Fantasy Goalies: Who to sit, who to start?

It's not been the happiest of holiday seasons for the Vancouver Canucks of late, and as Ryan Miller went down with an injury on Sunday during the shootout, you can bet his good health was added onto the Canucks' Christmas list.

Prior to Monday’s Zack Kassian for Ben Scrivens trade, no NHL-rostered goalies had switched teams since the season started in early October.

But there could be more activity come the trade deadline. Mike Johnston lists seven goalies that could be in new homes by that time. None of these netminders are universally owned in fantasy leagues. Could any of these goalies become this season’s version of Devan Dubnyk, who was acquired by the Wild for a third-round pick in a relatively uneventful mid-January trade last season?

We will find out in the new year. But until then, there is still one more week to go in 2015.

Start

Braden Holtby, WAS (@BUF, vs. BUF, @CAR, @CLS)

Holtby should be at the top of your list if you could choose any starting goalie for the week. All the Capitals’ opponents are at least five points back of a playoff spot, and all have offences in the bottom third of the league. The Caps play back-to-backs on Wednesday against Buffalo and Thursday in Carolina, so Philipp Grubauer could be called upon to start against one of those teams. Holtby currently leads the NHL with 22 wins, and he leads all goalies with at least ten starts with a 1.92 goals-against average. Will his strong numbers translate to a Vezina Trophy at the end of the season?

Jonathan Quick, LA (@VAN, @EDM, @CGY, vs. PHI)

Quick isn’t quite having the season that Holtby is (2.28 GAA, .916 SV%). But he has an opportunity to earn multiple wins, since all of the Kings’ opponents for the week have won fewer than 50 percent of their games (remember the old definition of .500?). The Kings play back-to-backs on Monday in Vancouver and Tuesday in Edmonton, so Jhonas Enroth will likely start one of those two games (see Goalie Post for the latest updates). Speaking of .500, the Kings are better than that away from the Staples Center (10-5-2), so Quick should experience some success in Western Canada.

Thomas Greiss, NYI (@TOR, @BUF, @PIT, vs. DAL)

With Jaroslav Halak placed on IR, Greiss inherits the Islanders’ starting goalie job for the near future. He should be fairly busy over the coming week with a four-game schedule. What makes a pickup justifiable is the fact that all the offences he faces over the coming week are in the bottom half of league, with the exception of Dallas. The Isles play back-to-backs on Saturday in Pittsburgh and Sunday against Dallas, so recent recall Christopher Gibson could get the nod in one of those, but Greiss should start multiple games and could even earn multiple wins, depending on the length of Halak’s absence.

Sit

Steve Mason, PHI (@SJ, @LA)

Mason has been up and down all season, but he has been showing signs of getting back on track recently. A three-game road trip to the west coast probably won’t do him any favors, though. With stops in San Jose and Los Angeles, Mason will be limited in terms of his ability to earn wins, even though the Flyers are a decent 7-7-3 on the road this season. In addition, Flyers coach Dave Hakstol has not hesitated to turn to Michal Neuvirth when Mason has struggled. Neuvirth has posted much better numbers (2.06 GAA, .937 SV%) than Mason this season.

Ryan Miller, VAN (vs. LA, vs. ANA)

If you’re counting on Miller this week, start looking for another option right away. Miller’s muscle cramps did not recover over the holiday in time for Saturday’s game against Edmonton. Even if he is ready to return on Monday against Los Angeles, the Canucks play just two games this week. They won’t be easy ones either as the Canucks generally struggle against their division foes from the Los Angeles area. One could even argue that Jacob Markstrom (2.33 GAA, .924 SV%) gives the Canucks a better opportunity to win than Miller (2.74 GAA, .909 SV%), who is clearly not the goalie he once was because of age and injuries.

Joonas Korpisalo, CLS (vs. DAL, vs. WAS)

You’re probably not rushing to the waiver wire to pick up a Blue Jackets’ goalie anyway. But in case you were considering the idea, you should definitely make other plans this week. The Jackets play only two games, and they happen to be against the league’s two highest-scoring offences. Both the Stars and the Capitals average over three goals per game – a number that won’t help Korpisalo reduce his 3.65 goals-against average. While Sergei Bobrovsky has been on IR, Korpisalo has started five of the Blue Jackets’ last seven games.

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