NHL Fantasy – Daily Goalie Rankings – October 27th, 2023

by: Domagoj Erbežnik

We have 6 games on schedule on Friday night starting at midnight with defending NHL Champs facing the Blackhawks in Chicago looking to continue their undefeated streak. We have some games with the potential to be high scoring like the game in New Jersey between the Devils and the Sabers. Hill/Thompson and Andersen/Raanta should be the best starters as they face the weakest opposition but Binnington is right in there with them as he has been in great form to start the season. Kahkonen and Mrazek should be avoided in all fantasy formats.

1
Adin Hill/Logan Thompson vs Chicago Blackhawks
Grade: A

The Golden Knights are clearly the best team in the league at this point and either of their goalies is a must-start when they are in goal. Tonight they will face the Blackhawks in Chicago and will try to record an 8 straight win to start the season. The Blackhawks have scored only 3 goals in the last 3 games and were shutout in 2 out of those 3 games.

2
Jordan Binnington vs Vancouver Canucks
Grade: B+

Binnington is off to a great start to the season as he has a 2-1-1 record with a .945 save percentage. He played all four games against teams that made playoffs last season except the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Blues look good so far this season and a dip in Binnington’s performance is expected but this start is very encouraging for both his fantasy owners and the Blues. The Blues are on b2b but they played another great game yesterday as they won 3-0 against the Flames. He is a very strong start and should be started in all fantasy formats tonight.

3
Frederik Andersen/Antti Raanta vs San Jose Sharks
Grade: B

There isn’t much of a difference between Andersen and Raanta in this matchup against the Sharks tonight. The goalie that starts for the Canes is a must-start in all fantasy formats as they will face the worst team in the league on their home ice. Everything except an easy win for the Canes will be a surprise.

4
Marc-Andre Fleury vs Washington Capitals
Grade: B

Fleury will go against the Capitals tonight in a matchup that the Wild are favorites and this should be one of the games that Fleury and the Wild should win easily. Fleury has a 1-1-0 record this season and the loss came against the Kings when he allowed 5 goals on 30 shots and wasn’t very impressive. This should be a much easier game for him and the Wild in my opinion despite bookies having the Capitals as the favorites. The Capitals scored only 3 goals in regular time in 3 games at home this season.

5
Vitek Vanecek vs Buffalo Sabers
Grade: B-

Vanecek is currently in a 50-50 split with Akira Schmid when it comes to starts and Vanecek has a 2-1-0 record in his 3 starts so far with a .900 save percentage. He hasn’t looked great so far but a good thing for both him and Schmid is that they have one of the best offenses in front of them. The Devils are favorites in most matchups this season and again they will be one against the Sabers. This game has a good potential to be a high-scoring affair but Vanecek should be a good start in most formats today.

6
Thatcher Demko vs St. Louis Blues
Grade: C+

Demko has looked great at the start of the season with a save percentage of .924 but he has been below .900 in both of his last two games he started against the Predators and Lightning. The Blues are on back2back but they look good and especially in goal as they allowed only 15 goals in 6 games so far. This game has the potential to be a low scoring and both goalies should be started in most fantasy formats.

7
Karel Vejmelka vs Los Angeles Kings
Grade: C

Karel has started the season in a great form as he has a 2-1-0 record over 3 starts allowing only 5 goals in those 3 starts. He also has a .942 save percentage and looks great along with the Coyotes who collected 6 points in 6 games so far. Kings also started the season on a good note but to everyone’s surprise, the Coyotes are playing much better on the defensive end so that is a reason why Vejmelka is ranked slightly above and if you have a doubt between them two I would go with Vejmelka at home.

8
Pheonix Copley/Cam Talbot vs Arizona Coyotes
Grade: C

Both Copley and Talbot don’t look great so far this season as they have a save percentage of .826 and .900. Talbot is a slightly better option if he starts but you should be careful with starting either of them. On the other hand, the Coyotes look great at the start of the season and should be a slight favorite at home in this matchup.

9
Darcy Kuemper vs Minnesota Wild
Grade: D+

Kuemper has a 0-2-1 record over the last 3 games and has allowed 13 goals on 87 shots with a save percentage of .850. All losses came against Canadian teams (Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal). He doesn’t look like he has hit the ground running this season and his team isn’t providing much help so far. This is another tough start for him and if you have a better option tonight start them before Kuemper.

10
Eric Comrie vs New Jersey Devils
Grade: D+

Comrie has been solid in goal since Devon Levi went down with an injury. He played two games so far this season and he won against the Islanders and has a record against the Canadiens. His save percentage is at .923 this season but tonight he will go against the Devils and their powered offense. Comrie is a goalie I would avoid tonight but he can be an option in deep leagues but don’t expect him to bring many points to your fantasy team.

11
Kaapo Kahkonen vs Carolina Hurricanes
Grade: D-

The Sharks are the worst team in the league and have currently collected only 1 point in 7 games. Kahkonen isn’t a fantasy option against most teams this season and certainly isn’t a good option against one of the best teams in the league in Carolina on the road. Don’t start Kahkonen in any fantasy formats today.

12
Petr Mrazek vs Vegas Golden Knights
Grade: E

At this point, there aren’t many goalies that should be started against the Golden Knights and if you are on a bottom 10 team in the league like Mrazek you definitely shouldn’t be started in any fantasy formats tonight.