Is Ryan Miller The Best Goalie In The NHL?

 

Zenon KonopkaVerified account‏@ZenonKonopka

If you don't think Ryan Miller is the Best Goalie in the NHL you haven't seen enough Sabres games #unreal

Wow. That's one hell of a statement to make. One that warrants further investigation.

Firstly I'll accept that I haven't seen every game that Miller has played, as a neutral, there's only so much hockey you can watch which still holding down a job. Sure he's a good goalie, but the best? In the same league as Marc-Andre Fleury, Mike Smith, Ben Bishop and Jonas Hiller, well that's some esteemed company.

It's difficult to grade goalies, usually Save Percentage (Sv%) is the best reflection of how well a goalie is doing, but it doesn't always paint a true picture. Niklas Svedberg has the second best Sv% in the league (.943) but he's only played one game so far. That was against the Nashville Predators, not exactly prolific shooters.

Fleury has the most wins to his name, but how much of that is down to the proficiency of Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz up front? Or Kris Letang and Brooks Orpik patrolling the blue line?

Miller has a Sv% of .928, having save 1025 of 1105 shots. That's a decent percentage, it's the same as Carey Price, although Price has played five more games. Price also has more shutouts.

What Miller does have going for him, in this game of Goalie Top Trumps is Saves. Chances are if the team has a leaky defense, and the Sabres definitely do, then the goalie will be forced into a lot of saves. Miller has made 1025 saves, only Mike Smith has made more.

Is Ryan Miller the best in the league? Given that it's impossible to really compare goalies, it's hard to say. Has his season so far compared to that of Price and Smith? No. But he is playing well.

Alex's Edit: Ryan Miller has served Buffalo well since being drafted in 1999, and now he holds the distinction of having more wins than the great Dominic Hasek! But his recent proneness to errors has prevented him from being considered one if the leagues best goalies! So far this year he has been one of the few bright spots for the Sabres, but he is some way off joining the likes of Fleury and Price!