The Detroit Red Wings are in the midst of a renaissance season. The club is on pace to end its nearly decade-long playoff absence. And fans are ecstatic about it.
A major reason for said renaissance is the goaltending from Cam Talbot. While John Gibson was pegged as the potential solution for the club’s seemingly subpar goaltending, it’s been Talbot who’s rescued the Wings from mediocrity.
Talbot has been so good, that just about every contending team wants to bring him in. Two of the biggest names have been the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens. Both clubs are good, but could be better if they had truly reliable goaltending.
Now, I won’t get into how Talbot would fit into each of those teams. But in my estimation, Talbot wouldn’t fare as well given the Canadiens' and Oilers’ leaky defenses.
That being said, the bone-dry goalie market is craving for a netminder who could transform a team. While Talbot isn’t necessarily a game-breaker, he’s good enough to be a difference-maker. That’s why Talbot is at the top of trade rumors at the moment.
However, Red Wings’ GM Steve Yzerman would need to have a railroad spike driven through his brain in order to trade Talbot. Unless Talbot woke up one day and demanded a trade, moving him this season would be ludicrous.
Despite insider Elliotte Friedman’s speculation in his 32 Thought Podcast on Friday, there’s no way the Red Wings move Talbot this season. If they did, who would take over? Gibson? Sebastian Cossa? Trey Augustine?
Cossa and Augustine will eventually inherit the crease, but it won’t be this season. It may not even be next season. The promising duo could be two to three years away from taking over the Red Wings’ net.
In the meantime, it’s Talbot or bust for the Detroit Red Wings.
Red Wings could move John Gibson to a desperate club
The Winnipeg Jets’ news of starting netminder Connor Hellebuyck needing knee surgery could be the type of event that may lead a team to panic. While the Jets may not necessarily push the red button, another team might.
Think about the New York Rangers. What would happen if they lost Igor Shesterkin for an extended period? What about the Florida Panthers and Sergei Bobrovsky?
We’ve seen other teams suffer significant losses like the Vancouver Canucks with Thatcher Demko and the Toronto Maple Leafs with Anthony Stolarz.
So, could a team like that push the button and trade for John Gibson? Being a GM in pro sports is really a tough job. GMs have to go through life worried that they could lose their best collaborators at any time. Every minute, anything could happen that could potentially derail a season.
And when panic sets in, people do things they normally wouldn’t. So, if the goalie market is as dry as it is, an injury such as Connor Hellebuyck’s could set off a frenzy. That frenzy may lead to the Red Wings capitalizing on another team’s misery and send them John Gibson.
Steve Yzerman may not be playing 5D chess, but he knows what he’s doing. So, it may just be a matter of time before a crucial injury sends someone over the edge. And Yzerman could be there to offer a parachute, regardless of how many holes said parachute may have.