Unmasked: Puck-handling skills provide added boost

When it comes to being a good puck-handling goalie in the NHL, the abilities that matter most are not always measured in goals, assists or highlight-reel worthy stretch passes. 

Sure, every goalie dreams of launching the puck past everyone on the ice and into an empty net at the other end and joining a list of 11 in NHL history to do so, or a quick-up saucer pass that catches the opposition on a change and sends a teammate in alone for a breakaway. 

NHL goalies admire their peers who are capable of such feats, but they also recognize that is not necessarily what makes them valuable handling the puck. 

"You see highlights of guys like [New York Rangers goalie Igor] Shesterkin sending breakout passes or stretch passes to the far blue and that's great, and if guys are aware and know it's coming, it works," San Jose Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic said. "But I also think a majority of guys handling pucks behind their net are just getting it over to the 'D' or making quick plays and it's more about being crisp, clean and decisive on what you're going to do." 

Nedeljkovic is one of those goalies that others admire for his ability to accurately shoot and pass the puck long distances. The 30-year-old scored into an empty net with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season, has six assists in 206 NHL games in nine seasons, and is the only goalie to score in the NHL, American Hockey League (twice) and the ECHL. 

He has learned, however, that precise passes are more important than long passes. 

"There's nothing worse than putting a puck into your defenseman's skates," Nedeljkovic said. "The whole objective is to get it on their stick and get out of the zone so they're not getting hit as much. You can be good handling the puck and making good, hard passes but if you're not putting them on guys' tape, if you're not exiting the zone cleanly and efficiently, it's hard. If I put it in the corner or in their feet, they're taking a hit for no reason again, and sometimes it's almost a detriment because now we're chasing the puck again."

They may not make the highlight reels, but shorter passes to get the team cleanly out of the defensive zone are a big part of being an effective puck-handling goalie.

"In today's game, it's a good 10-to-12-foot pass with the ability to do something else once in a while," said New Jersey Devils goalie Jake Allen, who is in his 13th NHL season.

Allen and Nedeljkovic each stressed that the ability to "something else," including making the longer passes, means nothing unless all their teammates are on the same page.

Just as goalies rely on learned anticipation to make saves, the ability to read a forecheck is a big part of being able to make the right passes when you're standing behind the net you are supposed to be guarding. That requires knowing where teammates are going to be as opponents barrel down on you, knowing when to leave it behind the net for them to skate onto and when to chip it past a forechecking forward and into a corner knowing your defenseman will peel off for that pass. 

There's nothing worse as a goalie than waiting to make a pass and having both the opponent and your teammate skate right at you. Communication is key, with a series of calls designed around simple plays like a "leave," "up" or "over" to keep goalies and defensemen on the same page in the face of a forecheck. 

"You can't be a good puck handler unless you have a good group around you," Allen said. "It's a team sport and that aspect of the game is ultimately you giving it to someone else on your team, so everyone's got to be connected and cohesive and predictable, especially with how fast the game is now, how fast the forecheckers are on top of your defensemen now, and the time and space. It's about trying to make their job as easy as you can, and I think it's a good 10- to 12 -foot pass and the ability just to communicate well too."

Just being good at shooting or passing the puck isn't enough. You need to be able read a forecheck and trust that your teammates are on the same page with that read.

"I can shoot the puck really high and really hard, but I am trying to make more short passes, cut off one player, maybe two players, and that's reads and learning," said Yaroslav Askarov, who is in his first full NHL season in San Jose. "I would say the great stick handling, that's not only from the goalie, it's all the time communication with the [defensemen] too."

Of course, it all starts with a willingness to get out behind the net and stop a dump-in, as well as knowing which ones to leave. The general rule is not to leave the net on pucks up along the glass, lest it hit a seam or stanchion and bounce out front, but even then, there are goalies more adept at getting out to stop pucks behind their net, whether it's to make one of Allen's short passes or a simple leave that allows a defenseman to skate onto the puck cleanly rather than trying to pull a moving puck off the wall under pressure.

For goalies like Jordan Binnington, the willingness to go get dump-ins others might not try for and ability to make plays with the puck many can't was a big part of Team Canada's success at both the 4 Nations Face-Off and Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. 

Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators describes himself as "average" with the puck, but after watching his predecessor, Pekka Rinne, who scored a goal on Jan. 9, 2020, and was regarded as one of the League's most aggressive goalies when it came to stopping dump-ins behind the Nashville net, Saros knows it's not just about making plays. It starts with being comfortable getting out of the net to stop pucks behind it.

"Just trying to be aggressive and ahead of the play, making it easier for the defensemen so they won't get hit as many times in the game, you can help those guys by taking the forecheck out of their hands a little bit," Saros said. "Obviously there's the stickhandling part, but it's seeing the game well and a little bit just predicting what's going to happen too."