Best of the young goalies

[rticinelli]

I kept Mason this past summer thinking he was the second-coming of Brodeur. He may still be, but I obviously have my doubts now. More than that, I need to improve my goaltending now in order to make a final push for the title (I would still say I have a decent shot, but NEED goaltending). I'd like to keep a young, talented goalie is my keeper moving forward, though. Besides, I've already asked about the established studs - Brodeur, Nabby, Luongo, Lundqvist, Miller, Kiprusoff, and Fleury - and none of them are moving right now. Seeing as this will be my keeper goalie slot, I place an 80/20 split on long-term potential. So, my question...

In what order would you want the goalies below, with 80% importance placed on long-term potential and 20% importance placed on the current season:

S. Mason
Niemi
Price
Rask
Varlamov

I'll kick things off by saying I would order them as Price, Mason, Varlamov, Rask, and Niemi... but, I have been a little out-of-touch from hockey (and fantasy hockey, specifically) over the last several months, so I'm looking for some more well-informed opinions. Fire away!

[TrueNorth]

It's a tough call and I may be a bit biased since I am a Price owner but I still beleive he does have the most upside out of the lot but the team in front of him just isn't that great. I really don't see the Habs being a contender in the next 5 years atleast, since that is the case I would have to rank in this order:

Varlamov- WSH is going to be a force for years to come.
Rask- Would have been at the top of my list if only BOS hadn't locked up Thomas.
Price- see above, but it is still really close in the top three.
S. Mason- maybe benefitted from a D fist system under Hitchcock last year. I know, same sysytem this year but it seems he has lost them if Ken gets canned which is all the talk as of late and depending on the coach coming in, we could see a different Mason. But again there are alot of what if's in their.
Niemi- Still not sold on him I think any starter in the NHL right now would have similar stats on that team.

I would personally still make a move for Price something has to give in MTL who knows maybe they trade him and keep Halak. He needs to mature and has shown glimpses, if he can get a team in front of him look out.

[notoriousjim]

varlamov has neurvith breathing down his neck. I could see Varlamov being the player traded and them keeping Neurvith. While i see both of them as long term #1 goalies, their stock being this high is based on playing for a very good young team.

Rask has thomas to contend with on the short term. So his short term value is as a 1b. Harding is not on this list for the very same reason, and he would have been this time last year.

Price has Halak to deal with, but i think Price is the guy they keep and Halak moves to another team. since we are not talking about a washington here, it does not matter as much.

Mason was a beast last year taking an off year.

My order would be:
1. Price
2. Mason (but a very close 2nd)
3. Varlamov
4. Rask
5. Neimi

but there are other young guns i would add to that list (Halak, Neurvith, Schnieder, among others that are on par with a Neimi to me)

[bumchilly25]

This response will be a bit biased as well, as I own both Miller and Ward. Is Ward available at all? He's still young, has won a bunch in the past.....Maybe not so much in Shutouts and W's for this season, but long term, I think he towers over the other you mentioned.

Of the others, I prefer Rask. I'm calling a Timmy T phase out in Beantown, and it may be sooner rather than later. He's old, not as good as Rask, and tends to break down a bit.