John Gibson and Cam Talbot are the Detroit Red Wings top two netminders, and their career paths should be diverging in opposite directions. Gibson's looking to show he can still be a No. 1 goaltender after ceding the gig to Lukas Dostal during his final season with the Anaheim Ducks.
Talbot's looking to show he can still play following an up-and-down year. But Gibson's the one I'm focusing on more than anyone else. He's got to come in immediately and impress, and I'm not talking about training camp reps.
We need to see a preseason from Gibson that shows us he's the surefire answer in the net as the No. 1 for at least this year, and, ideally, going into next year and beyond. Yeah, there's Sebastian Cossa, but he's a distant third in my rankings as of now.
So, for a visual, I got them clocked in like this with camp underway as we count down the days until the preseason opener:
Rank | Player |
|---|---|
1 | John Gibson |
2 | Cam Talbot |
3 | Sebastian Cossa |
3 - Sebastian Cossa
Gibson and Talbot hold the edge in age and experience, but Cossa's seen very limited ice time in the NHL, so it'd be unfair to put him ahead of the seasoned vets. Plus, I need to see more consistent high-quality play, especially in the postseason, where he fell flat on his face.
Until Cossa shows me more, he's in third. It's not taking away from his talent and productivity, because when he's on, he's on. That said, Cossa's not catching Talbot or Gibson any time soon.
2 - Cam Talbot
How much does he got left in the tank? I can see Talbot redeeming himself and playing like someone five years younger if he takes advantage of playing behind a flawed yet improved Red Wings team, especially at the blue line.
The big 'what-if' here is how Talbot would perform if John Gibson went down with an injury and missed time. Can he still handle minutes as the No. 1 netminder and if so, how long? It's a question I'd rather see left unanswered.
1 - John Gibson
There's little not to like about John Gibson, as he's been one of the league's better netminders even when he was putting up abysmal numbers in Anaheim. I mean, nobody was saving that situation for a while down there, and even Hall of Fame goalies would've seen their numbers tank.
And for Gibson to keep bouncing back without holding out on that team shows his resilience, something we need more of in the Motor City. If he stays healthy, Gibson will give the Wings a solid and maybe spectacular presence in front of the net they haven't seen in a while.