Cam Talbot was traded to the Ottawa Senators by the Minnesota Wild on Monday for Filip Gustavsson.
The 35-year-old goalie was 32-12-4 with a 2.76 goals-against average, .911 save percentage and three shutouts in 49 games (48 starts) this season. He has one season remaining on a three-year, $11 million contract ($3.67 million average annual value) he signed with Minnesota on Oct. 9, 2020.
The trade comes five days after the Wild re-signed Marc-Andre Fleury to a two-year, $7 million contract ($3.5 million AAV). Fleury split time with Talbot after he was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline on March 21, but he was named the starter for the first five games of the best-of-7 Western Conference First Round, which Minnesota lost to the St. Louis Blues in six.
“Cam has been nothing but supportive and spectacular through this whole thing,” Minnesota general manager Bill Guerin said on July 8. “He is a pro. But, hey look, you can’t take guys like Cam Talbot for granted and assume that he is going to be fine and everything like that just because he says he is. We want to make sure he is fine.”
Signed by the New York Rangers as a free agent on March 30, 2010, Talbot is 201-142-34 with a 2.63 GAA, .915 save percentage and 27 shutouts in 396 regular-season games (381 starts) for the Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames, and Wild. He is 15-16 with a 2.51 GAA, .921 save percentage and six shutouts in 33 Stanley Cup Playoff games (31 starts).
For the Senators, the deal comes one day after they traded Matt Murray to the Toronto Maple Leafs for future considerations. Ottawa also gave up a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, a seventh-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and retained 25 percent of Murray’s salary in the trade.
With Murray gone, Talbot will battle for the No. 1 role with Anton Forsberg, who signed a three-year, $8.25 million contract ($2.75 million AAV) with the Senators on March 21. The 29-year-old was 22-17-4 with a 2.82 GAA, .917 save percentage and one shutout in 46 games (44 starts) this season.
“Cam is experienced and provides us with greater goaltending stability heading into next season,” Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said. “He was instrumental in helping Minnesota reach the playoffs in each of his two seasons with the Wild. The tandem of he and Anton Forsberg sets us up nicely for the upcoming year.”
Gustavsson, 24, was 5-12-1 with a 3.55 GAA and .892 save percentage in 18 games (16 starts) this season. A second-round pick (No. 55) by the Pittsburgh Penguins at the 2016 NHL Draft, he is 10-13-3 with a 3.12 GAA and .905 save percentage in 27 NHL games (23 starts), all with the Senators. Ottawa acquired Gustavsson in the trade that sent forward Derick Brassard to Pittsburgh on Feb. 23, 2018.
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