Sens trade for a goalie, deal their top goalie prospect less than 24 hours after paying Leafs to take on Matt Murray
It's that time of the year again where the deals are coming in hot and heavy. Last night, we saw the Ottawa Senators retain 25% of Matt Murray's $6.25M contract to the Leafs along with a 2023 3rd round pick and a 2024 7th round pick in exchange for future considerations. Now, less than 24 hours after sending Murray packing, the Sens have pulled off another goalie trade - this time, bringing one in.
The Sens announced on Tuesday that they have acquired the disgruntled Cam Talbot from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for goaltending prospect Filip Gustavsson. While the Murray move was certainly necessary from Ottawa's perspective, I'm not sure that trading their top goalie prospect in exchange for a 35-year-old pending UFA (summer of 2023) was the play. Nevertheless, Sens GM Pierre Dorion had this to say about the deal for Talbot:
Talbot went 32-12-4 with the Wild last season, registering a 2.76 GAA and a respectable .911 SV%. Gustavsson, the man sent the other way in the deal, is just 24 years old and has a combined .905 SV% across 27 NHL games.
Gustavsson saw just 18 games with the Sens last season, going 5-12-1 with a .892 SV%, but faired much better when sent down to the AHL's Belleville Senators, going 11-6-1 and posting a .915 SV%. However, in 2020-21, Gustavsson showed what he was truly capable of going 5-1-2 over a 9-game stretch for the Sens in his rookie year, posting an astonishing 2.16 GAA and a stellar .933 SV%.
I'd imagine that Wild GM Bill Guerin and the rest of the Wild front office are laughing right now.. hysterically. Not only did they deal a disgruntled, 35-year-old 1B goaltender, but they acquired the Sens' top goalie prospect in the same deal and did not have to retain a penny on Talbot or include any picks or prospects in the deal. Now Gustavsson will have the ability to learn from legend Marc-Andre Fleury for a couple of years before the net is handed over to he and fellow Swede Jesper Wallstedt, the Wild's 2021 1st round draft pick (20th overall).
