After a look at which skaters saw their pre-draft rankings change the most from the mid-term rankings to the final rankings, it’s time to look at the goalies who could possibly be taken in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. The swings from the mid-term rankings to the final rankings aren’t nearly as drastic as those among the skaters because the field is much smaller, but a few netminders still saw a difference of 20 spots or more. With that brief intro in mind, let’s take a look at some goalies.
North American Goalies
Biggest Risers
Biggest Risers, North American Goalies
| Player | Mid-term Rank | Final Rank | Difference | Team | Save Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zachary Bouthillier | Unranked | 6 | Plus-26 | Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL) | 0.894 |
| Roman Durny | Unranked | 9 | Plus-23 | Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) | 0.92 |
| Christian Propp | Unranked | 11 | Plus-21 | North Bay Battalion (OHL) | 0.91 |
| Max Paddock | Unranked | 22 | Plus-10 | Max Paddock (WHL) | 0.904 |
| Vincent Purpura | Unranked | 23 | Plus-9 | Omaha Lancers (USHL) | 0.916 |
| Matthew Thiessen | 11 | 4 | Plus-7 | Steinbach Pistons (MJHL) | 0.923 |
| Juraj Ovecka | 27 | 20 | Plus-7 | Springfield Jr. Blues (NAHL) | 0.924 |
| Ty Taylor | Unranked | 25 | Plus-7 | Vernon Vipers (BCHL) | 0.931 |
Zachary Bouthillier, +26 (Unranked to 6, North America)
The player who saw their ranking change the most from either the North American or European rankings was Zachary Bouthillier. The 6’0”, 154-pound Chambly, Quebec native was one of 19 goalies in the QMJHL to play in 38 games or more this season, as he compiled 13 wins for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. After he posted an .894 save percentage (better than it sounds in the QMJHL) with a 3.42 goals against average and a shutout, Bouthillier had a .931 save percentage in Chicoutimi’s six-game opening round loss to German Rubtsov and the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in the opening round of the QMJHL postseason. He also earned CHL Goaltender of the Week honors for January 29th to February 4th, as he stopped 73 shots in two games for a .948 save percentage and 1.88 GAA in a pair of wins.
Roman Durny, +23 (Unranked to 9, North America)
A Slovak netminder that catches right, Roman Durny had a season for the Des Moines Buccaneers in the USHL that provides an argument against goalie wins. Despite posting a .920 save percentage with a pair of shutouts and keeping the opposition to two goals or less in 17 of his 25 games, the 6’1”, 209-pound Durny finished the 2017-18 campaign with a record of 8-10-4 to help Des Moines finish 16th in the 17-team USHL. He split time with another 2018 NHL Draft prospect in Jake Kucharski, who played in one more game than Durny and posted noticeably worse numbers.
Not only has Durny played well for his team in the USHL, he played well for Team Slovakia at the most recent World Junior Championship. With 143 saves on 154 shots, Durny finished the tournament with a .929 save percentage and a 2.75 goals against average. Of the 11 goalies who played in four games or more at WJC, Durny had the second-highest save percentage at the WJC behind Carter Hart’s .930 for Team Canada.
Biggest Fallers
Biggest Fallers, North American Goalies
| Player | Mid-term Rank | Final Rank | Difference | Team | Save Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Mor | 15 | Unranked | Minus-17 | U-18 National Team (USDP) | 0.871 |
| Jacob Kucharski | 5 | 21 | Minus-16 | Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) | 0.881 |
| Nick Donofrio | 17 | 31 | Minus-14 | Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL) | 0.884 |
| Lucas Fitzpatrick | 20 | Unranked | Minus-12 | Shawnigan Cataractes (QMJHL) | 0.874 |
| Jacob Ingham | 3 | 13 | Minus-10 | Mississauga Steelheads (OHL) | 0.88 |
| Adam Scheel | 23 | Unranked | Minus-9 | Penticton Vees (BCHL) | 0.927 |
| Daniel Moody | 21 | 29 | Minus-8 | Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) | 0.862 |
| Ryan Ullan | 24 | Unranked | Minus-8 | Bismarck Bobcats (NAHL) | 0.91 |
| Samuel Harvey | 10 | 17 | Minus-7 | Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL) | 0.93 |
| Tristan Cote-Cazenave | 25 | Unranked | Minus-7 | Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL) | 0.903 |
Jonathan Mor, -17 (15 to Unranked, North American goalies)
The biggest faller among all goalies, Jonathan Mor fell 17 spots after he posted mediocre numbers with U.S. National teams. The 6’2” 194-pound netminder had a notable performance back in September to help him land 15th in the mid-term rankings, when he made ten saves on 12 shots in the CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game. The Highland Park, Illinois native posted an .871 save percentage for both the U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP) Juniors team in the USHL and for the U.S. National U-18 team while also posting an .885 save percentage in a pair of games for the U-17 team.
Although his stock has taken a little bit of a hit since January, Mor’s path to becoming a potential NHL draft pick is pretty interesting. After a rough season as a forward when he was younger, Mor decided to try something different to have a positive impact for his team. From Becky Olsen’s article on Mor for the U.S.A. National Team Development Program’s webiste back in September:
“I started skating when I was eight years old,” he explained. “I always had a desire to skate. I started as a forward for one year as a squirt minor. I scored one goal all season and it was in the last game of the year. It was an icing shot and it was my only shot too.
“My parents said, ‘This is obviously not working out, and if you can’t score goals, why don’t you try stopping them instead?’ I fell in love with it the minute I stepped onto the ice and just stuck with it. Here I am today.”
Jacob Kucharski, -16 (5 to 21, North America)
While his Des Moines Buccaneers’ teammate Durny rocketed up the rankings, Kucharski unfortunately headed in the other direction. The Erie, Pennsylvania native who stands at 6’4” and 215 pounds finished the USHL campaign with an .881 save percentage and 3.56 goals against average to win just eight of the 23 games where he earned a decision.
After his appearance in the USHL Top Prospects Game in early January (where he stopped 13 of the 15 shots he saw) helped him land his mid-term ranking, Kucharski’s less-than-ideal stats for Des Moines may have hurt his final ranking. To go along with his .881 save percentage, Kucharski allowed three goals or more in 16 of the 26 games he played in the USHL this season.
Kucharski is committed to Providence College for 2019-20
European Goalies
European Goalies
| Player | Mid-term Rank | Final Rank | Team | Save Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lukas Dostal | 3 | 1 | SK Horacka Slavia Trebic (Czech2) | 0.921 |
| Jesper Eliasson | 13 | 11 | IF Troja-Ljungby J20 (J20 Elit) | 0.93 |
| Filip Lindberg | Unranked | 13 | TUTO Hockey U20 (Jr. A SM-liiga) | 0.922 |
| Justus Annunen | 5 | 4 | Karpat U20 (Jr. A SM-liiga) | 0.907 |
| Akira Schmid | 7 | 6 | Langnau U20 (Elite Jr. A) | N/A |
| Stephane Charlin | Unranked | 14 | Geneve-Servette U20 (Elite Jr. A) | N/A |
| Alexei Melnichuk | 8 | 8 | SKA-Neva St. Petersburg (VHL) | 0.935 |
| Daniil Isayev | 9 | 9 | Loko Yaroslavl (MHL) | 0.936 |
| Daniel Dvorak | 10 | 10 | HC Hradec Kralove U20 (Czech U20) | 0.921 |
| Jere Huhtamaa | 12 | 12 | Blues U20 (Jr. A SM-liiga) | 0.907 |
| Jakub Skarek | 1 | 2 | HC Dukla Jihlava (Czech) | 0.913 |
| Amir Miftakhov | 2 | 3 | Irbis Kazan (MHL) | 0.934 |
| Olof Lindom | 4 | 5 | Djurgardens IF J20 (SuperElit) | 0.897 |
| Samuel Ersson | 6 | 7 | Brynas IF J20 (SuperElit) | 0.92 |
| Conrad Molder | 15 | Unranked | KRS Junior (MHL) | 0.91 |
| Dominik Pavlat | 14 | Unranked | Pirati Chomutov U20 (Czech U20) | 0.927 |
| Jesper Myrenberg | 11 | Unranked | Linkoping HC J20 (SuperElit) | 0.922 |
Lukas Dostal, +2 (3 to 1, European goalies)
There weren’t any European goalies who had a drastic rise or fall from the mid-term ranks to the final ranks, but Lukas Dostal was one of the few netminders to jump up two spots and did so at the top of the rankings. The 6’1” 165-pound goaltender had a solid season split between HC Kometa Brno U-20 (.919 save percentage and 3.00 goals against average in 14 games) and SK Horacka Slavia Trebic in the Czech Republic’s 1.liga (.921 save percentage and 2.43 goals against average in 20 games). Dostal also represented the Czech Republic in the U-18 World Junior Championship, where he had a .905 save percentage in five games.
The skill seems evident for Dostal, who has great reaction time for his hands and his footwork, but it seems as though his size might deter some teams from picking him early in next month’s draft. Steve Kournianos of The Draft Analyst touched on this issue back in January when he previewed the top ten goalies in this draft:
“Add Dostal to the list of “smaller” goalies whose quickness is a tremendous part of his overall ability to stop pucks. Dostal stays quite low in his butterfly and is willing to leave a good chunk of the net open when challenging shooters on the power play or during odd-man rushes. This tactic seems to lull forwards into thinking the young goalie is over-committing and susceptible to a backdoor or cross-crease pass, which gives off the impression that he causes more forced passes than medium or high-danger shots against. Dostal’s glove and blocker hands are very quick”
Dostal is set to play for SK Horacka Slavia Trebic again in 2019-20 with the possibility of playing for HC Kometa Brno’s Tipsport Extraliga team.
