John Gibson may be the NHL's unluckiest goaltender, and he could either help or hurt the Detroit Red Wings. When Steve Yzerman made the trade, I sensed Gibson would be an immediate upgrade over Petr Mrazek, but in the back of my mind, there's still risk that comes with him.
Injuries are the main concern, and they ultimately led to Gibson taking a back seat to Lukas Dostal. But Gibson has also shown durability in the past, logging at least 56 starts in three different seasons. He's also held his own playing behind some terrible Anaheim Ducks teams, so he's seen the worst of it.
Put him behind a flawed but at least halfway decent Red Wings team, and chances are, he'll produce like he did last season when he rebounded with a 0.911 save percentage, a 2.77 GAA, and a 0.679 quality starts percentage.
And let's face it: The 2025-26 Red Wings are ahead of where the 2024-25 Ducks were. Yeah, they got problems on the blue line and they're still top-heavy with what may be a patchwork third line, but they're capable of playoff contention.
John Gibson's in a more winnable situation with the Detroit Red Wings
Right now, durability's my biggest concern. Does Gibson have enough endurance to be a clear-cut No. 1 netminder? It's a burning question with Cam Talbot coming into his age-38 season and could be an unknown commodity with how much productive play he could have left in the tank.
How would I go about it? Gibson, if he stays healthy, will be in the net 2-3 times a week, with Talbot coming in once a week, against weaker opponents. Should the duo primarily see time in the net, 50-55 starts for Gibson's not outta the question, while Talbot comes in for between 20 and 25 starts.
Do the math, and you got a few games left over, which I've made room for Sebastian Cossa, should the Wings need him. Even if Cossa's consistency hasn't been all-elite in the AHL, he's still the favorite "goalie of the future" in the system, so giving him more NHL experience should Gibson or Talbot not be 100 percent at any point in the year would work fine.
With a better team, Gibson won't struggle through the same tedious job he had in Anaheim, especially in 2022-23 and 2023-24, when he was stuck making the best outta what was one of the league's worst situations.