In most traditional hockey seasons, many given NHL teams have one “starting” goaltender, who plays a majority of the team’s games, and the back-up, who plays the rest or comes in to relieve him. This season, of course, is anything but traditional. NHL teams are allowed to carry up to three goaltenders, and the Buffalo Sabres are set to begin with a tandem of Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark.
Normally, we’d be asking: who is the starting goaltender this season? But instead, I’ll ask: is there even really such a thing this season? Does it even matter?