TheHockeyNews.com: Coyotes’ Antti Raanta among top 10 NHL goalies
Aug 20, 2018, 1:15 PM
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Coyotes goalie Antti Raanta finished the 2017-18 season with the best save percentage and tied for the best goals against average in the NHL among goalies with 40 or more games played.
His fine season led to a ranking of No. 8 among all 31 NHL goalies heading into to the 2018-19 season by TheHockeyNews.com.
Raanta is the second highest ranked goalie in the Pacific Division behind only Marc-Andre Fleury at No. 6, who led the expansion Vegas Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup Final appearance last season.
Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick was ranked right behind Raanta at No. 9.
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The top three ranked goalies were No. 1 Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets, No. 2 Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning and No. 3 Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets.
Last year’s Vezina trophy winner, awarded to the league’s best goalie, Pekka Rinne, was ranked No. 12.
Raanta’s performance was extremely valuable to a Coyotes team that finished No. 30 in the NHL in goals scored per game last year.
If he can stay healthy, Raanta could be a long-shot contender for the Vezina trophy this season.
In April, the 29-year-old Raanta signed a three-year contract extension with the Arizona Coyotes for $4.25 million. His base salary for 2018-19 of $2.75 million was the lowest of any other goalie in the top eight.
