2026 Olympic participation. What are the lineups?

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Three years ago the best goaltenders included Nedeljkovic, Varlamov, Drieger, Fleury, Smith, and Campbell.

All in the top ten for SV%

This year? None of them are top ten, and only two of them are even in the top 40.

Pretending we can predict what the goaltending situation is going to be like in 2026 is hilarious.

I think that you’re picking an abnormal year with Covid restrictions and everything else that happened in the 2020-21 season. Looking back at the greater numbers there has only been a single Vezina finalist from Canada in the past 5 years and while Fleury has been a great goaltender he is also nearing 40. The fact at the same time is none of the players you listed would ever get a sniff of their national teams at an Olympic Games, no matter what season it is.

The last really great Canadian goaltender was Price who was consistently one of the best. I don’t see how that is going to change in the next couple of seasons unless Hart really turns it around and gets out of Philadelphia.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

If you tried predicting that list 4 years ago you might have gotten 2 or 3 names correct, though.

No they were all pretty much easy picks to make. Vasilevsky was the Vezina winner and Hellebuyck was the runner up. Soros was the obvious next in line from Rinne. Shesterkin was the next big goaltender coming out of Russia and was immediately shown to be very good. You are right about Ullmark though, although I think he benefits from playing behind a great team.