Cam Talbot

Cam Talbot grew up in Caledonia, Ontario, and has spent parts of more than a decade in the NHL, suiting up for the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames, Minnesota Wild, Ottawa Senators, Los Angeles Kings, and now the Detroit Red Wings. The 6'3", 202-pound left-catching goaltender wears No. 39 for Detroit and, at 38, is in his second season with the club in 2025–26.

Through 565 NHL regular-season games, Talbot carries a career goals-against average of 2.68, a .911 save percentage, and 33 shutouts. In the current 2025–26 season, he has appeared in 32 games for Detroit, posting a 12-9-5 record with a 3.07 goals-against average and an .888 save percentage.

InGoal Magazine has covered Cam Talbot in three podcast appearances and twelve Pro Reads.

The relationship between Talbot and InGoal stretches back to October 2020, when he joined the podcast shortly after signing with the Minnesota Wild InGoal Radio Episode 90 with Cam Talbot. By the time he sat down for his first in-person Pro Reads session in November 2021 — breaking down a 2-on-1 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Vegas Golden Knights — the publication described him as "open and insightful about his game and path to the NHL" Cam Talbot ProRead 1. A second Pro Reads session followed in December 2021, focused on an overtime situation against the Winnipeg Jets Cam Talbot ProRead 2, and a third arrived in February 2022, timed to Talbot's first NHL All-Star Game appearance with Minnesota Cam Talbot ProRead 3.

When Talbot returned for a fourth Pro Reads session in February 2025 — now with the Detroit Red Wings — it had been three years and three teams since the previous one Cam Talbot Pro Reads 4. That session, along with a companion appearance on InGoal Radio Episode 290 InGoal Radio Episode 290 with Cam Talbot of the Detroit Red Wings, covered a power play sequence against the Pittsburgh Penguins and introduced themes Talbot would continue to develop across subsequent breakdowns: reading the handedness of every player on the ice, leading lateral movement with the eyes and head before the body follows, and using a subtle backward glide to build momentum for those pushes. He has also credited consistent use of Vizual Edge visual training as a factor in what he describes as a late-career development period that has included three NHL All-Star Game appearances.

The Pro Reads sessions from 2025 and into 2026 form an extended curriculum across multiple game situations. In May 2025, Talbot broke down a 2-on-1 involving Jordan Kyrou, acknowledging he played slightly deeper than usual because of Kyrou's shooting ability, and discussed a lateral extension technique he developed with Philadelphia Flyers goalie coach Kim Dillabaugh — a move Dillabaugh called a "Spread" — which involves pitching forward during a lateral push to expand coverage of the top of the net Cam Talbot Pro Reads 7. In June 2025, he addressed a penalty kill sequence against Montreal, explaining how he uses ice awareness when the puck is away from the immediate shooting threat to pre-identify one-timer options, and described a backward flow concept — called "Motion" by the Los Angeles Kings and "Recoil" by the Boston Bruins — that he uses to generate lateral momentum Cam Talbot Pro Reads 8.

A July 2025 Pro Read covered a 5-on-5 in-zone sequence against the St. Louis Blues, where Talbot discussed changing shoulders on a screen created by his own defenseman and the importance of a subtle shuffle rather than an aggressive push Cam Talbot Pro Reads 9. In August 2025, he returned to the topic of screens during a shorthanded sequence against the Calgary Flames, detailing how the Detroit penalty kill system directs defenders to take away the far side of the net so he can use the short-side lane to track the puck, and again referenced Vizual Edge in the context of picking up a release point through traffic Cam Talbot Pro Reads 10.

Two sessions published around the 2025–26 season addressed a breakaway and a behind-the-net play. On the breakaway, Talbot described what he called "the triangle" — a spot near the heel of the stick that shooters target — and explained the challenge of maintaining an edge to allow for a push glove-side while that gap remains available Cam Talbot Pro Reads 11 — Beware ‘Triangle’ and other Breakaway Keys. He also referenced his "inside-edge high" skate sharpening as a factor in holding and re-engaging that edge. On the play from behind the net, he detailed his rule for when to switch posts — waiting until the puck is roughly two-thirds of the way across the back of the net — and the value of opening a small visual window with the upper body while keeping the skate and stick sealed on the short-side post [REF:4, REF:12].

A second episode of InGoal Radio, Episode 250, featured Talbot alongside Kasimir Kaskisuo in April 2024 InGoal Radio Episode 250 with Cam Talbot and Kasimir Kaskisuo, and Episode 290 in February 2025 accompanied the return to Pro Reads InGoal Radio Episode 290 with Cam Talbot of the Detroit Red Wings.

Throughout the Pro Reads series, Talbot has drawn on experiences with multiple goalie coaches encountered across his NHL travels, including Benoit Allaire in New York and Kim Dillabaugh in Philadelphia, integrating specific techniques from each into his approach.