NHL EDGE stats behind Quick’s elite goaltending career

NHL.com's fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we look at key advanced metrics behind Jonathan Quick's elite goaltending career.

Jonathan Quick will retire from the NHL after 19 seasons, and his advanced metrics support that he was one of the most efficient goalies of his generation.

Quick, who will make his final NHL start for the New York Rangers against the Florida Panthers on Monday, is a three-time Stanley Cup champion (two with Los Angeles Kings as starter; one with Vegas Golden Knights as third-stringer). Quick won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, is a two-time Vezina Trophy finalist and two-time winner of the William M. Jennings Trophy in 2013-14 and 2017-18 (given to goalies of team allowing fewest goals in regular season).

In the regular season, Quick ranks 12th all-time in wins (410), 15th among goalies in games played (828) and 17th in shutouts (65). Among the 85 goalies in history to play at least 500 regular-season games, Quick is tied for 28th in career save percentage (.910). Quick also leads United States-born goalies in career regular-season wins and shutouts and was a steal for the Kings considering he was selected with the 72nd pick (third round) and eighth goalie taken in the 2005 NHL Draft.

In the postseason, Quick ranks third among active goalies in career playoff wins (49-43 record) and is tied for 12th in NHL history in playoff shutouts (10; most among active goalies). He was also 4-1 in five career Game 7s.

Quick’s best individual season came with the Kings in 2011-12, when he was 35-21-13 with a 1.95 goals-against average, .929 save percentage and 10 shutouts in 69 games; among goalies to play at least that many games in a single season, Quick was tied for the fourth-best save percentage. Among goalie to debut after 1955-56 (when shots on goal were first tracked), Quick is one of two goalies (other: Bernie Parent in 1973-74) with at least a .929 save percentage, a sub-2.00 GAA and 10 shutouts in one season. The Kings ranked 29th out of 30 teams in goals per game that regular season (2.29), showing how instrumental Quick was in the success of that team, which went on to win the Stanley Cup.

Then, in the 2012 postseason, Quick played in all 20 games for Los Angeles, going 16‑4 with a 1.41 GAA, .946 save percentage and three shutouts. Among goalies to appear in at least 15 games in a single postseason, Quick set and still holds NHL records for lowest GAA and highest save percentage that year.

Here are three advanced stats storylines behind Quick’s illustrious career:

1. Even-strength save percentage

Among active NHL goalies who played at least one game this season and have played at least 300 in their careers, Quick is tied for 10th in even-strength save percentage (.918).

Even in his last season as a full-time starter in 2021-22, Quick was tied for seventh in 5-on-5 save percentage (.926) and ranked ninth in 5-on-5 close situations (.932), meaning when a game is tied in the first or second period or within one goal in the third period.

2. Quality starts

Between the 2010-11 and 2015-16 seasons, which would be considered the prime years of Quick’s career, he led the NHL in quality starts (223; starts greater than .900 save percentage) over those six seasons combined.

Among active goalies, Quick ranks second in starts with at least a .920 save percentage (366) behind Sergei Bobrovsky (378), showing Quick’s ability to continuously steal games regardless of his team’s goal support over the years. 

3. Save percentage by location, situation

Quick was mostly a backup during the NHL’s puck and player tracking era (since 2021-22) but still had some quality metrics in the later stages of his career. During the 2024-25 season with the Rangers, Quick ranked in the 90th percentile in long-range save percentage (.985) and had three shutouts as the backup to Igor Shesterkin.

This season, the 40-year-old has stood out most when his opponents have been on the power play; he ranks eighth in power-play save percentage (.886) among the 64 NHL goalies who have played at least 20 games.