After suffering their second consecutive playoff loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the 2022-23 season, Rob Blake made a big move to try and take the Kings to the next level, acquiring Pierre-Luc Dubois. 

That move limited their cap space and forced them to go with budget goaltending in net. 

Between Cam Talbot, Phoenix Copley and David Rittich the Kings were spending less than $4 million on goaltending. 

After acquiring Darcy Kuemper in exchange for Dubois, the Kings will be spending more than that on one goalie next season. 

It also leaves Talbot in an interesting position after a big bounce back season with LA. 

Despite being one of the older goaltenders in the league and coming off a couple of injury-plagued seasons, Talbot's signing was a shrewd move by Blake. Talbot's familiarity with Todd McLellan and his system play, from his three seasons in Edmonton under McLellan's coaching, added a valuable dynamic to the team.

The impact of the new signings was evident as the team performed exceptionally well in front of Talbot. The team had a promising 16-4-4 start to the year, with Talbot also contributing significantly with a 14-7-3 record, a 2.11 GAA, and an impressive .924 SV %. This performance was a testament to the strategic decisions made by Blake and the positive influence of the new signings on the team's dynamics.

While Talbot's play reversed heavily in January (0-6-2, 873 SV % 4.27 GAA), he still ended up representing LA at the All-Star game and going on to talk about his dip in play later in the season, "Every goalie goes through it. I've been through it multiple times throughout my career. You don't lose the ability to play the position. You just don't. It's 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. And if you lose it between the ears, you just got to get it back. Take a mental reset and just remind yourself you're here for a reason, you've done this for a long time and just go out there and do what you do."

Talbot's more visible impact on the team was his penalty-killing play. The season prior, the PK was a boat anchor for the team. It wasn't the sole reason, but it massively contributed to Jonathan Quick's departure and trade. Among goaltenders with 20 GP or more, Talbot led the league on the PK with 10.6 (goals saved above expected). He was third in goals saved above expected per 60 with 2.47 and second in save percentage on unblocked shots with a rock solid .966%. 

Talbot and, to an extent, Rittich led the team to completely flip-flop from its PK ranking from a season prior. They were 75.6% in 2022-23 and shot up to 84.6% with Talbot and Rittich. That's a nine-point swing that contributed to LA being the third-best defensive team in the entire league.

The current situation:

Looking at the situation that has played out with another 'blunder and fix' by Blake, Pierre Luc Dubois was traded to Washington for goalie Darcy Kuemper. The 34-year-old goaltender previously played for the Kings in 2017-18 for 19 games. While some of the faces from that team are still around, the roster is much different, and Kuemper is much older.

With his price tag and 'younger' age (34 vs. 36), he is likely the starter for the Kings this upcoming season regardless of his poor season in Washington where he was mostly the backup to Charlie Lindgren. The Kings have already signed Rittich to stay around for another season earlier in the offseason. Copley is also a UFA and the Kings could look to retain him as a third option with two older goaltenders (34, 31) already signed in case of injury.

Talbot looks to be the odd man out. 

It isn't entirely fair to a veteran goaltender who still has the game to be a backup or even become the affiliate starter to mentor the youth coming up. Would it be great for Talbot to mentor Erik Portillo in the minors? Sure. Would it be the best thing for Talbot, who is getting towards the twilight of his pro career? No. Talbot has proven to be an excellent budget starting goaltender in this league, who can boast excellent penalty-killing analytics in the right system.

Talbot will gain a raise from his budget price of last season or at least still land somewhere to become a 1A while his age permits. He was well-serviced in LA and highly insulated under the 1-3-1 system. Other teams should be wary of adding him to a much heavier price tag. 

Kuemper is signed through 2027-28, which buys more time until their top goaltending prospect, Portillo, comes up as a backup and then takes the crease as a starter. Blake will have to navigate the pipeline and backups moving forward after this next season if he is still at the helm.

For Talbot, it's a bon voyage in the most respectful way. He was a much-needed veteran presence, an All-Star, and his numbers buoyed this team to be a much better penalty-killing team defensively than the previous season.