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Fantasy Hockey Goalie Waiver Wire: Should you trust Cam Talbot in his return?

jason chen
·3 min read

On every game day this season, THN Fantasy will highlight players and goalies for fantasy managers to stream or roster for the rest of the season. The recommended players and goalies can be used in standard fantasy leagues or for daily fantasy games.

14 games for Thursday, Dec. 12

* = confirmed

  • Lukas Dostal, ANA* at Anthony Stolarz, TOR (7 p.m. ET)

  • Tristan Jarry, PIT at Sam Montembeault, MON* (7 p.m. ET)

  • Darcy Kuemper, LA at Jacob Markstrom, NJ (7 p.m. ET)

  • Cam Talbot, DET* at Samuel Ersson, PHI (7 p.m. ET)

  • Charlie Lindgren, WSH at Jet Greaves, CLB* (7 p.m. ET)

  • Arvid Soderblom, CHI at Ilya Sorokin, NYI (7:30 p.m. ET)

  • Alexandar Georgiev, SJ at Jordan Binnington, STL (8 p.m. ET)

  • Juuse Saros, NSH at Jake Oettinger, DAL (8 p.m. ET)

  • Adin Hill, VEG at Connor Hellebuyck, WPG (8 p.m. ET)

  • Stuart Skinner, EDM at Filip Gustavsson, MIN (8:30 p.m. ET)

  • Karel Vejmelka, UTA at Scott Wedgewood, COL (9 p.m. ET)

  • Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB at Dustin Wolf, CGY (9 p.m. ET)

  • Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA at Kevin Lankinen, VAN (10 p.m. ET)

  • Jeremy Swayman, BOS at Joey Daccord, SEA (10 p.m. ET)

Wedgewood is gaining popularity fast in fantasy, and for good reason. He's earned wins in three of his past four appearances for the Avs, including two straight starts. Mackenzie Blackwood may get the start here and he's a great streaming option, but he's been dealing with an illness so his Avs debut may have to wait. Wedgewood is worth rostering now and for the foreseeable future as the Avs figure out their rotation.

The problem with this matchup — even though it looks decent on paper — is that the Pens were picked apart by the Avs in their last game and Sam Montembeault has been excellent with three wins and seven goals allowed in his past four games. Jarry boasts strong career numbers against the Habs — 7-1-1, .911 SP, 2.56 GAA — and Sidney Crosby cooks them on a regular basis. I think the Pens have an advantage here but I'm holding my breath because I still don't trust them. Not sure about Jarry's ability to offer good peripheral stats here, but he should get the win.

Cam Talbot, DET at PHI (49% rostered) / Samuel Ersson, PHI vs. DET (18% rostered)

This will be Talbot's first start since Dec. 1, and despite the lengthy layoff I still like him more than Ersson, who's struggled a little since returning from his injury and also may not even get the start. (If Aliaksei Kolosov starts, I'm less confident in Talbot).

The one player Talbot has to watch for is Matvei Michkov, and historically he's been very good against the Flyers: 8-5-1, .926 SP and 2.15 GAA all-time. This should be a close battle and the winner determined by a coin flip.

I normally wouldn't consider Soderblom, but he's coming off a strong 29-save performance in an upset win against the Rangers and the Isles aren't good at scoring. The Hawks aren't expected to provide any significant goal support, which means Soderblom is unlikely to earn a win even if he racks up the saves and earns a good save percentage. That's what you're hoping for here.

The Ducks are playing their second game in two nights on the road against a tough team and Dostal has not posted a save percentage above .905 since Nov. 18. That's not saying Dostal can't do it again; it's just that his play has obviously cooled off quite a bit.

The Devils limited the Leafs to just 16 shots last game and the Ducks defense isn't nearly close to being at the same level, so expect Dostal to face a lot of shots. I don't expect a win but perhaps he can rack up the saves and provide a decent (but not necessarily outstanding) save percentage.

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