The following are 13 worthwhile backup goalies that Jason would be proud of.

1. Jaroslav Halak – Montreal Canadiens
Halak should be good to go for 20+ starts and he can be very valuable as a spot starter in a deep fantasy league for a very strong Habs team. Although Halak’s most recent start resulted in getting pulled after giving up 4 quick goals to the re-emerging Ducks, Halak will return to good form. Because Price is still young himself, the Canadiens will ease him into a starting role and that means Halak–who is a good young goalie himself–will be counted on for a pretty decent amount of starts, not to mention he may be being showcased for trade. Either way, Halak is one of the most valuable backups in the league for fantasy hockey purposes.

2. Jonas Hiller – Anaheim Ducks
Giguere has only started over 60 games in a single season once back in 2002-03. It’s likely that this trend will continue and Hiller should see at least 20 starts. The Ducks’ recent struggles and slow start have come to an obvious halt as they’ve been on a winning run lately. Look for Hiller to get a decent amount of wins and some solid average stats for the games he does end up starting especially because of the strength of the team in front of him.

3. Ty Conklin – Detroit Red Wings
Chris Osgood is not getting any younger. Last year’s Cup champions will definitely be resting Osgood as much as they can, especially down the stretch. This opens up the opportunity for backup Conklin, who played brilliantly last season for Pittsburgh when Fleury was out for an extended period. Although Conklin (and Osgood) has started the season off slow individually, look for him to get in the groove soon and garner a good amount of wins for another very strong Detroit team.

4. Brian Boucher – San Jose Sharks
It’s very possible that Nabokov will take a few more games off this season. That opens up a viable spot start fantasy goalie role for Brian Boucher. Boucher’s already started two games and has allowed a whopping zero goals against. He’s faced 43 shots and made 43 saves and garnered 2 shutouts already. Anyone who has started him has already received a ton of value out of him. He won’t be grabbing a shutout every start but Boucher is on a very good San Jose team and he’ll certainly be winning the majority of the starts he makes.

5. Alex Auld – Ottawa Senators
Martin Gerber has been shaky these past few seasons. Martin Gerber has been shaky already in a couple games for the Sens. In fact, now that Gerber is injured at this moment, Auld is the de facto starter and Gerber will have to battle back for his position when he returns. Auld so far has had rather solid statistics and is 3-2 overall.

6. Josh Harding – Minnesota Wild
The Wild have been off to a very hot start but with Backstrom at the helm for most of the games so far. Harding had an eye injury very recently which is always something to be wary of. It was initially projected by many that Harding would be reaching the 30 starts mark as a backup. However, because Backstrom and the Wild have been so good lately, it’s possible that Harding will lose out on a few of those projected starts, as he already has. Even downgraded to 20-25 starts, though, on a good looking Wild team is still very serviceable.

7. Chris Mason – St. Louis Blues
The one time Predator backup turned starter is technically backing up Manny Legace for the rising but still young Blues team. However, with Legace on the IR at this point, Mason looks to be the interim starter even though he recently had an emergency appendectomy. Once Legace returns, however, it’s likely that Mason will be again relegated to backup duties unless he can reprise his Nashville role where he was spectacular in relief of Vokoun when he was injured. The Blues are looking to be a middle of the pack team right now and it’s unclear how Mason will fare long term, but right now he does have good value.

8. Michael Leighton – Carolina Hurricanes
Leighton is a very solid goalie who happens to be backing up Ward for the ‘Canes. Leighton started 59 games last year for the Albany River Rats in the AHL with a very strong save percentage of .931 and a 2.21 GAA. Cam Ward has not been able to consistently perform at the level he reached when Carolina won the Cup a few years ago and it seems that Leighton should get some decent starts in.

9. Joey MacDonald – New York Islanders
With DiPietro getting hurt again, MacDonald is actually the starter, again. MacDonald is playing for a rather weak NYI team so don’t expect him to be a world beater for your fantasy hockey team. However, if you grabbed him as a backup for spot starts, consider yourself lucky as you’ve come across a temporary starter now. How long Joey’s run as starter lasts depends on when DiPietro can successfully return to his guaranteed #1 status. DiPi already tried to come back but it proved to be too early for him and he’s on the shelf again. Keep a close eye on DiPietro’s status and also watch the schedule for some decent matchups for MacDonald.

10. Patrick Lalime – Buffalo Sabres
Lalime has been a starter in the past, for the Ottawa Senators. He didn’t get the playoff success that the Sens were looking for at the time and so they let him go. Lalime’s been better suited to the backup role most recently. Backing up Miller and the Sabres who have quickly run out of the gate but have stumbled slightly lately, Lalime should still be in good position to start a good amount of games and get his fair share of wins on what looks to be a surprisingly strong Sabres team.

11. Olaf Kolzig – Tampa Bay Lightning
The long time Caps’ starter is now backing up Mike Smith for the Bolts. Smith’s never been a full time starter before so it’s likely Kolzig will get a good share of the starts, almost a platoon status, at least to at this point in the season. However, TB isn’t looking so great so far so it’s likely that Ollie the goalie won’t be getting you the best stats. However, if you can spot start him for favorable matchups, especially if TB is playing well during the time, it could be of use, especially in a deep league where goalies are at a premium.

12. Pekka Rinne – Nashville Predators
The Preds have had an interesting story with their netminders the past few years. Vokoun was a bona fide starting goalie for them until Mason excelled when Vokoun was out for an extended period. This led the Preds to seemingly have the depth to be able to trade Vokoun and then install Mason as the starter. Until Mason was also showed up by his backup last season, Dan Ellis. Now with Mason gone, and young Ellis as the starter, another high potential young goalie in Rinne backing him up, who’s to say history won’t repeat itself again? Although Rinne’s first NHL start was one to forget, his second start was a solid win over the Oilers, only allowing one goal through. Since Ellis has never been a full time NHL starter, it’s likely he’ll have some trouble repeating his stellar performance from last year. Look for Rinne be a steady backup and possibly surprise in net if he can pull off what his predecessors have.

13. Stephen Valiquette – New York Rangers
Valiquette backs up Lundy, who is a true workhorse these days, but the few starts Valiquette does see are usually wins. The Rangers seem to play well in front of Valiquette as well as Lundy, because he is 2-0 already with great stats, including one shutout. Again, don’t expect the starts to be frequent but when he does start, Valiquette can pick up a crucial win for you in a tight league.