Less than a week ago, after signing goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to a two-year contract, Wild General Manager defiantly responded to a report of fellow goalie Cam Talbot's agent George Bazos saying of the situation, "Billy's got a lot to think about."
With Cam Talbot move, did Wild trade less drama for less stability?
Talbot had been solid for most of two years with the Wild. Is Minnesota better off in net now than it was a year ago at this time?
July 13, 2022 at 11:04PM
The insinuation: Talbot wasn't happy that he would be sharing the net again with Fleury. The reply from Guerin: "Cam Talbot's under contract," he said, after uttering an expletive in explaining he didn't have to do anything. "George can say whatever the hell he wants. My team's set right now, and that's the way it goes."
As it turns out, Guerin must have had some things to think about. And even though he was correct in his assertion that he didn't have to do anything, he traded Talbot on Tuesday.
In a video call with reporters, Guerin showed a softer touch in regard to the situation: It's probably best to just move in a different direction with Cam. That way there's no drama. There's no controversy or anything like that. We just felt that it was best at this time."
But while the move did net a cheap backup goalie in return (Filip Gustavsson will make about $3 million less than Talbot, freeing up cap space), these questions are gnawing at me: Doesn't it seem like the Wild traded less drama for less stability? And is the team's goaltending situation really better now than it was a year ago?
If you look at some advanced numbers from 2021-22, the answers are pretty clear.
Kaapo Kahkonen, the young goalie the Wild traded to make room for Fleury, was No. 19 among NHL goalies in goals saved above average per 60 minutes last season (out of 65 goalies who played at least 18 games, per MoneyPuck). Cam Talbot was No. 39. Fleury was No. 53. Gustavsson was No. 55.
Now, Fleury played most of the year for Chicago while Gustavsson was with Ottawa, two non-playoff teams. Perhaps both will benefit from a full year in the Wild's system.
And it is notable that a big part of the Wild's swoon last season before Fleury's arrival was a rough patch from both Kahkonen and Talbot.
But the bottom line is this: The Wild had two goalies they seemingly trusted last season. And they had two goalies they trusted a few days ago.
Now their clear-cut No. 1 goalie is a three-time Stanley Cup champion but also a soon-to-be-38-year-old and their backup is unproven.
When he was hired after the disastrous 2016 season to reshape the Twins, Derek Falvey brought a reputation for identifying and developing pitching talent. It took a while, but the pipeline we were promised is now materializing.
