Wolf, Knight among top 10 goalies under 25 entering this season

As part of the celebration of NHL Young Stars Week, NHL.com has looked at the crop of players either recently joining the League or on the cusp to find the true difference-makers in the next few seasons. Today, we look at the Top 10 goalies in NHL organizations who have yet to reach their 25th birthday.

1. Dustin Wolf, Calgary Flames

A near-unanimous pick atop the ballots of 10 NHL goalie coaches, directors and scouts consulted while putting together this list, which also shows how difficult it can be to project the position considering he was the fourth-to-last player picked when Calgary selected Wolf in the seventh round (No. 214) of the 2019 NHL Draft. The 24-year-old has since won the American Hockey League’s Most Outstanding Goalie award in his first two professional seasons (2022, 2023), as well as being named AHL MVP in 2023. He finished second last season to Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson in voting for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the League’s top rookie, after taking over the Flames' starting job and going 29-16-8 with a 2.64 goals-against average, .910 save percentage and three shutouts in his first full NHL season. The 6-foot, 166-pound goalie continues to prove the size that made him such a late pick can be overcome with some of the position’s best edge work and patience.

2. Spencer Knight, Chicago Blackhawks

If it feels like Knight has been around too long to be on this list, that’s because the 24-year-old went straight to the NHL with the Florida Panthers after they made him the first goalie picked in the 2019 NHL Draft (No. 13). Traded to the Chicago Blackhawks with a first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft for defenseman Seth Jones and a fourth-round pick in 2026 on March 1, 2025, Knight leads this list in NHL experience (95 games) and wins (49) despite missing the 2023-24 season after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. He has a 2.83 GAA, .904 save percentage and five shutouts through 95 games over four NHL seasons, and his combination of size (6-3, 191), a strong technical foundation and a cerebral approach points to more future success.

3. Yaroslav Askarov, San Jose Sharks

The only goalie besides Wolf to appear on every informal ballot, though not always this high. The Nashville Predators used their first-round pick (No. 11) to make Askarov the first goalie selected in the 2020 NHL Draft, then traded him to the Sharks last August after signing No. 1 goalie Juuse Saros to an eight-year, $61.92 million contract ($7.74 million average annual value). The athletic, right-catching goalie has a 2.53 GAA and .913 save percentage in 114 regular-season AHL games across three seasons but is 5-7-2 with a 3.01 GAA and .899 save percentage in 16 NHL games with Nashville and San Jose, 13 of which came last season with the Sharks amid their rebuild. Ahead of his first full NHL season, there remains belief that the skill and skating, especially moving from his knees, that made the 23-year-old such a highly touted prospect will shine through with more time at the top level.

4. Leevi Merilainen, Ottawa Senators

The soon-to-be 23-year-old, whose birthday is Aug. 13, has already shown enough to likely start the season with the Senators, who selected him in the third round (No. 71) of the 2020 NHL Draft. The 6-foot-3 Finnish goalie went 8-3-1 with a 1.99 GAA, .925 save percentage and three shutouts with Ottawa last season, just his second full season in North America, and was 18-12-4 with a 2.37 GAA, .913 save percentage and four shutouts with Belleville (AHL).

5. Jacob Fowler, Montreal Canadiens

One of the hardest parts of compiling this list is comparing goalies already in the NHL to prospects yet to face a shot in the world’s top circuit, so it says a lot about Fowler’s talent to finish fifth in voting. The 20-year-old was picked in the third round (No. 69) of the 2023 NHL Draft by Montreal and signed on April 4 after finishing his second season at Boston College at 25-7-2 with a 1.63 GAA, .940 save percentage and seven shutouts. He then played three regular-season games with Laval (AHL), going 2-1-0 with a 2.32 GAA and .914 save percentage, and appeared in another eight playoff games, going 3-3 with a 2.48 GAA and .902 save percentage while gaining valuable experience for his upcoming first full pro season.

6. Trey Augustine, Detroit Red Wings

The only other goalie on this list yet to play in the NHL, Augustine wasn’t far behind Fowler despite the fact he is going back to Michigan State University for a third season in the fall. Praised for his mature approach almost as much as his skills and strong technical game, the 20-year-old already has won two gold medals and one bronze with the United States at the IIHF World Junior Championship, including gold as the starter last season.

7. Jet Greaves, Columbus Blue Jackets

The 24-year-old is the only undrafted goalie to make the list and has impressed in 21 NHL appearances with the Blue Jackets, going 10-9-2 with a 2.62 GAA, .924 save percentage and two shutouts. He rattled off five straight wins at the end of last season to push Columbus to the verge of a postseason berth and finish the season 7-2-2 with a 1.91 GAA and .938 save percentage. The lack of draft pedigree and size -- like Wolf, he is 6-foot -- may have dropped him on this list, but he’s already proven himself on the ice in the NHL.

8. Devon Levi, Buffalo Sabres

Selected by the Panthers in the seventh round (No. 212) of the 2020 NHL Draft and traded to the Sabres as part of the deal for forward Sam Reinhart a year later, Levi went right to the NHL at the end of a second standout season at Northeastern University and went 5-2-0 with a 2.94 GAA and .905 save percentage for Buffalo late in 2022-23. Another 6-foot goalie, Levi spent has more time in the AHL than NHL in the two seasons since, but the cerebral 23-year-old has a 2.28 GAA, .922 save percentage and seven shutouts in 68 AHL games, and has the skill and speed to succeed in the NHL.

9. Jesper Wallstedt, Minnesota Wild

The first Swedish goalie ever selected in the first round of an NHL Draft, he saw the Wild trade up to pick him No. 20 in 2021. Though his save percentage dropped below .900 last season in both the AHL and a two-game stint in the NHL, Wallstedt has already played five pro seasons at age 22 and showed in the first four -- two in the AHL and two in Sweden’s top league -- he’s capable of better.

10. Joel Blomqvist, Pittsburgh Penguins

The 23-year-old was 4-9-1 with a 3.81 GAA and .885 save percentage in his first 15 NHL games last season with the Penguins, who picked the Finn in the second round (No. 52) of the 2020 NHL Draft. He didn’t get much help behind a struggling Pittsburgh defense but has shown good patience for a 6-foot-3 goalie while putting up a 2.38 GAA and .918 save percentage in 65 AHL games.