Cam Talbot

Cam Talbot grew up in Caledonia, Ontario, and started playing with the Caledonia Thunder MHA programs before making the leap to the Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs of the South Central AAA League in Minor Bantam. He played three seasons of AAA hockey, was undrafted in the 2003 OHL Priority Selection and returned to the Jr. Bulldogs, where he played a season of Major Midget.

After a solid Major Midget season, Talbot made the Hamilton Red Wings of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) for the 2004–05 season.

Talbot played college hockey at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.[3] In the 2009–10 season, he was named to the All-College Hockey America Second Team and was named Most Valuable Player in the CHA Tournament, while leading the Chargers to a berth in the NCAA Tournament.[4]

Talbot with the Connecticut Whale in 2012

On March 30, 2010, the NHL's New York Rangers signed Talbot as a free agent.[5] He was promoted to the Rangers on February 28, 2011, after playing the majority of the 2010–11 season with the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League (AHL) (he also played two ECHL games with the Greenville Road Warriors)[6] and was returned to the Whale on March 3, 2011.[7][8]

Talbot played the 2011–12 season with Connecticut, but after Connecticut was eliminated from the AHL playoffs, Talbot was added to the Rangers' Stanley Cup playoff roster.[9] After the 2012–13 Whale season, he was again added to the Rangers' playoff roster.[10] Talbot was again called up to the Rangers on October 15, 2013, after Martin Biron was demoted to the AHL, finding himself a place in the NHL for the first time as the backup to starter Henrik Lundqvist.[11] Talbot made his on-ice NHL debut on October 24 in a 2–1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.[12][13] His first NHL win came in his next game, against the Detroit Red Wings, on October 26, 2013,[14][15] and he earned his first NHL shutout against the Montreal Canadiens on November 16, 2013.[16] In the 2014 playoffs, Talbot twice entered to relieve Lundqvist en route to the Rangers' Eastern Conference title before ultimately falling to the Los Angeles Kings in the Finals.[17]

For the 2014–15 season, Talbot began the year as the Rangers' backup goaltender, and in his first eight games played, he recorded three shutouts, matching his total from the entire previous season.

On February 3, 2015, Talbot became New York's temporary starting goaltender after Henrik Lundqvist suffered a vascular injury in his neck area. Talbot started 24 of the Rangers' next 26 games (Mackenzie Skapski played the other two) until March 27, when Lundqvist returned to the line-up. During Lundqvist's absence, Talbot performed better in net and went 17–4–3. In fact, Talbot ended the season with a lower GAA (2.21), and a higher save percentage (.926) than Lundqvist (2.25 GAA, .922 save percentage). For his remarkable efforts towards New York's Presidents' Trophy-winning season, he received the Steve McDonald Extra Effort Award on April 6.

On June 27, 2015, Talbot was traded by the Rangers to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for three draft picks in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.[18] Talbot competed for Edmonton's #1 goaltender spot with Anders Nilsson during his first season with the Oilers.[19] On January 17, 2016, the Oilers signed Talbot to a three-year, $12 million contract extension.[20] Nilsson was eventually traded to the St. Louis Blues, leaving Cam Talbot as Edmonton's starting goaltender.[19] On April 6, 2017, Talbot set an Oilers record for most wins in a season passing Grant Fuhr, who had 40 wins, by earning 41 wins.[21] Talbot finished the season by leading the NHL in games played (72 of 82 in regular season) and time on ice by a goaltender, as well as tied for first in wins with 42. The Oilers finished that season second in the Pacific Division, with 103 points. Talbot helped the Oilers reach Game 7 of the Western Semifinals, losing to the Anaheim Ducks in what was the first playoff appearance by the Oilers in ten years. Talbot finished the playoffs with a 2.88 GAA, .924 save percentage and two shutouts.[22][23]

On October 4, 2017, Talbot recorded a 27-save shutout in the 2017–18 season-opener against the Calgary Flames.[24] Talbot and the Oilers would not be able to replicate the previous season's success, and missed the playoffs. Talbot finished the season with a 31–31–3 record with a goals-against-average of 3.02.[25] By 2018–19, his play had dipped again and he had been surpassed by Mikko Koskinen in the Oilers net.[26]

On February 15, 2019, Talbot was traded by the Oilers to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for goaltender Anthony Stolarz.[27] Talbot had to waive his no-movement contract clause in order to be traded to the Flyers. Philadelphia acquired him to be both competition and a mentor to young goaltender Carter Hart and to replace Brian Elliott as backup.[28] However, his numbers did not improve with Philadelphia, which was one of the worst teams in terms of goals against.[29]

On July 1, 2019, having left the Flyers as a free agent, Talbot was signed to a one-year, $2.75 million deal with the Calgary Flames. On February 1, 2020, Talbot fought fellow goalie Mike Smith during a Battle of Alberta game.[30] During the COVID-19 pandemic and the NHL's return to play, Talbot backstopped the Flames to a 3–1 series win over the Winnipeg Jets including a game four shutout of the Jets, earning Talbot the nickname "Yes We Cam" Talbot.[31]

On October 9, 2020, the opening day of free agency, Talbot left the Flames and agreed to a three-year deal worth $11 million to become the starting goaltender for the Minnesota Wild.[32] He recorded a 19–8–5 record during the regular season in his first campaign with the Wild, leading them to a playoff spot. However, the Wild were eliminated in the first round of the 2021 playoffs by the Vegas Golden Knights.[33] Talbot and young backup Kaapo Kähkönen played most of the 2021–22 season as the goalie tandem in Minnesota. However, the Wild traded out Kähkönen and acquired goaltender Marc-André Fleury at the trade deadline to improve their depth in goal.[34] The Wild played Fleury through most of the first round playoff loss to the St. Louis Blues. Fleury, a pending free agent, re-signed with Minnesota in the off-season which allowed Wild general manager Bill Guerin to make Talbot available for trade despite stating that he intended to keep Talbot.[35]

On July 12, 2022, with a year remaining on his contract, Talbot was traded by the Wild to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Filip Gustavsson.[36] On December 12, 2022, Talbot got his first shutout with his new team, making 32 saves in a 3–0 win over the Anaheim Ducks.[37] On December 27, 2022 Talbot stopped 49 of 51 shots in a 3–2 shootout win over the Boston Bruins,[38] setting the Senators team record for saves recorded in a win.[39] However, Talbot suffered a sequence of injuries including a broken rib[40] and a lower body injury that kept him out of the lineup for three weeks.[41] Despite plans by both Talbot and the Ottawa Senators for him to remain in Ottawa, a difference in contract length led Ottawa's general manager Pierre Dorion to announce in April 2023 that Talbot would not return with the team.[40]

As a free agent, Talbot was signed on the opening of free agency on July 1, 2023, to an incentive laden one-year, $2 million contract with the Los Angeles Kings for the 2023–24 season.[42]

• Most wins in a season: 42 (2016–17)