Wild sign goalie Cam Talbot to 3 year deal

 

Cam Talbot became the Wild’s starting goalie on October 9^th when he signed a 3 year, $11 million contract. He’ll be taking over the starting role after Wild GM Bill Guerin traded Devan Dubnyk to the San Jose Sharks. (Talbot’s contract does not contain a no-trade or no-move clause).

 Talbot was one of a number of goalies on the free agency market—including Braden Holtby (signed with Vancouver), Jacob Markstrom (signed with Calgary—Talbot’s old team), Thomas Greiss (signed with Detroit on October 10^th), Anton Khudobin (re-signed with Dallas), and Henrik Lundqvist (signed with Washington).

 Guerin stated he was disappointed with the goaltending after the Wild’s season ended and that a change was needed. He confirmed the statement about a change was needed when he traded Dubnyk to the Sharks earlier in the week. (Previously stated here).

 

Talbot, who is 33-years-old, comes to the Wild with a career 150-122-25 record (314 regular season games) with a 2.61 GAA, .919 SV%, and 22 shutouts. In the playoffs last season, Talbot’s record was 5-4-0 (10 games) with a 2.42 GAA, .924 SV%, and 2 shutouts with the Calgary Flames. Along with spending this past season with the Flames, Talbot has had stints with the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers (where he had a 42 win game season in 2016-17 and was named to the All-Star game that season), and the Philadelphia Flyers. 

 Talbot said the following after having signed with the Wild:

           

“I kind of bet on myself with that one-year deal…I knew that people had kind of written me off, but I wasn’t done yet. And I knew that I could still play at a high level. So it’s very rewarding that I was able to prove that and to get this opportunity to play in the great city and great building like Minnesota, I’m really looking forward to the opportunity.” (theathletic.com)

 

Talbot joining the Wild gives the team a starting goalie with Stalock as back up. With having Talbot in the net, this also gives Kaapo Kankonen (who has filed for arbitration as an RFA) more time to develop to eventually become the starting goalie with the Wild, along with Hunter Jones. Guerin had this to say about signing Talbot and what it means for Kankonen:

 

“I think it buys us more time with Kahkonen…The last thing we want to do is rush him along. I’m not saying he can’t play or won’t play. That’s not the case, but we’re not forced to do anything. I think that’s really important when it comes to the development of a goalie.” (theathletic.com)

 

However, there is the expansion draft coming up after the 2020-21 season. Minnesota is only going to be able to protect one of their goalies (Hunter Jones is exempt). If Kahkonen gets an extended opportunity to play with the Wild this upcoming season and plays well, it could mean some tough decisions for Guerin regarding goaltending and which goalie is going to be protected.

 It will be very interesting to see how Talbot does with the Wild, knowing that this is his third team in three years and with Kankonen patiently waiting in the wings…

Sources:

Michael Russo, The Athletic. https://theathletic.com/2127528/2020/10/09/cam-talbot-wild-signs-free-agent-goalie/

https://www.nhl.com/wild/news/talbot-signs-with-wild-100920/c-319408248

https://www.hockeywilderness.com/2020/10/10/21509597/minnesota-wild-nhl-cam-talbot-free-agency-signing-analysis