couldnt afford 2nd t
Rejoint: sept. 2021
Messages: 1,011
Mentions "j'aime": 430
This trade has been terrible for the Senators, but it made sense at the time.
Gustavsson had been up and down, and Dorion had a mandate to make the playoffs. Forsberg had a very strong 2022 season, but he was still unproven. They needed a consistent 1 A/B goalie to run with Forsberg. They gave Gustavsson a chance in 2022 to show he was ready, like they have done with Sogaard so far this season, and Gustavsson flopped.
I highly doubt the trade market for Gustavsson was very strong. Even Daccord passed waivers. He was a goalie who was at a similar stage in his development. I would suspect that the Senators had no real offers until Minnesota was forced to resolve the Talbot conflict. While Ottawa's pro scouting is atrocious, 30 other teams also missed out on Gustavsson since they probably could have had him at the draft for a 2nd or a 3rd.
They also weren't going to acquire Talbot without having Minnesota take Gustavsson, because Gustavsson was on a 1-way deal and the Senators were still a budget team. So we don't know the context of how hot Minnesota was for Gustavsson, or if it was a case where there wasn't much of a market for Talbot due to most goalie spots being resolved and the cap being tight, and Ottawa insisting Minnesota take Gustavsson to offset Talbot's cap.
There will be a market for Talbot at the deadline, but the dynamic is completely different moving a player after both the draft and free agency in one of the tightest cap off seasons we have ever seen, and moving a player at the off season to a team who has banked cap space, possibly with a third team coming in to do double retention. In all likelihood, if the Senators get a 3rd for Talbot, that was more than any team offered for Gustavsson.