The Minnesota Wild have officially traded goaltender Cam Talbot to the Ottawa Senators for goaltender Filip Gustavsson.
Senators general manager Pierre Dorion issued a statement regarding the deal in a team release:
Kem has experience and gives us more goalkeeping stability for next season. He was instrumental in helping Minnesota reach the playoffs in each of his two seasons with the Wild. The tandem of him and Anton Forsberg sets us up well for the coming year.
Trade is financially important to Minnesota. That’s a net cap reduction of $2.9 million, giving the Wild and general manager Bill Guerin some (small) flexibility when free agency opens tomorrow.
It was clear that Talbot was unhappy with Minnesota’s decision to keep Marc-Andre Fleury on a two-year deal, and now he’ll get another job as a clear-cut 1A goaltender (at worst) with the Senators. The Senators now have a more experienced and revamped goaltending tandem leading them next season as they look to make some noise in the Eastern Conference, essentially trading the oft-injured Matt Murray for Talbot for third-round pick Gustavsson. and a seventh-round pick. In 49 games with the Wild last year, Talbot, 35, had a 32-12-4 record, three shutouts, a 2.76 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
The deal isn’t without merit on the ice for the Wild, either. Gustavsson is young and has a decent position, and while he doesn’t steal the ‘keeper of the future’ label claimed by Jesper Walstead, he fills the void in the organization left by Kaapo Kahkonen as a long-term tandem or back-up option. Originally a second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016, Gustavsson now finds himself with his third NHL organization without a fault. He appeared in 27 games as a Senator over the past two years, maintaining a career record of 10-13-3 and a .905 save percentage. Those numbers are bound to improve with increased development and a stronger defense in the Hockey State.
ESPN’s Kevin Weeks was the first to report that Talbot was headed to Ottawa.
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