(Almost) all big $$$ goalies suck

[BelovedIsles]

Sorokin is underrated. Before last season he was a perennial top-5 goalie. He suffered a back injury, had surgery, and is playing behind a bottom-tier team.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Might not be for a long time.

Stick technology has progressed to the point it's not humanly possible to be a reflex goalie in the NHL anymore. Goalies play the percentages and try to put themselves in the spot where it's most statistically likely the puck will hit them. This is vulnerable to bad luck and the shooter happening to make the perfect shot. If goalies get bad luck they get in their own heads and start chasing and it goes downhill from there.

Goalies seem unpredictable because it's a luck based position. If the shooter makes the perfect shot there is zero even the best goalie in the league can do about it. Goaltenders are differentiated by their anticipation of the play and ability to get into position.

Didn't used to be this way even 30 years ago. At one time only a couple guys on a team had 100mph shots, now it's the entire team down to the 6th defenceman and stick technology makes shots so much more accurate.

It’s a double edged sword, the save % creep in the late 2000s early 2010s forced a lot of teams to incorporate a lot more random pinball into their games. Netfront specialists like Holmstrom used to be.. well specialists, but now it’s expected that everyone in your top 9 has the hand-eye to tip pucks and generally make the goalie’s life difficult. It indirectly killed the big slapshot from the point since it’s easier for the goalie to read and harder to tip.

 

[The Macho King]

Sorokin is underrated. Before last season he was a perennial top-5 goalie. He suffered a back injury, had surgery, and is playing behind a bottom-tier team.

See that's overstating it. Sorokin had only been a starter for 3 seasons - 2 good and 1 meh.

Consistency in starting goaltenders is rare nowadays.