NHL fans debate whether Russia or USA have better goaltenders: "Any of these goalies would be Canada's #1"

In a recent Reddit discussion, NHL fans debated whether Russia or the USA has the better pool of goaltenders. The post compared the top five goalies from each country, sparking many opinions.

The Russian goaltenders included Igor Shesterkin, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Sergei Bobrovsky, Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov. The USA's goaltenders were Connor Hellebuyck, Thatcher Demko, Jake Oettinger, Jeremy Swayman and John Gibson.

The post asked a simple question:

"Which country has the better pool of goaltenders?"

Best Goaltending Depth - Russia vs USA byu/Sens-Fan-85 inhockey

Soon, NHL fans joined the discussion with their personal opinions on the above-mentioned Russian and USA goalies.

"Any one of these goalies would be Canada's #1," one fan commented.

Comment byu/Sens-Fan-85 from discussion inhockey

"Yeah, Russia. Could just be recency bias but Shesty, Vasy and Bobs are genuinely in another league game to game. Sorokin too. While Helly, Otter and Thatcher the Snatcher are good, my money goes to the Russians on this one," another fan said.

Comment byu/Sens-Fan-85 from discussion inhockey

"Lol WTF is Canada doing, just embarrassing how there are currently no good NHL goalies. How bad is the CHL then a scary amount of teams yet all the goalies suck for such a long period of time. That being said, I would say Russia is slightly better than the USA for goalies," one fan brought Canada into the discussion.

Here are some more reactions from fans on Reddit:

"I’d take Russia in a heartbeat. Pay no attention to my flare," a fan said.

"Russia got the best goalies in the world right now," another fan opined.

"Funnily enough this is selling Russia a bit short given the quality of prospects they have coming in the next few years. Kochetkov, Tarasov, Askarov and Fedotov are all good candidates to make that top 5 of Russian goalies once they've established themselves," a fan shared a deep perspective.

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NHL Network analysts discussed best goalies entering 2024-25 season

Who will be in the top 10 goalies for the 2024-25 season? NHL.com writers discussed this question and named several top goalies in the League.

Sergei Bobrovsky helped the Panthers win the Stanley Cup and remains strong at 36. Thatcher Demko led the Canucks' turnaround and finished second in Vezina Trophy voting. Connor Hellebuyck is a two-time Vezina winner and one of the most reliable goalies.

Juuse Saros also led the NHL in games played and is key for the Predators. Igor Shesterkin had a strong playoff run with the Rangers. Jeremy Swayman is rising as the Bruins' top goalie. Andrei Vasilevskiy has been consistently excellent for the Lightning.