Roberto Luongo
Roberto Luongo and Marc-Andre Fleury hold the distinction of leading not one, but two NHL franchises in all-time wins. And while Luongo hung up his well-used pads a couple years ago, ex-Pittsburgh great Fleury continues to add to his team-leading total in Vegas.
Note: For active leaders, only goalies who still play for the team were considered. For example, in Arizona, Mike Smith is ahead of Darcy Kuemper on the franchise wins list, but Smith no longer plays for the Coyotes, so Kuemper is highlighted as the active leader.
(Related: All-time point leaders and active point leaders for the NHL’s 31 teams.)
Here are the all-time win leaders and active win leaders for the NHL’s 31 teams:
ANAHEIM DUCKS
All-time wins leader: Jean-Sebastien Giguere (206 wins)
Active wins leader: John Gibson (144 wins)
It’s Giguere for now, but Gibson is signed for six more years beyond this season so he’ll surely set a new standard.
ARIZONA COYOTES
All-time wins leader: Ilya Bryzgalov (130 wins)
Active wins leader: Darcy Kuemper (51 wins)
It’s tight at the top of Arizona’s all-time wins list. Bryzgalov comes in one ahead of Bob Essensa (129 wins), who’s one ahead of Mike Smith (128 wins), who’s two ahead of Nikolai Khabibulin (126 wins).
BOSTON BRUINS
All-time wins leader: Tuukka Rask (298 wins)
Active wins leader: Tuukka Rask (298 wins)
Boston traded Tiny Thompson in 1938, but not before he had established the Bruins’ franchise mark of 252 wins. It took a while, but the team record now belongs to Rask, and he might end up holding it as long as Thompson did. Two other Bruins goalies have won 200-plus games, Frank Brimsek (230 wins) and Gerry Cheevers (226 wins), while Rask’s former crease partner, Tim Thomas, came close (196 wins).
BUFFALO SABRES
All-time wins leader: Ryan Miller (284 wins)
Active wins leader: Linus Ullmark (46 wins)
Miller beats out the legendary Dominik Hasek (234 wins) and early Sabres stopper Don Edwards (156 wins). Ullmark ranks 11th on Buffalo’s list behind Jacques Cloutier (50 wins), while Carter Hutton sits 17th with 31 wins.
CALGARY FLAMES
All-time wins leader: Miikka Kiprusoff (305 wins)
Active wins leader: David Rittich (60 wins)
When you’ve won more games for the Flames than Mike Vernon (262 wins), you know you had a pretty good run. Rittich and new starter Jacob Markstrom (8 wins) have a long way to go.
CAROLINA HURRICANES
All-time wins leader: Cam Ward (318 wins)
Active wins leader: Petr Mrazek (46 wins)
Ward has more than twice as many victories as runner-up Arturs Irbe (130 wins) and third-place Whalers stopper Mike Liut (115 wins).
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
All-time wins leader: Tony Esposito (418 wins)
Active wins leader: Kevin Lankinen (8 wins)
Esposito was a Blackhawks lifer who began with a bang, setting an NHL record for rookie goalies with 15 shutouts in 1969-70. He beats out Glenn Hall (276 wins) and Corey Crawford (260 wins). Speaking of rookies, Lankinen is tied for 49th on Chicago’s list.
COLORADO AVALANCHE
All-time wins leader: Patrick Roy (262 wins)
Active wins leader: Philipp Grubauer (45 wins)
Here’s one for you: Roy had 81 playoff wins for the Avs, compared to just 16 for franchise runner-up Mario Gosselin.
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
All-time wins leader: Sergei Bobrovsky (213 wins)
Active wins leader: Joonas Korpisalo (65 wins)
Bobrovsky lapped the field in Columbus, with more than twice as many victories as second-place Steve Mason (96 wins). Korpisalo is fourth all-time, while platoon partner Elvis Merzlikins is 10th with just 16 wins.
DALLAS STARS
All-time wins leader: Marty Turco (262 wins)
Active wins leader: Ben Bishop (74 wins)
The Stars’ succession plan this century is second to none, with third-place Ed Belfour (160 wins) handing off to Turco, who handed off to second-place Kari Lehtonen (216 wins), who handed off to Bishop.
DETROIT RED WINGS
All-time wins leader: Terry Sawchuk (350 wins)
Active wins leader: Jonathan Bernier (28 wins)
The NHL’s all-time wins leader until Roy came along, Sawchuk did most of his damage with Detroit. The Wings are one of three teams with two 300-games winners, as Sawchuk is joined by Chris Osgood (317 wins). The recently retired Jimmy Howard sits third on Detroit’s list (246). Bernier, if you’re wondering, sits 26th.
EDMONTON OILERS
All-time wins leader: Grant Fuhr (226 wins)
Active wins leader: Mikko Koskinen (50 wins)
The crease has been a constant cause for concern in the City of Champions pretty much since the Oilers last won a championship in 1990. Mike Smith has been lights-out since returning from the IR, but it doesn’t instill much confidence when your best bet is 38 years old and injury prone.
FLORIDA PANTHERS
All-time wins leader: Roberto Luongo (230 wins)
Active wins leader: Sergei Bobrovsky (28 wins)
Luongo is one of two goalies to lead two franchises in all-time wins. Franchise original John Vanbiesbrouck sits second (106) and Tomas Vokoun is third (101 wins).
LOS ANGELES KINGS
All-time wins leader: Jonathan Quick (330 wins)
Active wins leader: Jonathan Quick (330 wins)
Quick has won more games for L.A. than runner-up Rogie Vachon (171 wins) and third-place Kelly Hrudey (145 wins) combined.
MINNESOTA WILD
All-time wins leader: Niklas Backstrom (194 wins)
Active wins leader: Kaapo Kahkonen (10 wins)
Devan Dubnyk (177 wins) came close, but longtime No. 1 Backstrom remains the Wild standard. With new starter Cam Talbot (3 wins) struggling to stay healthy, rookie backup Kahkonen has taken advantage of the extra playing time.
MONTREAL CANADIENS
All-time wins leader: Carey Price (353 wins)
Active wins leader: Carey Price (353 wins)
The Habs almost had three 300-game winners, but Roy (289 wins) gave up a nine-spot to Detroit and decided to move on rather than join Price and Jacques Plante (314 wins). Montreal does, however, boast five 200-game winners, with Price, Plante and Roy joined by Ken Dryden (258 wins) and Bill Durnan (208 wins).
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
All-time wins leader: Pekka Rinne (364 wins)
Active wins leader: Pekka Rinne (364 wins)
With all due respect to Nashville’s long line of elite defensemen, from Shea Weber through to Roman Josi, nobody has meant more to the franchise than Rinne. He’s more than 200 wins ahead of runner-up Tomas Vokoun (161 wins). Juuse Saros is fifth on the Preds’ list with 58 victories.
NEW JERSEY DEVILS
All-time wins leader: Martin Brodeur (688 wins)
Active wins leader: Mackenzie Blackwood (36 wins)
What’s left to say? Brodeur collected 688 of his NHL-record 691 wins in New Jersey, and he’s an astounding 570 wins ahead of Devils runner-up and longtime backup Chris Terreri (118 wins). Blackwood could win 40 games a season for the next 15 years and he’d still have to settle for second place.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
All-time wins leader: Billy Smith (304 wins)
Active wins leader: Semyon Varlamov (27 wins)
Even after these years, it’s still Smith and creasemate Chico Resch (157 wins) sitting 1-2 on the Isles’ list.
NEW YORK RANGERS
All-time wins leader: Henrik Lundqvist (459 wins)
Active wins leader: Alexandar Georgiev (37 wins)
The Rangers are the only team with a 400-game winner and a 300-game winner, in Lundqvist and Mike Richter (301 wins). Rookie starter Igor Shesterkin (14 wins) is tied with Steve Valiquette for 34th on the Rangers’ list.
OTTAWA SENATORS
All-time wins leader: Craig Anderson (202 wins)
Active wins leader: Marcus Hogberg (7 wins)
He’s only won seven of 32 career starts in Ottawa, but that’s enough to give Hogberg the active lead over new starter Matt Murray (4 wins in 14 starts). Anderson and Patrick Lalime (146 wins) are the only goalies with more than 100 victories for the Sens.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
All-time wins leader: Ron Hextall (240 wins)
Active wins leader: Brian Elliott (54 wins)
Given the Flyers’ up-and-mostly-down track record with goaltenders, it’s fitting that there’s not much separating Hextall and runner-up Bernie Parent (231 wins), and then there’s a big drop to third-place Steve Mason (104 wins). Carter Hart (45 wins) will pass Elliott before long and, if things go according to plan, he should give Hextall a run for his money in, oh, six or seven years.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
All-time wins leader: Marc-Andre Fleury (375 wins)
Active wins leader: Tristan Jarry (40 wins)
Fleury joins Luongo as the only netminders to lead two franchises in wins – and his mark in Pittsburgh isn’t going to fall anytime soon. Maybe not ever.
ST. LOUIS BLUES
All-time wins leader: Mike Liut (151 wins)
Active wins leader: Jordan Binnington (62 wins)
The Blues’ all-time wins leader has a relatively low total for an “original” expansion franchise. Compare Liut’s 151 wins to the franchise leaders for 1967-68 expansion teams Dallas/Minnesota North Stars (262), Los Angeles (330), Philadelphia (240) and Pittsburgh (375). Jake Allen had 148 wins before being dealt to Montreal last summer.
SAN JOSE SHARKS
All-time wins leader: Evgeni Nabokov (293 wins)
Active wins leader: Martin Jones (161 wins)
Jones is poised to pass Antti Niemi (163 wins) and move into second place on the Sharks’ list, but Nabokov’s No. 1 spot is secure for the foreseeable future.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
All-time wins leader: Andrei Vasilevskiy (170 wins)
Active wins leader: Andrei Vasilevskiy (170 wins)
Already the franchise’s leader in all-time wins at the age of 26, Vasilevskiy is going to put a lot of distance between himself and next-on-the-podium netminders Ben Bishop (131 wins) and Nikolai Khabibulin (83 wins).
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
All-time wins leader: Turk Broda (304 wins)
Active wins leader: Frederik Andersen (147 wins)
It’s been 70 years since Broda last stopped a puck for the Leafs, but he’s still No. 1 on Toronto’s wins list. Pending UFA Andersen should be able to pass Felix Potvin (160 wins) for third place, but catching runner-up Johnny Bower (219 wins) is another matter.
VANCOUVER CANUCKS
All-time wins leader: Roberto Luongo (252 wins)
Active wins leader: Thatcher Demko (22 wins)
Luongo leads Florida with 230 wins and Vancouver with 252 – and don’t forget the seven games he won with the Islanders as a rookie in 1999-2000.
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
All-time wins leader: Marc-Andre Fleury (99 wins)
Active wins leader: Marc-Andre Fleury (99 wins)
Fleury leads Pittsburgh with 375 wins and Vegas with 99. Add it all up, and he’s the NHL’s active wins leader at 474 and counting. Here are the other goalies who have recorded at least one win for the Golden Knights: Malcolm Subban (30 wins), Robin Lehner (6 wins), Maxime Lagace (6 wins) and Oscar Dansk (3 wins).
WASHINGTON CAPITALS
All-time wins leader: Olie Kolzig (301 wins)
Active wins leader: Ilya Samsonov (17 wins)
Braden Holtby (282 wins) came close, but Kolzig’s still the king of the Caps. Don Beaupre (128 wins) is the only other netminder with 100-plus victories for Washington.
WINNIPEG JETS
All-time wins leader: Connor Hellebuyck (156 wins)
Active wins leader: Connor Hellebuyck (156 wins)
Hellebuyck recently passed Ondrej Pavelec (152 wins) and, like Vasilevskiy in Tampa Bay, he’s poised to run away with Winnipeg’s all-time wins total.
