Why Fantasy Managers Should Draft Tandems, Not Workhorses
The ironman goalie is gone, and fantasy drafters who still reach for a 65-game starter are paying a premium that no longer exists.
The numbers have shifted, and most fantasy drafters have not caught up.
Across the 2025-26 season, only 10 goalies cleared a 65 percent crease share, and exactly one cleared 75. The average top-12 fantasy goalie worked 63.6 percent of his team's crease. That is a tandem number, not a workhorse number, and it means the minutes that used to belong to one goalie are now split between two.
The practical upshot: a top-24 fantasy goalie last season played just 56.55 percent of his team's crease. The other 43-plus percent landed on a second goalie who, on a good team, was also rosterable.
So the draft math flips. Paying up for a supposed starter buys you a 63 percent share at a premium price. Spending less capital on both halves of a quality tandem buys you two goalies with winnable matchups, rest-sharpened rate stats, and at least one going undrafted next to you.
The proof showed up in last season's rankings. Between Jake Oettinger (128.8 fantasy points) and Jakub Dobes (99.8), you find goalies ranked fourth through 16th. Flip two of Dobes' rougher outings to quality wins and he becomes the fourth-best fantasy goalie in the game.
Before targeting tandems, a few situations worth avoiding. The Connor Hellebuyck situation in Winnipeg is the obvious one. He publicly requested a trade last month, and the Jets suspended him Wednesday for failing to report to training camp, TSN reported. TSN has reported the Jets have not received offers with fair value for the 2025 Vezina and Hart Trophy winner. Buffalo, Carolina, and Utah have been floated as possible destinations. He will be discounted at drafts, but not so steeply that the pick hurts if he never plays.
For the tandems worth targeting, the Buffalo pairing of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (41.1 percent crease share, 92.4 fantasy points) and Alex Lyon (40.4 percent, 86.4 points) sits near the top, with Luukkonen as the ascending half. The caveat is the Hellebuyck trade risk: if he lands in Buffalo, Luukkonen's value collapses.
The scarcity that makes a handful of real horses expensive is the exact same scarcity that leaves tandem goalies cheap. Buy the split.
