It has been a tough season on the injury front for the Senators, who have had several key players banged up at times. They lost another key piece on Wednesday night as the team announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Cam Talbot sustained a lower-body injury against the Islanders. He exited the game in the second period and did not return.
Ottawa acquired the 35-year-old in an effort to build a quality tandem between the pipes with Anton Forsberg. However, things haven’t gone according to plan as the team entered play tonight a little below league average in goals allowed with both netminders taking a step back relative to their play from a year ago. Talbot had just a .903 SV% heading into Wednesday’s contest, the second-lowest of his career, while Forsberg’s SV% has dipped 18 points from a year ago. Between that and a surprising lack of improvement offensively, the Sens are battling to avoid being last in the Atlantic Division.
Notably, it’s a contract year for Talbot, who is set to hit the open market this summer. Suffering a second injury (he missed nine games with a rib issue earlier this season) on top of him struggling a bit more certainly isn’t helping his market as he looks to get a raise on his $3.67M AAV. While it’s unknown how long he’ll be out at this point, an extended absence could take a potential trade-deadline swap off the table as well.
It’s also worth mentioning that Mads Sogaard, Ottawa’s top goalie prospect with AHL Belleville, is injured at the moment and hasn’t played in the last week and a half. That means their recall options will be veteran Antoine Bibeau or Kevin Mandolese, who has split the last two seasons between the AHL and ECHL and is still looking for his first NHL appearance despite three recalls already in 2022-23.
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