Latest / Banger Management - Fantasy Hockey Podcast / Top 10 Goalies for 2025-2026

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Top 10 Goalies for 2025-2026 · Banger Management - Fantasy Hockey Podcast

0:00
Alright, here we go Barbara. Bound Bound Banger Management
0:04
Fantasy Hockey podcast. Whoa.
0:06
Wow. Woo.
0:10
It's just I, I can't make a sound the way that you just did.
0:18
Not a lot of men are equally capable like this.
0:20
You. You.
0:22
Voice is his instrument. Yeah, you're you're known as the
0:27
throat goat for a reason. Well, probably down for no
0:31
reason. It's well deserved.
0:35
Like. Yeah, yeah.
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So you. Really.
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Like you'll say something, Kevin and I'll be like, oh, that can't
0:41
go in the podcast and he'll say something and it's all OK.
0:46
It's always my fault. Yeah.
0:48
Something's gotta be the bad guy.
0:53
Fair. OK, welcome into Bangor
0:57
Management, the fantasy hockey podcast with Jake, Josh and
1:01
Kevin. Today is my favorite episode as
1:05
a former slash current sort of goalie myself.
1:09
Top 100 goalies for the 202526 season.
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A lot of interesting content here.
1:17
This goes into roster construction big time and league
1:20
settings I would say. But we are.
1:23
I think it's a pretty comprehensive list for most
1:25
leagues the way it is, so if you.
1:28
Had to choose between goaltenders and chicken tenders,
1:31
what's your pick? Or the chicken tenders from
1:33
Chick-fil-A or from. We spent we, we wasted no time
1:42
without response, Kevin. I missed the chef on call.
1:46
Well, next week, baby, I'm back in town.
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It's gonna feel so good. Yeah, we're getting milkshakes
1:52
too, baby. The book my throat to work
1:56
alright. Oh my God.
1:57
OK, you. Continue.
1:59
I'm sorry. So see what I mean though, like
2:00
that's a different level. Yeah.
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Yeah. Kevin's chicken tender brings
2:06
all the boys to the yard. OK, then right before we begin,
2:10
we can follow us on Spotify, Apple podcast, wherever you get
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your podcasts, rate US five stars, subscribe, all that
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stuff. If you like what you hear, you
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can find the link to all of our social media in the link tree in
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the podcast description there. We have both of our Discord and
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TikTok. New to those?
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So be sure to give us a follow over there.
2:29
Let us begin with. Well, I was just going to say
2:32
before we begin with the honorable mentions, I just want
2:34
to say most people listening to this podcast are not currently
2:38
following the podcast on your favorite podcast platform, so.
2:41
No, they wouldn't do that to. Us I know, right?
2:43
It's very shocking, but if you're listening to this on
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Spotify or Apple podcast, like make sure you just scroll up,
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click that follow button. So you notified every time the
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new episodes go live and yeah, we're great.
2:52
You're gonna be happier to be on board this train for this
2:54
fantasy season, let me tell you. I don't know if it's like
2:57
strange that I'm such an avid listener of ourselves, but I'm
3:01
like every time I started running, so I gotta run every
3:04
morning and every time like there's a new episode out, I'm
3:06
like, yes, finally this is gonna be fun.
3:07
Go by so nicely, you know, instead of having to like just
3:09
listen to music or something. So I'm dialed in every time
3:12
there's a new episode drop of like, let's go.
3:14
I time my workouts in the episodes so I get to listen to
3:18
us while I'm working out. And my sets, every time I hear
3:21
myself speak, surprisingly, are really, really good.
3:24
So I don't know. I definitely speed up whenever I
3:25
make a really good point. I'm like, wow, that was that was
3:27
so good. I'm freaking killing it.
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Alright, now let's get into the honorable mentions.
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All right, honorable mentions. We've got Dustin Wolf, Jacob
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Markstrom, UC Saros, Ilya Sorokin and Logan Thompson.
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OK, I need to preface this with I feel like these goalie
3:53
rankings are going to get us in trouble because I feel like so
3:55
many people are just going to completely disagree with us or
4:00
be shocked at some of the names that we have on this list or
4:02
don't have on this list. I will say for goaltenders,
4:06
every year we see it. People value the high
4:08
goaltenders way more than they should.
4:09
And there's always surprise picks later.
4:11
That's why, you know, the 0G strategy is so popular, right?
4:14
And so successful because we can get value from late round guys.
4:18
And I feel like all these guys, there's an argument to have them
4:20
in the top 10, but they get ahead of them are better.
4:24
Out of this list, I feel like the biggest snub is it Sorokin.
4:28
In terms of like actual skill, it's gotta be Sorokin, although
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Serros is there too, right? And Wolf, I won't say it's a
4:34
snub because he's up and coming, but like Stroking and Zeros
4:36
have, you know, proven that there are those guys.
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But when you're on such a bad team, it, you know, fantasy
4:41
wise, it doesn't matter how well, it still matters how good
4:43
you are. You know, there's only so much
4:44
you can do when you're the only one playing any defence on your
4:47
team. So I think it's fair that they
4:49
didn't make the top 10, but I could see people thinking they
4:51
got snubbed. It's a really team dependent
4:53
position. It is what it is.
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You can, you goalie can't score and goalies don't usually
4:58
letting goals unless they go through the five guys in front
5:01
of them. So it just has to be this way.
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I think Sorokin is probably the in the top 4, maybe even top
5:08
three best actual goalies in the league.
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You put them on a top team, they're great.
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But I mean I have Islanders close to the bottom of my list.
5:15
I think we all. Metropolitan Division like I
5:18
just so I don't believe in them at all, but nevertheless I.
5:23
And after that huge Emil Heineman acquisition?
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You have a good point. Good point, good point.
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Let me OK, I'll reassess, but I have a feeling I'll still have
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them pretty low. I do think Wolf is a bit of a
5:35
snub though, because he was awesome and even if Calgary is
5:38
middle of the pack again, I think he's gonna still have a
5:40
great year. So I love him and yeah, we'll
5:44
see how it goes. Also, the preface this top ten,
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we need to, we need to definitely need to mention that
5:50
the categories that obviously we're weighing the strongest
5:53
are, you know, wins, goals against, average save
5:57
percentage. I feel that's the bread and
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butter from your goalie positions.
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No matter the different settings for your fantasy leagues and how
6:04
many goalie stars, you know, saves and all that.
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Those 3 categories are the ones that are consistent throughout
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almost every fantasy league. So those are the ones that are
6:12
weighing the heaviest. And yeah, after that, I think
6:17
the biggest honorable mention we want is Dustin Wolf out of the
6:20
list. He's my favorite guy.
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He's my favorite too. He's my favorite #3 he moves.
6:28
His hips are. #10 We've got Aiden King of the hill he had
6:33
last year. He put up 32 wins, 2.47 goals
6:37
against average and .906 save percentage.
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He's the starting goalie on one of the best teams in the league.
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We all think Vegas is going to perform as well as they always
6:46
do, especially with the acquisition of Mariner.
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As a goalie himself, he can be shaky at times.
6:50
There's times where last year Jakey was convinced Samsonov was
6:52
going to take over the starting position even though I told him
6:55
it wasn't going to happen. But but no, he's definitely
6:57
shown he's been shaky. That's why despite being on such
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a strong team, he's #10 on the list.
7:01
But he also does get underrated and I feel like he always drops
7:04
in the drafts. Yeah, it look, it's a deployment
7:09
thing for him. That's kind of why I've never
7:11
been as high on him. They they don't seem to want him
7:14
as their undisputable #1 Nevertheless, I I love Vegas
7:20
this year, just it doesn't seem like Marner being there has much
7:24
to do with it. But it does because they're
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gonna win more games. So I I think he's the guy there.
7:30
And because of the Marner acquisition, they're gonna be
7:32
probably top of the top of their division.
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And that's going to be a great thing to own him.
7:38
I would not want him in A0G strategy though, because I don't
7:41
know if his volume is there. That's one thing I'll say about
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him. I'm actually high on his volume.
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Like last year we saw him start 50 games and that was with, you
7:50
know, a goaltender as the back of that.
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You know, people were thinking maybe he does steal some starts
7:55
and maybe he could be the starter of he'll, you know,
7:58
collapses or whatnot. But.
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They signed this guy. Who was his backup right now?
8:03
Yeah, go check it out and then eat your words.
8:07
You want me to be worried about Akira Schmid?
8:11
Yes, yes I do. My list from the office.
8:16
I mean, he has a sick first name, but I mean, I think at
8:19
this point we can all be rest assured that Aiden Hill is the
8:23
clearest starter. She started 50 games last year.
8:25
I think he starts more games this year.
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I also think that you know, he's he's going in drafts at a very
8:31
he's he's at 11th goalie by ADP. So we have him kind of right
8:35
around where most people are taking him.
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Vegas also paid this guys six year extension last March.
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That's crazy cause you know, like something that is kind of
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like a, a motto that I've taken with me, you know, and I'll take
8:48
with me at 3 is, is his follow that money, you know, and I will
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keep drilling it into our listeners until everyone
8:57
respects the value of a contract.
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And you know what this is? I'm obviously like running it
9:03
into the ground. But with goalies, it is the most
9:05
important out of any position. Every time there's a like 2
9:08
goalie situation like, oh, which goal is going to be the starter,
9:10
they always go with the guy with the money.
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Look, if the guy with the money plays absolutely horribly,
9:15
they'll go with the backup guy. And if the backup guy plays
9:17
amazing, he can win it. But every time they're going to
9:20
keep giving this. Look how many times they gave
9:23
Georgiev a try last year in Colorado.
9:25
How many times they give Jack Campbell this a try?
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And yes, exactly. In Edmonton.
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The fact is they know if they're not the goal is the only
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position where if you're not playing the goalie and you're
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paying all that money, that's just dead cap.
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You know, other players like they could still affect the ice
9:38
in different ways if they get as good deployment, but no one
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wants to be the guy paying their goalie 5 mil plus and then
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that's their backup goalie. So I don't know whether it's a
9:46
pride thing or being like we need this goalie to be our
9:48
starter for the team to work with the salary cap situation or
9:50
all that. But this is the biggest time
9:53
where you follow that money and Aiden Hills got that money.
9:55
Yeah, 100%. I mean, like, if they don't
9:58
play, then they're literally just hanging out on the bench
10:01
eating beef jerky for $10 million a year, like.
10:04
I could do that, but still. Yeah, exactly, exactly like
10:08
literally any of us. Three if and I'll even take 5
10:11
million. Also, wow, generous.
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I, I think the, the main thing to about Aiden Hill is I think
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his goals against average in his save percentage won't be
10:21
anything to write home about. Like he'll get like in the in
10:23
the low 905, maybe like 904906 like in that range for eight
10:29
percentage. Between 9:00 and 9:10, yeah.
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Yeah, 910 would be high, but I think the main thing is you're
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getting starting goalie on one of the Stanley Cup favorite
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rosters. He's gonna get over 50 starts,
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he'll get over 30 wins, and that's the only way you can get
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in your 7th, 8th, 9th round, potentially the 10th goalie off
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the board, and I think you could be really happy with that as
10:50
your first goal on your pencil team.
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Yeah, and I again, just because of the fact that he's not like
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one of those top names, like if I'm kind of like as the anti
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Sorokin, right, Sorokin is like on an awful team, but he's such
11:02
an amazing goalie. Hill, I don't think he's a bad
11:04
goalie, but like I don't think anything to write home about.
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But he's on such a good team that it makes him a fantasy
11:09
asset that also drops in drafts because of the name value.
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So so yeah, I think that's a great pick in a lot of drafts.
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I think we should move on to the next 1 #9.
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All right, at #9 we've got big lean us Almark.
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Big leanness. Last year he put up 25 wins, 2.7
11:28
two goals against average .909 save percentage.
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He's the starter on an exciting up and coming Sense team that
11:33
we're all very high on. Former Vezina winner and he has
11:36
had some insane stretches last year that got ruined a bit by
11:39
injury. But if he can stay healthy and
11:40
the Sense take a step up this year, which we think they will,
11:42
he can be a huge draft steal. Yeah, if if you guys listen to
11:46
the podcast last year, you know how much us three love big
11:50
squishy leanness. Yeah.
11:55
He is squishy. He he's that that's it though,
12:00
actually, like all kidding aside, he is hella squishy.
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He he's he's also kind of tough as a 0G strategy, not because
12:08
they don't wanna play him a lot, but because he tends to get
12:10
injured, which is really, really rough.
12:13
But with the senators being the bounce back team we think
12:16
they're going to be and with him just being easily, easily their
12:19
number one guy, I'm really happy to draft all mark this year.
12:24
Much happier to draft him than he'll say because I am still
12:27
worried that I like about hit like hills deployment went
12:30
healthy, but even though Levi Marilyn wasn't horrible when he
12:34
got that opportunity, following that money, as Josh loves to
12:39
say, all marks their guy. So I'm happy to have him as my
12:43
#1 goalie off the board this year.
12:45
Not like for me. No, no, he's #9.
12:51
To tack on to what Jackie said, I think out of all the guys
12:54
we're going to talk about on this list, he's the one that's
12:56
getting drafted the latest. For some reason.
12:58
His ADP is still pretty low. Like he's around pick 100, so
13:01
there's a lot more than 9 goalies going ahead of him.
13:05
He's probably around goal #15 off the board, which I feel like
13:09
it's surprising for a guy that we just saw like a couple years
13:11
ago, won the Vezina Trophy, is on an Ottawa team that is up and
13:15
coming. And he has, you know, no, like
13:19
no serious backup behind him that's gonna fight him for
13:22
starts, right? Like the backup will play if he
13:24
falters. So you're kind of putting all
13:26
your chips on on all Mark. And maybe he can't handle the
13:30
workload because we know he's squishy.
13:33
But I like all Mark a lot. He's one of my favorite targets
13:36
that have in fantasy drafts because you can get him at those
13:38
in those later rounds, like close to pick 100.
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And I think his ceiling is pretty high.
13:43
I'm in on the Senators this year.
13:44
So I think if you get the goalie, they're gonna get wins.
13:48
He also wins almost always over half of his games.
13:52
So yeah, if he's healthy, you'll know he'll get the volume and
13:56
wins. Yeah, 50% of the time.
13:58
He wins 100% of the time. It's exactly the start I was
14:00
referencing. Yeah.
14:04
Well, as the great Michael Scott ones now getting another cool,
14:08
they'll have to bleep out. Alright. #8.
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At #8 We've got Phillip Gustafson of the Minnesota Wild
14:21
last year, 31 wins, 2.56 goals against average and .914 safe
14:25
percentage. He's the starter on a Wild team
14:28
with a Kaprizov in a contract year.
14:30
They got rid of a bunch of dead cap space from the Parisian
14:32
suitor buyouts. Gussoni could be one of the best
14:35
in the league. There's no more Flurry backing
14:37
him up. So I don't know.
14:39
This is a this is a good gust here.
14:40
I think. I mean, the past couple years
14:42
have been good guys years, but this one I think could be a
14:45
could be a big step up for. Him, he was one of the guys that
14:48
we were all targeting as our quote UN quote Zerg strategy
14:51
last year where he was just such a value in drafts because we
14:53
expected this Minnesota team to be strong and him to be the
14:56
starter. I think this year is no
14:57
different. I think this year just have to
14:59
pay up because he's going to be a top 10 drafted goalie in your
15:02
fantasy leagues, but he's going to be worth it.
15:05
It just really depends on where you value taking your goalies.
15:08
I think between, you know, the top 8 and the rest of the goal
15:13
is that we mentioned like #9 #10 I think there is a tier gap
15:16
between Gustafson and the two guys we previously spoke about
15:18
and the honourable mentions. I just think Minnesota is such a
15:21
juggernaut team this upcoming year.
15:23
I think you're gonna make make some noise in the playoffs and
15:27
it's gonna be on the back of, you know, they're reliable
15:29
goalie and he's that guy. He, he's just made the most of
15:33
all those opportunities all the time.
15:36
And I, I feel like what was encouraging is that he has never
15:39
been, he had never been a starter up until last year where
15:44
he ended up playing 58 games and 9/14 save percentage, which is
15:48
awesome. One big thing that we haven't
15:51
mentioned though, Walstead is supposed to be a stud.
15:55
Yeah. Like in like an actual like he
15:59
was in the first round he got picked.
16:00
He's supposed to be super good. If you're in like, you know, a
16:03
keeper league, I wouldn't even mind taking a last round or on
16:06
him, but that's a little bit concerning to me.
16:10
Like I don't think that's any concern for this year like
16:13
future. Nobody.
16:14
Agree, fully agree. They call the Great Wall of
16:16
Saint Paul, you know, like he's definitely a very good prospect
16:20
for them. But this year there's they'll
16:22
give him like some stuff they have to ease him in.
16:24
You know, goalies like they take the longest to mature.
16:26
He's not just going to dive right in, especially not when
16:28
you have Gustafson, who clearly is the starter.
16:30
So this year, I'm not worried in the slightest.
16:33
But in future years, I think that's definitely something that
16:35
they're have to consider because I doubt they're gonna pay 2
16:37
goalies the amount that those two guys are worth.
16:40
So I could see one of them getting traded in future years,
16:42
but for this year I'm not worried at all.
16:45
Walter is obviously, you know, one of the highest highly touted
16:48
goalie prospects. Similar to know what we saw with
16:51
Askerov in previous years, like we we heard his name looming
16:54
behind Syros. We're like, OK, is this the year
16:55
that they make the switch? You know, Cyrus was in trade
16:57
rumors. But at the end of the day, when
16:59
you have a reliable starter leading the team, the only
17:02
reason you're really giving a rookie that much playing time as
17:06
if the starter really falters or gets hurt.
17:08
So I don't think either of those things are going to obviously
17:10
can predict injury, but I don't think Justin is gonna be so bad
17:14
that they have to run with wall set for significant stretch.
17:17
I think he'll play the back-to-back.
17:18
He'll play the odd game here or there to make sure that
17:22
Gustafson can stay fresh, but besides that, I'm not worried
17:25
about waste. Yeah, I I agree with all of what
17:29
you guys said. I guess it's just about the
17:31
leash. Is the leash gonna be a little
17:32
shorter because they have this supposed amazing goalie?
17:36
He hasn't. He hasn't really proved it on
17:37
the ice either though. Like the leash is short.
17:40
They'll be itching to get this guy on the ice if they know know
17:43
he's putting up 6 stats. But what happens if they put in
17:47
Walstead and then he has a stinker?
17:49
They're not gonna be like, alright, let's.
17:50
Oh yeah, you know what I mean? So they want to make it work
17:52
with customs. And I just I'm just saying, I
17:54
think it's like if Gustafsson does falter, let's say if it was
17:59
a back alley back up, if you will like not like a great
18:02
backup, they would like they're gonna keep going back to him,
18:05
back to him. And then let's say after seven
18:07
games, they're like, OK, no, we gotta go with our backup was
18:10
doing better. Whereas here I'm like, oh, well,
18:12
it be after four games, that's all.
18:13
I'm kind of. Question.
18:16
I think it's a good thing to mention, but I don't think it
18:18
relevant for this year. OK, yeah, I tend to agree, but
18:22
it's still worth considering, I would say.
18:24
But I like him this year for sure.
18:26
I love the wild and it's gonna be fun.
18:28
Let's go to. #7. At #7 We've got the back-to-back
18:34
Stanley Cup champ Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida
18:37
Panthers last year. 33 wins, 2.44 goals against average .906
18:42
save percentage. He's 36 years old, but his
18:46
backup is VTech Vanicek. So he's still going to get
18:48
majority of the starts on one of the best teams in the league.
18:51
He's an elite goalie showing it in the playoffs.
18:54
And and yeah, I don't know if there's not much to to say for
18:57
me other than his age is 1. Like, you know, thing you might
18:59
look at, but there's really no one to steal those starts from
19:01
him. So he's going to be great.
19:03
The yeah, yeah, he has a ceiling starts wise.
19:06
I think he has a ceiling with the stars.
19:08
Like he's not getting over 60 games.
19:09
There's no way. Or maybe like I would even say
19:11
50 to 55 is kind of where they're going to cap him.
19:15
But he'll like those are quality starts for sure.
19:19
So Lot 2 years ago he got 58 starts, last year he got 54
19:23
starts. And the thing that we've noted
19:25
with Bob with, you know, why Florida has been so successful,
19:28
especially in net recently is because they're able to manage
19:31
his load and make sure he's not playing too many games in a row
19:34
or tiring himself out because when he's fresh, he's elite.
19:37
So they want to keep him fresh. Now, the question with Florida
19:41
is this year, you know, Chuck is on IR to start the season.
19:45
And I don't think they're worried about finishing first in
19:47
the standings or second or third.
19:48
Like they just want to make the playoffs.
19:50
They're gonna try to go for that 3 peat.
19:52
So maybe Bob does play less games this year.
19:55
Like, he's entering his year 37 season.
19:57
He's gonna be 37. I just think that that raises,
20:00
you know, the threshold for what keeps him out of the game.
20:04
What? Whether if it's rest or soreness
20:06
or whatnot. So I would not be surprised if
20:09
he plays. You know, two years ago was 58,
20:10
last year was 54, maybe this year was 50.
20:13
I would not be shocked, but still super.
20:15
Inequality solid. Yeah, exactly.
20:17
But I will say for his price with those kind of question
20:20
marks, I'm fading him personally.
20:22
I still think he deserves to be where he is on this list, but I
20:26
don't know. I like I like guys who I'm going
20:29
to you know, more confident in the number of starts.
20:31
Like you said, it's going to be quality.
20:33
But but yeah, I'm feeding him personally.
20:35
He's he's just in on Yahoo ADP. He's the 6th goalie off the
20:39
board. That's it.
20:40
It's it's for the value like for where he gets picked that that's
20:42
why I'm feeding him. Obviously late enough he's worth
20:44
it but compared to some of the other guys going around then to
20:46
me it's a no brainer. I think he's the type of goalie
20:49
that, you know, you draft a late goalie and then throughout the
20:51
season, maybe he falters, maybe he's hurt and then you were able
20:54
to get him on your roster with a via trade or whatnot.
20:57
And I think he ends up being like really solid at that point.
21:01
But again, also like you said, fading about cost.
21:05
Agreed. All right.
21:07
Number six. Alright number six, we have my
21:11
best friend from last season that helped secure MY0G strategy
21:16
last year. I went into the season with
21:18
Stolarz and Jerry as my 2 goalies, but then I got to pick
21:22
this guy and Mackenzie Blackwood off free agency after he got
21:26
traded to Colorado. He put up over the season 28
21:29
wins, 2.55 goals against average .912 save percentage and that's
21:32
like season wide including his time on the Sharks.
21:35
So his numbers after the trade were even better than that and
21:38
he was just unbelievable for them.
21:39
He's going to get almost all the starts on an amazing Colorado
21:42
team. I love him.
21:44
I just spend $51.00 of my 100 fab dollars on him and it was
21:49
money well spent. They kind of saved your season,
21:52
to be honest. Yeah, but that was my plan.
21:54
When you go zero, you gotta be like quick on those guys and you
21:57
gotta be willing to pay up. True.
21:59
So if you look at Yahoo ADP, he is currently the 4th goalie off
22:04
the board in the third round. He's going ahead of, you know,
22:07
goals that we haven't even spoken about yet.
22:09
So definitely interesting that we know their volume is high
22:12
because they probably project him to get most of the stars on
22:15
a Colorado team that can fight for the division and win a lot
22:19
of games. And we saw what he did with the
22:20
volume last year and his, you know, his, you know, efficiency
22:25
metrics were pretty high as well when he was on the the
22:27
Avalanche. I'm expecting big things.
22:29
The thing is I think the cause is too too high for me as well.
22:32
Maybe you play the lead, doesn't draft goalies too high and these
22:34
guys end up slipping in in the rounds or makes them more more
22:39
valuable, but at cost. I don't like taking goalies this
22:42
high in general, but I think he fits in perfectly here, number
22:45
six. Yeah, I, I, I simply think that
22:49
what happened with him career trajectory wise is that he had
22:52
that whole thing during COVID where he didn't want to get
22:54
vaccinated. And that was a big no, no for
22:56
the league. And he fell out of favor with a
22:59
lot of people. He didn't play as many games,
23:01
right. I'm pretty sure it's like when
23:03
he like he couldn't come to Canada to play games and then
23:06
anyway, he ends up on the Sharks for two seasons.
23:11
And from last year he got traded to the Avalanche where I think
23:16
it's gonna just be all uphill from here.
23:18
He's not even that old at all. He's 28.
23:21
So I think he's got like another 5 or 6 really solid years in him
23:26
on this amazing team. He got the money and yeah, he's
23:30
he's definitely going to be their guy.
23:32
And I really like the Avalanche, so I'm very happy to take him
23:35
this year. I have one question for you guys
23:37
about Mackenzie Blackwood and it's do you do you believe last
23:41
year was just kind of like riding hot on the momentum and
23:43
and the adrenaline of, you know, being traded to a top team?
23:46
Or because we saw him get the chance to be to start on New
23:49
Jersey when they were desperately needed a goalie and
23:52
they were a good team and he could not make it happen.
23:55
I don't think it was like a fluke at all.
23:57
I think on New Jersey he was dealing with a lot of injury
23:59
issues. Every time he would start to get
24:01
going, he got injured. So I think this is just what a
24:04
healthy Mackenzie Blackwood is capable of.
24:06
And yeah, I think he honestly, he could have done this in New
24:09
Jersey if it wasn't for the injuries.
24:10
So I think that I think he's the real deal.
24:13
Yeah, and if you look like 20/19/20, he had 47 games and
24:16
9:15. That was really, really solid.
24:18
He was much younger than two. And then COVID and then
24:22
injuries. It's it's exactly what what
24:25
we're saying. And then at this point, he's on
24:28
a great team and he's a very good goalie.
24:30
So he could easily get 35 wins this year.
24:33
Yeah, that would be amazing. Do you think he could hit 60
24:36
starts? I feel like that's a good
24:38
threshold. I think he could.
24:39
I think for sure, yeah. If that happens, and that's an
24:42
amazing, amazing return. That's why he's, that's why 80P
24:45
is #4 off the board. I mean we saw Georgia get
24:48
drafted this high in previous years exactly because of the
24:51
exact spot that mechanic Blackwood is in.
24:53
Except we saw Black would be good in this spot.
24:55
So. He will return on value.
24:58
It's just about, you know, who are you, which kind of player or
25:01
defenseman you're drafting ahead of him.
25:03
Yeah, alright, so we get into the top half of this top 10.
25:07
This next guy's my boy. Yeah, let's talk about #5. #5 We
25:13
have Kevin's late round steal from last year.
25:16
Darcy Kemper of the LA Kings last year put up 31 wins 2.0 two
25:20
goals against average .921 save percentage.
25:23
He was just a huge steal last year.
25:24
No one was taking him this early.
25:26
He is LA is a defensively down team and they have pressure on
25:29
them to be even better this year than in the past after all these
25:31
first round exits. Edmonton.
25:32
So I like Kemper a lot. I think of this list compared to
25:36
Adps and what other people might think.
25:37
We put him a bit higher and and I stand by it.
25:41
Yeah, I think LA is such an amazing team this year.
25:44
I probably have them higher than you guys on my on my Pacific
25:49
Division rankings. I stated most spoiler that
25:52
episode. Yeah.
25:54
I'll just RIP into Jake for his picks.
25:56
Yeah, patience. It's gonna happen.
25:59
But no, it's I think Ella is awesome and he he also used to
26:06
have a lot of injury issues back in the day, but it feels like
26:09
for seasons on end now he's been all good.
26:12
So I really, really like him to be that guy.
26:16
And I feel like he's one of those zero G strategy darlings
26:20
that you couldn't definitely like get out of Fair value.
26:25
So I I think he's gonna play a lot and I think he's gonna do a
26:28
lot with his opportunity. The the main thing with Kemper
26:32
is that we saw how efficient he was last year.
26:35
One of the reasons why he was such a good fantasy goaltender
26:38
was not only because he was on a team that was strong, but he had
26:43
the second best goals against average in the league and the
26:45
second best save percentage in the league.
26:46
Only to, you know, I mean, I'm gonna say the name because
26:49
nobody's gonna be shocked at the number one but Connor Hellebuyck
26:51
like that. Wheelers What?
26:54
No. But that was the only goal that
26:56
was better than him in terms of the quality of games that he was
27:00
playing. He played 50 games last year.
27:02
He won 31 of them. The only thing with Kemper is
27:06
he's entering his age 35 season. And does the age, you know, play
27:10
into him regressing slightly? Like that's the question.
27:13
But he plays on such a stout defensive team that the system
27:17
we saw, what the system does, he wanted.
27:18
He wanted Stanley Cup in in Colorado.
27:21
Like we know he's a goaltender capable of winning at the
27:23
highest level. I think he's definitely going
27:26
being drafted higher in drafts this year than he was last year.
27:30
Last year he was a late round gem.
27:31
This year you're paying up for him like he's a top ten draft
27:34
goal. He's going right ahead of Philip
27:35
Guston setting your drafts. Are you drafting him that high?
27:38
Which round he's at? Pick 5555 1/2.
27:43
I mean, look, if you're not A0G guy, then yeah, I take him
27:45
there. You know, I'm not taking any
27:47
goals before the 10th round, so or even around like 15, but I
27:50
like going extreme on that. But no, he's definitely worth of
27:53
value and I think he's gonna be a great pick.
27:56
Yeah, I'm much more worried about Bob than Kemper this year
28:00
for utilization. Like I think Florida and LA are
28:03
comparable teams and how many wins are going to get.
28:05
But efficiency is the word that you use and it's like the best
28:09
way to describe it. At 3111 and seven last year,
28:12
that's a crazy, crazy record. So I'm very happy to have him.
28:19
I also tend to not want to take goalies that high.
28:22
But listen, if we're all thinking 0G and most of our
28:25
league mates, kinda like any of you know, for the listeners of
28:28
most of your league mates to have the same strategy and you
28:31
know, he he goes down to around six.
28:34
I mean, it's a good pick there, I find.
28:36
Yeah, the other thing is his backup goalie is Anton Forsberg,
28:39
who was not able to have good games in Ottawa.
28:43
So I'm not, I'm not threatened by that guy behind the.
28:46
Camera. Not at all for sure.
28:49
All right, so again to the top 4 because I feel like this is a
28:51
tier break. Here, Yeah, absolutely tear
28:53
break here. So let's get into. #4 #4 We have
28:57
Jake the snake, JK he's an Otter Ottinger.
29:01
He last year he he put up 36 wins, 2.59 goals against average
29:07
.909 save percentage. And yeah, he's the goalie for
29:12
the Stars who are building like a team that should be a dynasty
29:14
for years to come. And he's one of the best guys
29:15
out there, gonna get top three and wins every year.
29:18
He's a no brainer for me. You know what it is with him
29:20
though. He has some horrible games and
29:23
those games are such a pain to be the owner.
29:27
So that's one thing I'll say is that like, you know, versus
29:31
Kemper, who has a 92, he has a 909 save percentage.
29:34
And while I believe in the stars a lot, I think they're really,
29:38
really good. I don't know if efficiency wise
29:43
and goals against average and save percentage is going to be
29:45
as good as some of the other guys, but wins and volume, yeah,
29:48
he'll he'll deliver. That's the thing with him, like
29:51
you, both of you have had him on your fantasy rosters in recent
29:54
years, right? Like Jigsaw, the injury happened
29:57
live and was like, I need to get this guy off my team.
30:00
He didn't even wait for the news.
30:01
He treated him to Josh so that and then I won.
30:04
Yeah, exactly. So obviously we know the ceiling
30:08
with Jake once we know the talent that he has.
30:10
I think we haven't seen him play at that ceiling for long
30:13
stretches, though. I think he's been saved by the
30:15
team in front of him. We know Dallas is like.
30:18
That's it. I'm not worried at all about him
30:19
because of the team is so stacked.
30:22
And I think the coaching change will honestly help him to be
30:25
honest, like we saw, yeah. We want divorce said about him.
30:28
After the war roasted him. That was crazy.
30:30
Yeah, yeah, the more roasted him and pulled him in the last game
30:33
of the season, yeah, cuz I mean, to be fair, he let in goals
30:36
early in the game, but I feel like at that point it's like
30:38
you're elimination game, you just gotta roll with your
30:40
starter and hope he bounces back.
30:41
You know what, He's just gonna wanna come back from that
30:43
stronger. You know, he's gonna wanna prove
30:44
to everyone that he's the real deal and that that was just a,
30:47
you know, a blip or whatever. So I think it's gonna be great
30:49
for him. A real Kelly Clarkson.
30:53
He's the third goalie by ADP this year.
30:56
Do you think he deserves that or?
30:58
I think it's #4 because we put him #4 on our list and we're
31:01
never wrong. I completely agree.
31:04
Yeah, I completely agree. Which is he higher than this
31:09
next guy? Yes, he is.
31:11
OK but I ride to slot guy. I also rather this next guy, so
31:14
let's talk about this next guy in #3.
31:17
Number three of the New York Rangers, we've got Igor Shister
31:22
can coming off a 27 win, 2.86 goals against average .905 save
31:26
percentage year. He had a pretty rough season
31:28
last year, especially up based on his standards.
31:31
But all three of us, we said a bunch of times we expect a big
31:33
bounce back from the Rangers and Igor may be the best goalie in
31:37
the league. He might drop around due to how
31:39
badly or bad, how, you know, not great he was last year.
31:42
So he could be a great value, especially like you see Ottinger
31:46
is going higher than him and we all think that he's going to
31:48
have more value than that. So I think he could be a draft
31:50
steal for getting him. Like if you're not A0G guy you
31:53
can get him at a really good spot.
31:56
This is going to be the first year entering his eight-year
31:59
contract. That's $92 million.
32:01
Like he got paid to be the guy. He is the guy.
32:04
We've seen him be the guy. So, I mean, I, I was making a
32:09
Spy Kids 3D reference. She's a guy.
32:11
He's the guy. Last year, clearly all of New
32:15
York was in shambles. He was a billow staple on our on
32:19
our weekly episodes for a significant amount of time.
32:23
I think this is the year he bounces back.
32:25
We're all expecting that from the Rangers this year.
32:27
He could be the best goalie in fantasy if he wanted to.
32:30
That's in the realistic range of outcomes, which is not for a lot
32:33
of guys on this list. I I would love to have you on my
32:37
team. I'm tempted to take him in a
32:40
high realm, but I probably won't.
32:42
I'd love to see you take him in a high round because you guys
32:45
are encroaching on MY0G space. But uh, you know what?
32:48
Honestly, I think it's a good, a good pick.
32:50
Like not just because I want you to leave me alone with my
32:52
strategy, but honestly I think it's a, it's genuinely a good
32:56
pic because I think he's gonna drop like around lower than he
32:58
should. So auditors ADP is 22,
33:01
Blackwoods ADP is 26.5, Igor's ADP is 32.5.
33:05
That's a no brainer. But I think he's just
33:08
significantly better value than the two guys ahead of him.
33:11
So yeah, I'd be happy to take him.
33:13
If he falls a little later than that and just goes, I feel like
33:16
get pushed down in general, depending on your league and
33:19
where people are taking goalies, if there's a run or not.
33:21
But I'm happy to have him in the fourth round.
33:24
I feel that be insane value. I do think though 1 bear case
33:28
for him is that this is the worst defensive core that he's
33:31
ever had, so I can see why it's a little riskier to go him over.
33:39
You know why? You know, I think people are
33:41
pretty high on the the gap Rikov signing.
33:43
Like I think the NHL defenseman. Yeah, so like, it's not exciting
33:47
fantasy, but Gary was a great signing.
33:49
You know, Fox is always solid, always have.
33:52
Bad. Yeah.
33:53
I don't think it's as bad as we think.
33:55
I think he's gonna be really good.
33:56
Fair, that's true. And other than last year he had
33:59
35 plus wins in his previous Four Seasons.
34:02
This was his only losing record ever last year and I think he's
34:05
definitely gonna have a winning one this year, so I love him.
34:09
All right. That's number two.
34:12
At #2 we've got Andre Vasilevsky of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
34:17
Last year he had 38 wins, 2.18 goals against, average .921 save
34:22
percentage. Tempest still one of the best
34:24
teams in the league. I mean, I, I don't want to spoil
34:26
my Atlantic divisions, but let's just say I have them very high
34:29
and, and he has not slowed down over the years.
34:32
He's going to be a late first round pick in a lot of drafts.
34:34
Early 2nd, definitely the second bully off the board.
34:37
I get shocked at how people take him so high and then I play
34:40
against him in fantasy and I'm like ah no not this again.
34:44
That's my exact words I use but. Yeah, he's a he's the most OK, I
34:53
guess like the next guy is kind of just proven us like me wrong
34:57
in my in my thinking this way, but I feel like for years
35:00
Vasilevsky just the most reliable guy and I also should
35:04
we just kind of get. Into another.
35:05
We should talk about both together, together.
35:07
All right, this is classic for our top 10s, but I think it
35:10
makes sense. But in this way, because I feel
35:12
like this was a tear break between the previous one and
35:15
these two, and I feel like there's a lot to compare and
35:18
contrast here why they can end up like interchangeable.
35:22
Alright, so #1. At #1 surprising absolutely no
35:26
one, especially cause Kevin spoiled it earlier.
35:28
We've got Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets.
35:32
Last year he had put up 47 wins, two goals against average .925
35:37
save percentage. He is the first goalie who will
35:39
be drafted in every single draft.
35:40
He had an insane season last year with 9 more wins than the
35:43
next goalie and it's the only type of season that would make
35:46
even a 0 believer like me draft him in the first round.
35:49
Spoiler. I still won't though.
35:52
So I think what what's important when talking about, let's just
35:55
talk about both of these guys together because we didn't touch
35:57
on vastly too much, but Connor Hellebuyck is the greatest
36:01
regular season goalie and Vasilevski.
36:04
Connor in the league? Yes, behind Connor McMichael,
36:07
but exactly Vasilevski is arguably, you know, if you
36:10
needed one game to beat the aliens that are invading, like
36:13
you're putting Vasilevsky. I feel like that's kind of.
36:15
Monster, everybody. Exactly so.
36:20
So we've seen both of them have extremely high highs.
36:25
I don't think if you're drafting hella book this year based on
36:29
expecting him to do what he did last year, I think that's a big
36:31
mistake because you're never going to see him have another
36:34
season like he did last year. In my opinion, very few goalies
36:37
do it. Yeah, that wasn't human.
36:39
Literally. So this year, I mean, I never
36:44
take goalies in the first or second round.
36:45
I just feel that's a losing strategy.
36:47
You know, we don't have to tell you guys multiple times that
36:51
we're team 0G or just like value G in the later rounds.
36:55
But if you had to drive the guy this high, it's it's going to be
36:57
Connor Hellebuyck. Yeah, and the thing with
37:01
Vasilevsky is that they played the exact same amount of games
37:04
last year. They're safe percentage was 925
37:07
for Halibut versus 921 for Vass. Both really, really good.
37:12
Really leak where Illibuck had the difference is that Winnipeg
37:17
was so good and I think we think that Winnipeg is gonna be a bit
37:20
less good so if Tampa does. It can be better than they were
37:23
last year. It's impossible.
37:24
No, they they can't. Like they're definitely.
37:27
It's all downhill from here, baby.
37:29
Yeah, like, like that's it. So I, I believe that Vasilevsky
37:35
can part like he can be a little bit better and Hellip could be a
37:38
little worse still. Illibuck may be the number one,
37:42
but I think that gap is really close and it's gonna be closer
37:45
this year than last year for reasons that, you know, same
37:49
with the Winnipeg not being as good and Tampa maybe even being
37:52
a little bit better. This is going to be going in the
37:55
first round of most of your fantasy job because there's
37:58
always one dude that always likes taking goalies in the
38:00
first round. Just my suggestion is don't be
38:02
that guy. I wanna be after that guy so
38:05
bad. I know, I know.
38:07
It's the best thing when you know the guy ahead of you is
38:09
gonna overvalue certain positions.
38:10
But if you had to make me choose between halibut and the first or
38:13
Vasilevsky and the second is a no brainer for me.
38:15
I'm getting I'm taking Vasilevski in the second.
38:16
Obviously don't want to draft a goalie that high either way, but
38:19
no gun to my head and facing the Monstars.
38:23
I've updated the Monsters fantasy team and I wanna build
38:26
my roster properly. I'm thinking about levels in a.
38:28
Second, Kevin's our only hope to beat them in fantasy hockey.
38:32
Just to be with them like disgusting monster in front of
38:35
me drafting. With a gun to your head.
38:37
Exactly. Queens Gambit vibes anyways.
38:43
Wait, what? Queens Gambit.
38:45
Just like, you know, chess. Match wherever in the show about
38:48
that when the aliens, yeah, there and they had to fight them
38:51
in chess. Exactly, we just watch different
38:56
shows like what are you talking about?
38:59
Yeah, you haven't seen the Queens gather with Michael
39:01
Jordan and Larry Bird. God, wow.
39:12
That's really, I think that's anyway it's.
39:14
A great way to wrap this up. Yeah, I think that wraps up our
39:17
top 10 goalies episode. Wow.
39:20
Brilliant. Wait.
39:20
OK, one last question. Out of all this top ten, which
39:24
goalie are you most would pick to have on your team at cost?
39:30
Is that including honorable mentions?
39:32
No top 10. OK, you can't say Dustin Wolf.
39:38
OK. Our cost.
39:40
Yeah. I'm going with the big squishy
39:42
leanness. I was, yeah.
39:44
Is it just cause he's the last drafted goalie on this list?
39:48
No, a little. Think hmm.
39:54
But he took his answer. That's why I won first.
39:56
I just wanted to say it before you can.
39:58
Maybe, I think just Durkin. So just put it in like the 4th
40:03
ish. Yeah, and then Linus is worth 6,
40:07
we said. No, he's going later than that.
40:09
He's he's gonna be drafted like much, much later.
40:12
No around mine 8:00 to 9:00. Yeah, cause disturbing to me
40:17
could could basically do something similar to what
40:19
Helleberg did last year. And if you're not having to pay
40:22
first round capital for that, it's just so sick.
40:25
Yeah, I think for me, I mean, obviously loveliness, but I'd
40:27
probably go Gustafson because I just think that I think
40:30
Minnesota can be one of the best teams this year and you will do
40:33
that team. Yeah.
40:34
So, yeah, that was one that was it's it's tough and that's a
40:38
good. That's a really good question.
40:39
I'm gonna have to be pondering this.
40:41
But initially, yeah, my my instinct is was leanness but
40:45
stole it from me. But now, now it's just working.
40:49
Yeah, cool. Thanks to everybody for
40:52
listening. If you enjoyed the show, follow
40:54
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