Week 16: Fantasy top 25 goalie rankings for 2016-17

All season long, NHL.com will rank the top 25 goalies for standard Yahoo leagues (wins, goals-against average, save percentage, shutouts). Players with long-term injuries have been removed from this list.
These rankings are based on expectations for the rest of the season. Value is quantified by projected starts, peripheral category coverage, time-share situations, team defenses, past performance and overall upside in standard leagues. It is important to note that our rankings reflect sheer fantasy value, not necessarily the most talented goalies in order.

The Ottawa Senators have faced plenty of adversity on and off the ice but have still found a way to be one of the most surprising teams League-wide.
Despite an inconsistent offense (2.67 goals per game), a slight scoring dip for elite defenseman Erik Karlsson and the long-term absence of goalie Craig Anderson (personal leave), the Senators are in a Stanley Cup Playoff position with multiple games in hand on most of the Eastern Conference.
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TOP 50 DEFENSEMEN
Anderson, who is 12-6-1 with strong peripherals (2.46 GAA, .924 SV%, three shutouts) through 19 games, has not played since Dec. 5.
He rejoined the Senators at practice Monday
and is working his way back into shape. He is 92nd overall in Yahoo's performance-based rankings, 13th among goalies.
The Senators have been fortunate to have a stable goalie during Anderson's absence; Mike Condon is 11-7-4 with a .906 SV% and two shutouts since taking over. He's 16th among goalies in Yahoo's rankings and 104th overall. Condon has 14 wins with a 2.50 GAA, .914 SV% and four shutouts (T-5th in NHL) in 29 games. Condon, who struggled with a heavy workload starting in Carey Price's place last season with the Montreal Canadiens, has improved considerably with the Senators after a short stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins this season.
But Anderson's return could set up an interesting goalie competition for Ottawa in the final months of the regular season. The Senators are tied for the fewest games played in the NHL (48) entering Thursday, setting them up for a condensed schedule of 34 games in 67 days, including six sets of back-to-back games. It would certainly help to have two reliable goalies on their side.
Condon (56 percent owned) has played well enough to warrant at least a share of the starts once Anderson (70 percent) returns. That said, Anderson has made 60 or more starts three times in his NHL career, and would be more than capable of being Ottawa's full-time starter if he catches fire. With the fantasy goalie market extremely thin these days, any opportunity to add or trade for Anderson should be pursued -- especially if you already own Condon.

TRENDING UP

It's been a remarkable turnaround for the New York Islanders, who went 5-0-1 in a six-game homestand after Doug Weight replaced Jack Capuano as coach. Thomas Greiss (71 percent owned) played five of those games, going 4-0-1 with wins against the Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets, Canadiens and Washington Capitals. Greiss, who has the crease to himself with Jaroslav Halak playing for Bridgeport of the American Hockey League, is tied for the third-best even-strength SV% (.935) among goalies to play at least 50 games over the past two regular seasons behind Carey Price (.937) and Devan Dubnyk (.936). Greiss, who signed a three-year contract Monday, is fifth in SV% (.928) this season and deserves to join the top 15 goalie rankings.

TRENDING DOWN

Speaking of the Atlantic Division, the Tampa Bay Lightning are eight points behind the Senators and Boston Bruins with three more games played, quite a fall from grace for the preseason Stanley Cup contender. A long-term injury to Steven Stamkos is largely to blame, but the Lightning goaltending has taken a sizable step back. Ben Bishop, who is in a contract year, could be traded before the NHL Trade Deadline on March 1 at 3 p.m. ET if the Lightning continue to fade in the standings. He is 11-12-3 with a .904 SV% after having 35 wins, a .926 SV% and six shutouts last season. Andrei Vasilevskiy (42 percent owned) started the season 6-1-1 with a .951 SV%, but is 5-10-2 with a .892 SV% since. Vasilevskiy is 1-2-1 with .940 SV% in his past five games and has sleeper potential if the Lightning trade Bishop, get healthy and make a last-ditch push for a postseason spot. Bishop's value lies in a potential change in scenery this month.

WORTH NOTING

-- St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen hit rock bottom Tuesday, allowing four goals on 23 shots in a 5-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets in his first start since Jan. 19. The defeat prompted the firing of Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, who has been replaced by associate coach Mike Yeo. Allen (85 percent owned) is 4-10-0 with an .876 SV% in his past 16 games. Carter Hutton has had flashes of strong play, but has allowed 13 goals in his past four. The Blues are still in the playoff mix, so Allen's slide offers a glaring opportunity to buy low in fantasy. Allen could easily benefit from a chance to work closely with Martin Brodeur, the NHL's all-time wins leader (691), and Ty Conklin after the Blues fired goalie coach Jim Corsi.
-- It hasn't been pretty, but the Jets offense has helped Ondrej Pavelec (19 percent owned) win three of his first five games since being recalled from Manitoba of the AHL on Jan. 16. He has a .893 SV%, but is the starter for a potential playoff team. Pavelec, who led the Jets to a late-season run and postseason berth in 2014-15, warrants fantasy consideration in deep leagues.
-- Joonas Korpisalo (2 percent owned) is backing up Sergei Bobrovsky and made 33 saves in a 6-4 road win against the New York Rangers on Tuesday. He has won three of his five games this season. His peripherals have been suspect, but he has a chance to be a reliable backup and fantasy streaming option if Columbus chooses to rest Bobrovsky occasionally down the stretch. Bobrovsky, is 3-4-0 with a .903 SV% since the Blue Jackets' 16-game winning streak ended Jan. 5. Korpisalo went 16-11-4 with a .920 SV% last season.

TOP 25 FANTASY GOALIES

These rankings were last updated Feb. 1
1. Devan Dubnyk, MIN (SAME)
2. Braden Holtby, WSH (SAME)
3. Carey Price, MTL, (SAME)
4. Sergei Bobrovsky, CBJ (SAME)
5. Martin Jones, SJS (SAME)
6. Matt Murray, PIT (SAME)
7. Tuukka Rask, BOS (+2)
8. Pekka Rinne, NSH (-1)
9. Corey Crawford, CHI (-1)
10. Cam Talbot, EDM (SAME)
11. John Gibson, ANA (SAME)
12. Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (SAME)
13. Frederik Andersen, TOR (SAME)
14. Thomas Greiss, NYI (+2)
15. Peter Budaj, LAK (+2)
16. Roberto Luongo, FLA (-1)
17. Craig Anderson, OTT (NEW)
18. Ben Bishop, TBL (-2)
19. Cory Schneider, NJD (+2)
20. Ryan Miller, VAN (+2)
21. Mike Condon, OTT (-3)
22. Steve Mason, PHI (-3)
23. Jake Allen, STL (-3)
24. Cam Ward, CAR (SAME)
25. Robin Lehner, BUF (-2)
Dropped out:Carter Hutton (STL)
Key injuries: Jonathan Quick (LAK), Jimmy Howard (DET), Semyon Varlamov (COL)
READ: Last week's Top 25 goalie rankings