NHL training camps are just over two weeks away, and with the schedule compressed this year, the battle for jobs is going to come fast.
That matters most in goal, where development tends to move at its own pace. Last week’s look at the game’s top 25 goaltending prospects made that clear, but a handful of names are ready to take a real swing at NHL minutes right away.
Devon Levi, with 39 games played, and Dennis Hildeby, with 26, should stay with their clubs but are not rookies by Calder standards. There’s also one goalie on this list who isn’t Calder eligible yet is still basically a first-year NHLer after just two career starts.
Here are four rookie goalies worth watching in 2026-27.
Michael DiPietro, 27, Boston Bruins, is the odd case on the list: not Calder eligible, but very much a rookie in the NHL sense. His path has been a long one. A few years back, many viewed him as one of the sport’s better goalie prospects, and now the Bruins are finally giving him the shot he’s earned.
DiPietro has only 131 minutes of NHL experience and is still looking for his first win. In the AHL, though, his resume is loud: a 118-50-16 record, a .918 save percentage, top goalie honors in 2025 and league MVP in 2026. There wasn’t much left for him to prove in Providence.
Boston still has Jeremy Swayman in the No. 1 role, as expected, but the club’s decision not to bring in a replacement after moving Joonas Korpisalo to the New York Rangers on July 1 says plenty. DiPietro isn’t the biggest goalie around, but he brings athleticism and sharp reads that can cover for the size.
He looks like a legitimate backup option, and the comparison that fits best is Brandon Bussi: an older rookie who finally gets his chance after losing Calder eligibility. DiPietro and Bussi were AHL teammates in Providence, and DiPietro posted the better numbers.
At the top of the prospect heap sits Jacob Fowler, 21, of the Montreal Canadiens. He enters 2026-27 as the world’s best goaltending prospect, and his rise has been a fascinating one.
Early in his development, some scouts thought he carried too much weight, but the talent has always been obvious. Once Fowler got his first NHL call-up at 21, he made it count and basically helped force Samuel Montembeault out of the starting job.
What makes Fowler special is the whole package: elite play reads, quick movement, strong hands and skating that lets everything work together. The comparison that comes to mind is a young Carey Price cutting through the noise, though the hype level is its own thing. Even so, Fowler is clearly the most gifted Canadiens goalie prospect in close to 20 years.
Jakub Dobeš may look like a real No. 1, but Fowler is going to be in the mix every night. Montembeault remains on the roster for now, and Montreal could go with three goalies again, but Fowler’s pedigree suggests he’s ready for full-time work. Moving Montembeault to waivers before the regular season would make sense for everyone.
Sergei Murashov, 22, of the Pittsburgh Penguins, already got a taste of the NHL last season, and he made it count with a 4-0 shutout in his second career start. That came after he tore through the early part of the year in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he finished with a .919 save percentage and a 24-9-4 record while splitting time with Joel Blomqvist. Both were good, but Murashov has the edge in the Penguins’ pecking order.
Murashov also played in the AHL all-star game, and there’s been starter upside buzz around him for a while. Pittsburgh was smart not to rush him into a full-time NHL role last season.
This year, he looks set to back up Arturs Silovs, which is young but workable. The Penguins should be in the playoff mix again, and Murashov has a real chance to show he belongs as a long-term NHL goalie.
Then there’s Sebastian Cossa, who comes in at No. 4.
He was the first goalie taken in the COVID-affected 2020-21 season, and the early returns were ridiculous: 17-1-1 with four shutouts in 19 games for the Edmonton Oil Kings. He kept producing after that and built the kind of profile teams dream about - a 6-foot-6 goalie who moves well and tracks the puck naturally.
Detroit drafted Trey Augustine two years later, and Augustine’s rise has changed the conversation a bit, but Cossa is still very much in the picture. He put up strong AHL numbers in Grand Rapids last season, setting career highs with 26 wins, five shutouts and a .915 save percentage. The second half wasn’t as sharp, and he lost the starter’s job to AHL rookie Michal Postava before the playoffs, but that may turn out to be just a rough stretch rather than a trend.
Cossa begins the season as Karel Vejmelka’s backup, and there’s a path for him to force the issue quickly. A 1B role wouldn’t be a surprise if he keeps pushing.
Among the other names expected to play games are Drew Commesso of the Chicago Blackhawks, Ilya Nabokov of the Colorado Avalanche, Michal Postava of the Detroit Red Wings, Dylan Garand of the New York Rangers, Artur Akhtyamov of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carl Lindbom of the Vegas Golden Knights.
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