from Nick Kypreos at the Toronto Star,

With the playoffs two weeks away, it feels like the goaltending position has never been more vulnerable. Gone are the times when goaltenders seemed irreplaceable.

With the exception of Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Lightning, Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers and Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders, the majority of playoff-bound netminders today are seen more as potential liabilities. Sorokin has been exceptional this season, often with little support in front of him. But that’s where the list ends. Notably the Boston Bruins duo of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman will still have some convincing to do come April, even after the team’s historic season.

The crazy part is, the teams with the second, third, fourth and fifth-best records in the league have all left themselves potentially exposed with questionable and unproven goaltending. The Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, Vegas Golden Knights and Toronto Maple Leafs all seem to have Stanley Cup-calibre rosters, but can we say the same about their goalies? Add these playoff teams to the mix: the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers and, yes, those defending champs from Colorado....

... it seems NHL goalies are indeed trending in the wrong direction when it comes to dependability.

Since the 2004-05 lockout, changes have been made to help increase offence in the game. Unfortunately, it came at the expense of the goaltenders. The NHL has become faster and more dynamic with less reliance on netminders to single-handedly steal games.

The number of unproven goalies in these playoffs should favour another underdog story like Kuemper, rather than the rarity that is Vasilevskiy and his impeccable playoff reputation.

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Sorry, posted this in the wrong section of KK.