	24	17	11	6	0	610	554	56	0.908	2.82	1	0.458	41	0.059	26.5	9.89	26	0.353	30	5.09	26.5	30.0
29	Andrei Vasilevskiy	TBL	52	52	30	20	2	1477	1329	148	0.9	2.9	2	0.577	12	0.038	41	8.98	42	0.385	36.5	4.93	23	30.9
30	Connor Ingram	ARI	50	48	23	21	3	1461	1325	136	0.907	2.91	6	0.460	40	0.125	5	9.74	28	0.438	49	5.91	38	32.0
31	Alex Nedeljkovic	PIT	38	33	18	7	7	1039	937	102	0.902	2.97	1	0.474	36.5	0.030	49	9.19	40	0.212	3	5.67	34.5	32.6
32	Joey Daccord	SEA	50	46	19	18	11	1374	1258	116	0.916	2.46	3	0.380	56	0.065	25	10.84	9	0.391	39	6.11	41	34.0
33	Scott Wedgewood	DAL	32	28	16	7	5	844	759	85	0.899	2.85	0	0.500	27	0.000	62.5	8.93	45	0.250	7	5.31	30	34.3
34	James Reimer	DET	25	20	11	8	2	727	657	70	0.904	3.11	2	0.440	45	0.100	10.5	9.39	36	0.400	40	6.36	42	34.7
35	Carter Hart	PHI	26	25	12	9	3	727	659	68	0.906	2.8	1	0.462	38.5	0.040	40	9.69	30	0.360	31	5.67	34.5	34.8
36	Jonas Johansson	TBL	26	24	12	7	5	752	669	83	0.89	3.37	2	0.462	38.5	0.083	16	8.06	63	0.292	15.5	6.92	51	36.8
37	Ilya Sorokin	NYI	56	55	25	19	12	1821	1655	167	0.909	3.01	2	0.446	43	0.036	44	9.91	23	0.345	27	6.68	48	37.0
38	Antti Raanta	CAR	24	20	12	7	2	493	430	63	0.872	2.99	1	0.500	27	0.050	34.5	6.83	70	0.350	28.5	5.25	29	37.8
39	Anton Forsberg	OTT	30	28	15	12	0	765	681	84	0.89	3.21	2	0.500	27	0.071	22	8.11	61	0.429	46.5	5.60	33	37.9
40	Alex Lyon	DET	44	43	21	18	5	1325	1198	127	0.904	3.05	2	0.477	35	0.047	38	9.43	35	0.419	42.5	6.05	40	38.1
41	Samuel Ersson	PHI	51	49	23	19	7	1204	1072	132	0.89	2.82	4	0.451	42	0.082	18	8.12	60	0.388	38	5.74	37	39.0
42	Filip Gustavsson	MIN	45	43	20	18	4	1283	1154	129	0.899	3.06	3	0.444	44	0.070	23.5	8.95	43	0.419	42.5	6.45	43	39.2
43	Cayden Primeau	MTL	23	21	8	9	4	731	665	66	0.91	2.99	2	0.348	60	0.095	14	10.08	20	0.429	46.5	8.25	57	39.5
44	Vitek Vanecek	NJD	32	29	17	9	3	862	767	95	0.89	3.18	0	0.531	21	0.000	62.5	8.07	62	0.310	20	5.59	32	39.5
45	Jacob Markstrom	CGY	48	48	23	23	2	1379	1248	131	0.905	2.78	2	0.479	34	0.042	39	9.53	34	0.479	57	5.70	36	40.0
46	Tristan Jarry	PIT	51	48	19	25	5	1369	1236	133	0.903	2.91	6	0.373	57	0.125	5	9.29	37	0.521	58	7.00	52	41.8
47	Ville Husso	DET	19	18	9	5	2	556	496	60	0.892	3.55	0	0.474	36.5	0.000	62.5	8.27	58	0.278	12	6.67	46	43.0
48	Casey DeSmith	VAN	29	27	12	9	6	759	680	80	0.896	2.89	1	0.414	49	0.037	42.5	8.50	55	0.333	24	6.67	46	43.3
49	Marc-Andre Fleury	MIN	40	36	17	15	5	1056	945	111	0.895	2.98	2	0.425	48	0.056	31	8.51	54	0.417	41	6.53	44	43.6
50	Joseph Woll	TOR	25	23	12	11	1	772	700	72	0.907	2.94	0	0.480	33	0.000	62.5	9.72	29	0.478	55.5	6.00	39	43.8
51	Philipp Grubauer	SEA	36	34	14	16	2	941	846	95	0.899	2.85	2	0.389	54	0.059	26.5	8.91	46	0.471	53	6.79	50	45.9
52	Devon Levi	BUF	23	21	10	8	2	666	599	67	0.899	3.1	0	0.435	46	0.000	62.5	8.94	44	0.381	34	6.70	49	47.1
53	Samuel Montembeault	MTL	41	40	16	15	9	1307	1180	127	0.903	3.14	0	0.390	53	0.000	62.5	9.29	38	0.375	32.5	7.94	55	48.2
54	Darcy Kuemper	WSH	33	30	13	14	3	940	837	103	0.89	3.31	1	0.394	52	0.033	46	8.13	59	0.467	51.5	7.92	54	52.5
55	Daniil Tarasov	CBJ	24	23	8	11	3	796	723	73	0.908	3.18	0	0.333	62	0.000	62.5	9.90	25	0.478	55.5	9.12	62	53.4
56	Petr Mrazek	CHI	56	53	18	31	4	1724	1565	160	0.908	3.05	1	0.321	63	0.019	54	9.78	27	0.585	64	8.89	61	53.8
57	Nico Daws	NJD	21	20	9	11	0	568	508	60	0.894	3.15	0	0.429	47	0.000	62.5	8.47	56	0.550	61	6.67	46	54.5
58	Dustin Wolf	CGY	17	15	7	7	1	467	417	50	0.893	3.16	0	0.412	50	0.000	62.5	8.34	57	0.467	51.5	7.14	53	54.8
59	Elvis Merzlikins	CBJ	41	40	13	17	8	1266	1136	130	0.897	3.45	1	0.317	65	0.025	52	8.74	49	0.425	45	10.00	66	55.4
60	Karel Vejmelka	ARI	38	33	13	19	2	1089	977	114	0.897	3.35	1	0.342	61	0.030	49	8.57	51	0.576	63	8.77	60	56.8
61	Lukas Dostal	ANA	44	38	14	23	3	1310	1181	129	0.902	3.33	1	0.318	64	0.026	51	9.16	41	0.605	66	9.21	63	57.0
62	Mackenzie Blackwood	SJS	44	41	10	25	4	1383	1243	140	0.899	3.45	2	0.227	68	0.049	36	8.88	47	0.610	67	14.00	68	57.2
63	Dan Vladar	CGY	20	19	8	9	2	574	506	68	0.882	3.62	0	0.400	51	0.000	62.5	7.44	68	0.474	54	8.50	59	58.9
64	Joonas Korpisalo	OTT	55	49	21	26	4	1522	1354	168	0.89	3.27	0	0.382	55	0.000	62.5	8.06	64	0.531	59	8.00	56	59.3
65	Jake Allen	MTL,NJD	34	33	12	18	4	1087	973	114	0.895	3.44	0	0.353	59	0.000	62.5	8.54	52	0.545	60	9.50	64	59.5
66	Kaapo Kahkonen	SJS,NJD	37	33	7	24	3	1139	1023	116	0.898	3.64	1	0.189	69	0.030	49	8.82	48	0.727	69	16.57	69	60.8
67	Spencer Martin	CBJ,CAR	19	16	7	9	2	533	474	59	0.889	3.3	0	0.368	58	0.000	62.5	8.03	66	0.562	62	8.43	58	61.3
68	Akira Schmid	NJD	19	15	5	9	1	457	409	48	0.895	3.15	0	0.263	67	0.000	62.5	8.52	53	0.600	65	9.60	65	62.5
69	John Gibson	ANA	46	44	13	27	2	1343	1192	151	0.888	3.54	0	0.283	66	0.000	62.5	7.89	67	0.614	68	11.62	67	66.1
70	Arvid Soderblom	CHI	32	29	5	22	2	942	829	114	0.88	3.92	0	0.156	70	0.000	62.5	7.27	69	0.759	70	22.80	70	68.3

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.