Ex-Edmonton Oilers goaltender reunited with former coach
Just yesterday, the Detroit Red Wings made a surprising announcement, hiring ex-Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan as the new head coach of the Detroit Red Wings. Funny enough, this is the 3rd time Todd McLellan will be reunited with former goaltender Cam Talbot.
Todd McLellan has now taken over as head coach, succeeding Derek LaLonde, who has coaching a struggling team in Detroit.
Todd McLellan reunites with Cam Talbot for a third time
The two joined the Oilers together ahead of the 2015-16 season and helped snap a 10-year playoff drought in Edmonton in 2016-17. That season saw the Oilers go 47-26-9, while Talbot made a career-high 73 appearances, finishing fourth in Vezina Trophy voting with a 2.39 goals against average (GAA) paired with a .919 save percentage (SV%) and a 42-22-8 record.
After a the Oilers hit an atrocious midseason lull the following year, Todd McLellan was relieved of his duties, but it wouldn't be the last time McLellan and Talbot crossed paths.
The goaltender chose to sign a one-year deal with the Kings ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, a team that McLellan had been coaching since 2019-20. Less than a month before McLellan's firing, Talbot was selected to play in the second All-Star Game of his career. At the time of his selection, he had a phenomenal 2.10 GAA and a .925 SV% through 25 games.
According to Liam McCormick of Oilers Daily, McLellan began his NHL coaching career as an assistant with the Detroit Red Wings in 2005. He was named head coach of the Oilers in the 2015-16 season and was the bench boss for the first years of McDavid's career, before being fired early into the 2018-19 season for Ken Hitchcock.
So far this season Cam Talbot boasts a 6-8 record, posting .912 save percentage through 18 regular season games.
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