Red Wings goaltender John Gibson earned the majority of Friday’s press focus, and The Athletic’s Max Bultman was no exception this evening. Bultman wonders whether Gibson can be the Red Wings’ #1 goaltender, or, at least, that he can stabilize Detroit’s crease alongside Cam Talbot:
Goaltending can be fickle and deceiving, even in large sample sizes, let alone a couple of September scrimmages. However, after two days of split-squad action, John Gibson, Detroit’s newest netminder, has looked impressive.
“He’s made some incredible saves in these scrimmages so far,” Patrick Kane said. “It seems like he’s coming in focused, ready to kind of take on a big load for us and be the true No. 1 that maybe we’ve been missing the past couple years. I think it was a great addition by the organization and management. Obviously (Cam Talbot) was great for us last year, too, we have all the confidence in the world in him, but that’s a great one-two punch for us.”
That “one-two punch” line is key because head coach Todd McLellan certainly isn’t setting a hierarchy this early.
“I don’t know who our starter is,” McLellan said Thursday, and in 2025, that sentiment is much less common than it once was.
Coach McLellan’s being serious–he’s not certain whether he’s going to go with Gibson, Talbot, or both goaltenders yet, and that’s the point of it all:
As Kane alluded to, Gibson has already made some impressive saves in Detroit’s scrimmages. Twice on Friday, he victimized Jonatan Berggren with spectacular saves in penalty shot/shootout situations. One was from the seat of his pants, getting a piece of the shot with his arm, then came an even more impressive one later on, kicking up his leg pads to keep out the puck.
In fact, Gibson didn’t let anything in at five-on-five Friday, giving up just a penalty shot goal to Elmer Söderblom and shootout tallies to Dylan Larkin and Nate Danielson. Keep in mind that’s in one period of scrimmage action, but even in limited action, it would be hard to ask for better so far.
So, yes, maybe Gibson will eventually grab the reins and be “the guy” in net. He’s done it before.
Realistically, though, Gibson doesn’t even need to threaten 55 or 60 starts to be a tremendous boost to the Red Wings. As both Kane and McLellan alluded to, Cam Talbot is still very much in the picture, and Gibson’s arrival should help him, too.
Continued (paywall)
