Rumor: Former Oiler may be headed to the Flames.

Former Oiler headed to Edmonton's biggest rival.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Rumor: Former Oiler may be headed to the Flames.
David Santiago/Miami Herald

Well this would certainly make for an interesting story in free agency.

According to a report from Sportsnet's Pat Steinberg it looks like a former Edmonton Oiler is set to cross enemy lines and join the Calgary Flames. Although the deal can not even be made official until after the clock has struck midnight tonight, it appears as though veteran goaltender Cam Talbot is set to help the Flames shore up their goaltending woes. To be clear Steinberg has not stated that this is a done deal, however he did state that "all signs point" to Talbot signing with the Flames.

The Flames of course have reportedly been looking to add a veteran goaltender to their roster and Talbot would fit that bill in spite of the fact that he did struggle during his time with the Oilers. Talbot's first 2 seasons in an Oilers uniform were pretty solid but after those first 2 seasons the wheels have seemingly fallen off for the 31 year old netminder. Talbot posted a .908 save percentage and a 3.02 goals against average over 67 games during the 2017 - 2018 National Hockey League regular season and those numbers dropped even lower in this most recent season. Over 31 games with the Oilers Talbot posted a .893 save percentage and a 3.36 goals against average, numbers that are simply not good enough for an NHL starter. 

I would be willing to give Talbot some leeway here as well because a lot of players go to Edmonton and see their performances dip, or leave the organization and suddenly have a resurgence, but Talbot was given a fresh start last season and it did not help. After being acquired by the Philadelphia Flyers Talbot would appear in just just 4 games recording a .881 save percentage a 3.70 goals against average, once again numbers that simply are not good enough for a starting goaltender in the NHL.

That being said it does not sound like the Calgary Flames intend to use Talbot as a starter, at the very least they certainly are not paying him like one. According to Steinberg he expects this will merely be a 1 year deal that will see Talbot earning somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.5 million.


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