Goaltenders are an unpredictable lot by nature. For every reliable Martin Brodeur, there are three Jose Theodores all over the map from year to year.

This season experts project repeat greatness from Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers, Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings and Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators. Each was stellar last season and each is expected to carry on.

But check out the disparate fantasy rankings of some other key NHL netminders:

Jaroslav Halak, St. Louis Blues: NHL.com ranks him fifth in the league, but Dobber Hockey has him at No. 19 in its latest rankings and Yahoo! Sports has him at No. 29. The latter two ratings reflect his anticipated time share of Brian Elliott.

Ilya Bryzgalov, Philadelphia Flyers: Yahoo! Sports believes his strong regular season finish will carry over. Hence the No. 3 ranking it gave him. NHL.com (No. 13) and Dobber Hockey (No. 16) had nagging doubts about him.

Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings: He has been brilliant in his career. He has also been mediocre. Dobber Hockey had him sixth, but Yahoo! Sports had him No. 10 and NHL.com had him down at No. 18.

Roberto Luongo. Vancouver Canucks (for now): At the moment he finds himself in a time share with upstart Corey Schneider. Rather than become a pine time player, he is willing to move back to Florida in a trade. Dobber Hockey still lists him as the 10th best goaltender for this season, but NHL.com had him at No. 16 and Yahoo! Sports had him at No. 30.

Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins: His playoff collapse created a mixed vote for his 2012-13 projection. Dobber Hockey had him fourth. NHL.com had him at No. 7 – but Yahoo ranked him 19th.

Jonas Hiller, Anaheim Ducks: Banking on this team to pick up where it left off, NHL.com gave him a solid No. 10 rating. Dobber Hockey ranked him 13th and Yahoo! Sports had him at No. 27.

Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames: Dobber Hockey loves this veteran and ranks him fifth. Yahoo! Sports (14th) and NHL.com (20th) were less enthusiastic.

You get the idea. After the top few, even the guys who project statistics for a living are guessing.