The Athletic’s Jesse Granger posted an article which discusses the goaltending moves made by NHL teams during the offseason thus far, and he suggests that the Red Wings “filled a need with potential for more” in signing Cam Talbot and Jack Campbell:
There’s a lot going on in the Detroit crease at the moment. After two signings on Monday, the Red Wings now have four goalies with extensive NHL experience under contract: Cam Talbot, Ville Husso, Alex Lyon and Jack Campbell. Plus, they have two of the top goalie prospects in the league, Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine.
Augustine will be a sophomore at Michigan State, so he’s not ready to join the traffic jam, but Cossa (a first-round pick in 2021) has already put together excellent seasons in the ECHL and last year in the AHL. He’s likely the future in net for Detroit, and one of the reasons why the signing of Talbot makes a ton of sense.
Not only can Talbot still play — he proved that with 15.01 GSAx last year in Los Angeles — but he’s a perfect veteran presence to have around Cossa. How many games Talbot will end up playing is still to be settled, but he adds a professionalism to the Red Wings’ goalie room that should benefit everyone in it.
Continued (paywall); if Talbot assumes the starter’s role over Alex Lyon, he’s 36 going on 37 this Friday, and he’s signed two-year deal, so that does track toward an eventual succession plan where Cossa comes up to the NHL and Augustine joins the Red Wings’ organization in Grand Rapids.
How the Wings will alleviate their goalie glut, I don’t yet know, but my gut feeling is that Husso will be the odd man out, with some salary retained, and that Campbell is going to mentor Cossa and push him for starts in Grand Rapids.
