Todd McLellan Says Red Wings’ Goalie Battle Still Wide Open

There are few better problems for an NHL team to have than the presence of two starting-calibre goaltenders on the roster.

For the Detroit Red Wings, that’s their situation. At 38 years old, Cam Talbot remains sharp and often turned back the clock to his days as a workhorse with the Edmonton Oilers during his first campaign with the Red Wings.

General manager Steve Yzerman then went out and acquired John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks in a trade that sent Petr Mrazek the other way; Gibson has the chance in front of him to grab firm hold of the starter’s reigns.

Both goaltenders took the ice in Traverse City on Thursday for the opening day of Red Wings Training Camp. Talbot stuck with the classic, clean mask design he wore last season but debuted a brand-new Bauer setup, the equipment brand he has used for several years.

Meanwhile, Gibson arrived with a simple TRUE gear setup and a fresh mask paint job, the first artwork of his NHL career not featuring Ducks imagery.

Don’t expect head coach Todd McLellan, who coached Talbot as head coach of the Oilers and faced Gibson many times as the head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, to settle on a starter just yet.

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“I don’t know who our starter is,” McLellan responded when asked if he believes either goaltender has an edge. “Obviously, Gibson is really important, but teams are proving year after year now that you need two guys to get the job done, and it’s hard to stay at the top of your game over and over and over again if you’re just a single entity. We’ve got Talbs, we’ve got Gibby, we plan on playing them both and we expect a lot from both of them.”

The crease for the Red Wings has largely been a rotating carousel over the last several years, with names like Alex Nedeljkovic, Ville Husso, Alex Lyon, James Reimer, and Petr Mrazek all seeing action.

The 2024-25 campaign was the first in the career of Talbot in the Winged Wheel after he agreed to a two-year contract last offseason. He won 21 games and posted a .901 save percentage.

Conversely, Gibson arrives in Detroit having spent the last 12 seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, who selected him in the second round (39th overall) in 2011. He’s won 204 regular season games, while adding another 11 wins in 26 playoff appearances.

Talbot proved that he’s capable of shouldering a considerable load of playing time last season with 47 total games, but Yzerman is likely hoping that Gibson can become the first true starter in the Detroit crease since the days of Jimmy Howard.

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