New York Rangers: Where does Lundqvist rank among NHL goalies?

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WINNIPEG, MB – MARCH 18: Dallas Stars goalie Ben Bishop (30) takes a water break during the NHL game between the Winnipeg Jets and the Dallas Stars on March 18, 2018 at the Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg MB. (Photo by Terrence Lee/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Middle of the pack

There is not necessarily a direct correlation between quality of a goalie and the success of a team, but a good goalie never hurt a team. When it comes to the middle of the pack, average goaltenders often play in between the pipes for an average NHL team. On any given night players in this tier can manage to steal a game, or they can roll out a dud and make their team dead on arrival.

Goaltenders like Ben Bishop of the Dallas Stars, Cam Talbot of the Edmonton Oilers, Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets, Martin Jones of the San Jose Sharks, Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Frederick Andersen of the Toronto Maple Leafs rank in this tier. These are the type of goaltenders that a good team can shield enough throughout the course of a season and finish with quality results. Any of these goaltenders should conceivably be able to backstop a goaltender to a Stanley Cup with the right group in front of them.

But, should the team in front of them wilt, their production will take a dip. Take the former Ranger in Talbot for example. As the Oilers took a step back as a team, their goaltender took a dip in production. The Oilers finished as a candidate for the lottery come the end of the season and the goaltender had his save percentage dip 11 points and his goals against average balloon by more than .70.

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