The ninth week of the 2023-24 NHL season is beginning and there are good goalie options to add. Whether you need options for your fantasy hockey team this week or a longer term, we’ll cover the best netminders to add. When looking for goalie streams in fantasy hockey, it’s best to look at back-to-backs and if there are injuries to starters. That’s what we have for you here today. This is a look at the three best options in net to stream in Week 9 of the fantasy hockey season.
Fantasy Hockey Week 9 Goalie Streams
Elvis Merzlikins, Columbus Blue Jackets
I guarantee Elvis Merzlikins isn’t rostered on a ton of teams this season due to him being the starter on the Columbus Blue Jackets. But even though the team in front of him hasn’t performed, he has. The 29-year-old is having his best season since 2020-21, and it is behind the 15th-place Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference. I don’t believe that Columbus is as good as they can be with multiple players underperforming. One solid thing is the defense though.
The team brought in Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson on top of having lots of options to play in the games. Merzlikins and company have better protection in front of them and it has allowed the goaltender to sport a .911 save percentage (SV%) this season. He may be 6-8-3 on the season, but he only has two really bad starts of his 18. Three of his last five games have also been wins and his SV% in all of them has been .900 or better. Since the Edmonton Oilers have been scouting the Blue Jackets a great deal, there is a chance Merzlikins could find himself on an even better team and his value will rise. With games against the Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders, St. Louis Blues, and Florida Panthers this week, he will see shots and could continue to put up good numbers.
Pyotr Kochetkov, Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes have settled down a bit after their crazy start to the season. This team began horribly defensively and great offensively. Now they are back to defending better and playing how many of us expected. This is a positive for their goaltenders, Pyotr Kochetkov in particular. With Frederik Andersen out, Kochetkov was recalled a while ago and has started the last four games, winning three of them with over a .900 SV%.
Kochetkov is the goalie of the future, and with Antti Raanta not having a great season, is the go-to goalie in net. The Hurricanes sit in second in the Metropolitan Division and have limited their opponents to two or fewer goals in five of the past nine games. While an .881 SV% on the season isn’t great, only two starts have ruined his numbers. Everything else has been strong. If he and the Hurricanes can avoid starts like this, he will provide great goaltending for your fantasy hockey team in the short term and long term. The Hurricanes play the Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and Vancouver Canucks this week. Expect Kochetkov to start two to three of those games and rattle off a win or two.
Charlie Lindgren, Washington Capitals
Charlie Lindgren missed the Washington Capitals’ game on Saturday with an illness, but that shouldn’t keep him out that long at all. I expect him back for the games this week, starting Monday. The Capitals play the Arizona Coyotes, Dallas Stars, New York Rangers, and Chicago Blackhawks. These are pretty good opponents, but Lindgren has been very good in net. I would expect the team to split the starts this week for the two goaltenders, Lindgren and Darcy Kuemper.
Lindgren is 5-2-1 on the season with a 2.30 goals against average (GAA), .934 SV%, and one shutout. These are very strong numbers you can count on from the surprising Capitals that are in a playoff spot. After just one start over the first nine games of the season, Lindgren has started six of the last 12. Since this has been working, the team isn’t likely going to change it up any time soon. The hope if you pick Lindgren up this week is that he gets the start against the Blackhawks.
Related: Fantasy Hockey Week 9 Waiver-Wire Goalies
Make sure to take advantage of these goalies for this week. The longer you wait, the more of a chance someone you may want is picked up before you get to them. There are early games that you will want to take advantage of as well. While a couple of these goaltenders should get at least one start this week, be sure to keep an eye on any other options throughout the week that may become solid options as well.