from Michael Traikos of the National Post,

While the Tampa Bay Lightning won back-to-back championships with four-time Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy as their unquestioned starter, the line between elite No. 1 goalie and flavour-of-the-month has never been so blurred — or so confusing.

Maybe that is why so many teams are now treating the position as though it is the NHL’s version of a bullpen. It’s all about quantity — not quality — these days, with teams preferring tandems and riding the hot hand for all it’s worth, before discarding it once it goes cold.

And so, Mrazek replaces Frederik Andersen as the Leafs’ 1B on a three-year deal where he and Campbell will presumably share the net. In a division that includes Vasilevskiy, Montreal’s Carey Price and Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky, you’d be hard-pressed to say that the Leafs have improved their chances of getting out of the first round.

“It never felt for us like we had a tandem,” Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said of Campbell and Andersen, who evenly split the net last season. “It was just whoever was healthy was playing. Mrazek has done (a tandem) in Carolina, but also carried the ball as a starter. We think they will push each other.”

At the same time, Dubas admitted that it’s not like the Leafs had the cap space to go “big-game hunting” for a big-name goalie. Even they did, why would they waste the money on a position where you don’t necessarily get what you pay for.

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