From The Silky Mitten State: With the addition of Cam Talbot, how much can Detroit expect its goaltending to improve in the coming season?
From The Silky Mitten State: With the addition of Cam Talbot, how much can Detroit expect its goaltending to improve in the coming season?
Cam Talbot wasn't the splashiest move of the summer's free agent period around the NHL, far from it, but the newly signed Red Wings goaltender has a good chance to be among its most valuable acquisitions.
The reasons are simple and two fold: first, Talbot is a goalie, an inherently high-leverage position, and second, he's signed to a cheap deal (two years, $2.5 million AAV). It's a combination that invites a value surplus, especially considering it's not as though the goaltender in question is in need of some sort of redemption arc. Instead, Talbot is coming off a strong season in Los Angeles: a .913 save percentage and 2.50 goals against average in 54 games.
His last two postseasons have not been kind to Talbot (an .861 SV% this year in three games for the Kings, an .846 in just one game with the Wild in the '22 playoffs), but the previous three were strong (.923 in 7 games in '21 with Minnesota, .924 in 10 games in Calgary's '20 playoff run, and a .924 in 13 games for the Oilers back in 2017).
Talbot might not be a Vezina Trophy candidate, but he is a credible starting goaltender for a team with playoff aspirations. For the Red Wings, the greater question lies in what will be done with the other three goaltenders on the NHL roster at the moment: Alex Lyon, Ville Husso, and Jack Campbell.
Campbell will presumably be sent to Grand Rapids, where he will serve as back-up to Sebastian Cossa, but what of Husso and Lyon? Will Detroit really roll with three goaltenders again? Does Lyon or Husso have the edge on the depth chart? Did the Red Wings try and fail to trade Husso?
My co-host Connor Earegood and I discussed those question on the latest episode of our podcast The Silky Mitten State. You can check out a sample of the conversation via the featured video, then listen to the full episode on either Spotify or Apple Podcasts:
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