Oilers Trade Three Picks For Cam Talbot

They searched high and low, and finally the Oilers have found the goalie. And as many expected that goalie is Cam Talbot. Rumours were two seconds, maybe even 16th overall. In the end the cost was three picks: a second, third, and a seventh rounder. The Oilers also get the Rangers seventh round pick. This is a very good deal for the Oilers.

The #Oilers have acquired goalie Cam Talbot and pick 209 from NYR in exchange for picks 57, 79 and 184. #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/5wZN65Lrnj

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) June 27, 2015

Throughout the week the message from Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli was clear, the Oilers were not interested in overpaying for a goalie. He understood that there were more goalies available than jobs and that it was a buyers market. Turns out that he was right. Talbot is far from a sure thing between the pipes but at the cost of a second (from Montreal), a third (courtesy of the Senators), and a seventh round pick it's difficult to dislike this deal. Even if he walks next season as an unrestricted free agent the Oilers won't have lost much.

With just 57 NHL games played Talbot is still, very much, an unknown. Some will say that the Oilers need a proven netminder or that he's to old - he'll be 28 when next season starts - but as Woodguy has demonstrated there are some very encouraging things in his underlying numbers, concluding that "Talbot it trending to be an elite goalie." Maybe elite isn't how Talbot's career works out but given the cost they paid to get him, it's hard to argue that the reward isn't worth the risk.