During his end-of-season press conference, Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion confirmed that goaltender Cam Talbot will not return for next season.
“We had a good discussion, not that I want to get into details. We offer a one year deal in January. They wanted a two year deal, no progress was made,” Dorion said. “Not that I want to put everything out there but I think our fans have the right to know how the process goes and we were so far apart. We wanted one, they wanted two. We were so far apart on anything that we knew quickly.”
Dorion, who acquired the 35-year-old last summer from the Minnesota Wild for Filip Gustavson, referred to the trade as a “calculated risk.” In his only season in the nation’s capital, Talbot played only 36 games, achieving a 17-14-2 record with a 2.93 goals against average and a .898 save percentage.
Dorion also confirmed that Anton Forsberg will be part of his plan for next season. Forsberg’s season came to an abrupt end when he injured the MCL in both his knees in a 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 11.
In 28 games this past season, the 30-year-old Swede held an 11-11-2 record along with a 3.26 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.
“With Anton, if you do a little bit of history on Anton, the game he got hurt he won his last four games. Last year in the second half, he was one of the better goalies in the NHL,” Dorion said.
The Sens GM also added that he and coach D.J. spoke about changing Forsberg’s training regimen and having him arrive in Ottawa earlier to get him ready for the season.
When asked about filling out his goaltending tandem for next season, Dorion said he was open to all avenues in order to bolster his last line of defence.
“There are three ways we’re going to get a goalie,” Dorion said. “Internally, that would be (Mads Sogaard). I don’t think (Kevin Mandolese) is ready, even though he played great in that one game, I don’t think he’s ready. And then either through a trade or through free agency.”