Flipping the Script: Revisiting the Talbot-Gustavsson Trade

It's one year too late, of course, but Cam Talbot and Filip Gustavsson are both suddenly performing this season how the Senators projected they woul

When former Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion traded Filip Gustavsson to the Minnesota Wild for Cam Talbot last summer, he believed he was upgrading the Sens'  goaltending. 

It was a theory that didn't quite pan out – not last year anyway.

In 2022-23, Talbot had injury troubles and some tough nights in Ottawa, while Gustavsson finished with the second-best goals against average and save percentage in the NHL.

2022-23 Stats

Cam Talbot: 17-14-2, 2.93 GAA, .898 SV%

Filip Gustavasson: 22-9-7, 2.10, .931 SV%

Some fans were furious over Gustavsson's loss and ensuing success, wondering how Dorion could gift-wrap a young goalie, who might be a true number one for the next decade, and throw him to the Wild. 

Dorion then opted not to re-sign Talbot back in July, casting him away like magic beans he'd been suckered into buying at the fair. So Gustavsson was gone, and the Sens had nothing to show for it.

This season, Talbot is in LA, where he signed a one-year deal for only $1 million. The Wild re-signed Gustavsson to a three-year deal worth $3.75 million AAV. And through the first month of the season, performance-wise, these two former Senators seem to have done a Freaky Friday-style body switch.

2023-24 Stats (as of Nov 10)

Cam Talbot: 7-2-1, 2.03 GAA, .930 SV%

Filip Gustavasson: 2-4-1, 4.64 GAA, .872 SV%

So while Dorion's evaluation of what Talbot might deliver for the upcoming season was incorrect two summers in a row, the early numbers suggest that his initial admiration for what Talbot has left in the tank, along with his concerns about Gustavsson, may both still have merit. Time will tell.

Talbot has already been back to Ottawa with the Kings and got a satisfying win over the Senators on November 2nd, a day after the Senators decided to mutually part company with Dorion.

It's still very early, of course, but it's another reminder of how team defence (or lack thereof) plays a such huge role in a goalie's fortunes. Gustavsson and Talbot left Ottawa to go where defence is a thing, and they've looked like different goalies as a result.

Do NHL teams become great because they have have elite goalies? Or do goalies only have a chance to be elite because the team in front of them is committed to great team defence? That's something to ponder as we, yet again, evaluate what we think is shaky goaltending in Ottawa so far this season.