Top five NHL goaltending prospects
Widely viewed as the position most crucial to a successful franchise, NHL GM's dedicate hours of their time scouting potential future goaltending stars.
Below is a list of the top five drafted NHL goaltending prospects; they're not in any particular order. These five future NHL puck stoppers, are developing, and putting in work with an NHL role within reach in the coming seasons.
Jesper Wallstedt - The big Swede, stands 6-feet-3-inches tall, and he uses every bit of his large frame, to give opponents fits, as he resembles a Swedish wall keeping pucks out of his net.
Wallstedt was selected with the 20th overall selection, during the 2021 NHL Draft by the Minnesota Wild, after his season with Lulea HF, in the SHL, where he played 22 games, posting a 12-10-0 record as an 18-year-old, posting a 2.23 goals/against average and a .908 save percentage.
The Vasteras, Sweden., native has 22 played games since being drafted with Lulea HF, in the SHL posting a record of 12 wins, 10 losses and zero ties.
Yaroslav Askarov - The 6-feet-4-inch tall goaltender is athletic, but uses his large frame, through a technical butterfly style, to cut off the bottom of his net and his quick reflexes allow his to adapt to mid-section to head-level shots against without being too over zealous in his crease.
The Nashville Predators selected Askarov with the 11th overall selection in the 2020 NHL Draft, following his season in the VHL, with SKA-Neva St. Petersburg, where he posted a record of 12-3-3, through 18 games.
Askarov does require some seasoning at the pro level, but his tool belt includes some impressive tangibles, that will allow him to compete for a future starting goaltending role with the Predators.
Stuart Skinner - The Edmonton, Alberta., native was drafted with the 78th overall selection in the 2017 NHL Draft, by his hometown Oilers.
Skinner has played 227 games since being drafted, split between the WHL's Lethbridge Hurricanes and Swift Current Broncos, the AHL's Bakersfield Condors, the ECHL's Wichita Thunder and the Edmonton Oilers, posting a record of 150 wins, 95 losses and 33 ties.
The Bakersfield Condors have their trust in Skinner, ahead of the 2022-23 AHL season, inching one step closer to his NHL dream, with each professional game he adds to his experience - the NHL role is Skinner's for the taking, with training camp set to start in the coming weeks.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen - The Buffalo Sabres selected the big Finnish goaltender with the 54th overall selection in the 2017 NHL Draft, from LeKi , in Mestis, posting a 2.92 goals/against average, along with a .909 save percentage, through 24 games. *unable to find a record of Luukkonen's record.
Luukkonen has played 96 professional games since his draft day, split between the ECHL, with the , the AHL with the Americans and in the NHL, with the Buffalo Sabres, recording 41 wins, 38 losses and 20 ties.
The Rochester Americans will look to continue forward with the Finns development, with Luukkonen touted as their starting goaltender ahead of the 2022-23 AHL regular season.
Pyotr Kochetkov - Kochetkov was selected with the 36th overall selection in the 2019 NHL Draft; after playing the previous season split between the KHL, VHL and MHL, with SKA St. Petersburg and Vityaz Podolsk respectively, SKA-Neva St. Petersburg and with the MHL's Russkie Vityaz Chekhov.
The native of Penza, Russia., has since played 33 games in the KHL, between Vityaz Podolsk and Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, in the VHL with HK Ryazan, the AHL with the Chicago Wolves and in the NHL with the Carolina Hurricanes, recording 29 wins, 19 losses and six ties through 56 games.
The 2022-23 season for Kochetkov will be spent in the AHL, with the Chicago Wolves, where he will continue his development, with his NHL dream in mind.
Follow-up article to follow in the future, updating the goaltenders statistics at the duration of the 2022-23 hockey season.
