Price or Talbot

[Pengwin7]

Price.
And... WTF.

Talbot is 30 years old.
He's got two more years until he is a UFA.
And Edmonton will be awesome this year & next... and yes, he might beat Price by 3-5w, each of next two years.
That's realistically possible.

But Montreal is still a good team... not that far off being a very good team, IMO.
Edmonton still has to hand a $7m contract to Draisaitl this year and attend to Darnell Nurse, Caggiula, and R.Strome as RFA's next summer.
They are going to feel SERIOUS cap pinch.
And Talbot could be seen as odd-man out in the same way that Ben Bishop was odd-man-out for Tampa Bay.
It's not completely impossible that Brossoit, for some reason, starts stealing starts this year and perhaps EDM finishes #1 in the West and then busts 1st round of playoffs.
That could happen right. And then where would that leave Talbot when he finally can sign an extension in July 2018?
Ask yourselves if that is a realistic possibility?
If Talbot IS all-world this year, 40+ wins - consider what he'll be asking... knowing his next contract is the one that gives him life-long financial security.
Consider THAT as well.
This could shake-out as a lose-lose for Talbot/EDM.

I like Talbot, don't get me wrong... but people got similar excited about Varlamov after his big COL year... or Niemi after his multiple 30+ win seasons for SJ.

All-World Goalie on Above-Average Team
or
Solid Goalie on Excellent-To-Be-Cap-Pinched-Team

I'm playing the lower risk move here.
Goalies don't win fantasy hockey championships, you simply need them to not lose them.
So - Price.
(Pengwiin Bookmark. I use this for thread digging, yearly, to check and see if I'm crazy! Maybe I am!!!)

[rataylor22]

In general, I want the goalies on the best teams. So, Talbot.

[theslymonkey]

I'm playing the lower risk move here.
Goalies don't win fantasy hockey championships, you simply need them to not lose them.
So - Price.

^^^This^^^

I want a goalie that I can set it and forget it. Ill take Price against any other option out there.

[J0e Th0rnton]

Price.
And... WTF.

Talbot is 30 years old.
He's got two more years until he is a UFA.
And Edmonton will be awesome this year & next... and yes, he might beat Price by 3-5w, each of next two years.
That's realistically possible.

But Montreal is still a good team... not that far off being a very good team, IMO.
Edmonton still has to hand a $7m contract to Draisaitl this year and attend to Darnell Nurse, Caggiula, and R.Strome as RFA's next summer.
They are going to feel SERIOUS cap pinch.
And Talbot could be seen as odd-man out in the same way that Ben Bishop was odd-man-out for Tampa Bay.
It's not completely impossible that Brossoit, for some reason, starts stealing starts this year and perhaps EDM finishes #1 in the West and then busts 1st round of playoffs.
That could happen right. And then where would that leave Talbot when he finally can sign an extension in July 2018?
Ask yourselves if that is a realistic possibility?
If Talbot IS all-world this year, 40+ wins - consider what he'll be asking... knowing his next contract is the one that gives him life-long financial security.
Consider THAT as well.
This could shake-out as a lose-lose for Talbot/EDM.

I like Talbot, don't get me wrong... but people got similar excited about Varlamov after his big COL year... or Niemi after his multiple 30+ win seasons for SJ.

All-World Goalie on Above-Average Team
or
Solid Goalie on Excellent-To-Be-Cap-Pinched-Team

I'm playing the lower risk move here.
Goalies don't win fantasy hockey championships, you simply need them to not lose them.
So - Price.
(Pengwiin Bookmark. I use this for thread digging, yearly, to check and see if I'm crazy! Maybe I am!!!)

You are overestimating their cap crunch.
Even if they resign Draisaitl to an 8x8, their cap number for 2018-19 is 60 million(Currently 52m). So they have 15 million in room. Their top 4 Defensemen are all signed for 4+ years.
-Unless Nurse Busts out this year, he hasn't earned anything huge in terms of a raise given his 11 point career high and suspect defensive play.
-Unless Caggiula busts out, he has not earned anything huge for his career high 18 points.
- Strome has a very real chance at busting out beside McDavid, but he hasn't yet.

Their UFA's are Fayne(not due for any sort of raise, if they even keep him), Maroon(will get a raise if they keep him), Letestu(Career Bottom 6 grinder, not getting much more money, if any)


Price has a long contract yes, but the team around him has yet to do a damn thing to give me confidence in them going forward.

I am a huge Drouin fan since he was a Moosehead, but I am dreading his treatment under Julien. Galchenyuk needed exactly 3 games to get into Julien's doghouse at C and get moved to wing and be told there is currently no intentions to put him back at C.

Danault is currently their #1 C and his skills will never be more than 2nd line C, followed by Plekanec who is old and slow. Shaw is a 3rd line C at best. Gallagher started to look like crap last year and his best was never much beyond 40 points anyways.

Weber came out on fire then slowed to a crawl. Markov was literally their best Dman last year over the whole year despite his age and they let him go.
Alzner and Petry are good top 4 Dmen, Schlemko a good bottom pairing Dman.

Nothing montreal is doing is giving me confidence in the next 3-4 years.

The categories are Wins and Shutouts. Wins is a team statistic and Talbot has a better chance at them for the next few years.

[GoNucks]

Wow....the Edmonton hype is waaaaaaaaay out of whack here....review the question....Carey Price (elite, arguably best fantasy goalie) vs Cam Talbot (30 year old with 2 seasons as starter, and is potentially, very realistically NOT the starter for Oilers after UFA in couple years).

Price = 29 years old, 10 seasons in NHL, 5 seasons of 59+ games, 4 seasons with 34+ wins (7 seasons above 21 wins to compare directly), 39 career SO, Vezina.

Talbot = 30 years old, 4 seasons in NHL, 1 season of 59+ games, 1 season above 21 wins, 18 SO. Yes less GP in comparison, but that helps my point....consistent proven player vs a starter that got the job at 29 years old for the 1st time.

Did he make the Oil good, or did the high octane offense bulk his numbers? What need is there to keep him after UFA with so many cheap goalies available on the market? Do the Oilers make a change if Talbot hits a slump since he has no #1 pedigree nor long contract loyalty?

Give me the slightly younger, elite, proven for almost a decade goalie here. Price has never had a top end team infront of him and he always pumps out elite numbers so shouldn't be any concern for upcoming seasons.

Cant believe Talbot is receiving a landslide victory here....ok venting over lol

[lucafen4]

I won't take ANY MTL player right now. Like alsrevenge... I don't like nor trust MTL at all.

I'd take Patches or Weber in non +/- leagues... that's about it.

Talbot for me as well.. more wins and = in SO's

[Big Baby]

Talbot.

And on a side note. I love you forum name.

[Cypher11]

Guys, let's be clear: no one is bad-mouthing Price. If I'm starting a team tomorrow, I want Price as my goalie:
He's the best goalie in the world.

However, if I'm in a keeper fantasy league today where the only stats that are count are wins and shutouts, that's a different question.

Talbot and Price were very close in win%, with Price winning just under 2% more of his starts. That translates to just under 2 more wins per full season. That's very close. Talbot had 7 shutouts to Price's 3. Not so close.

The problem is that Talbot only has 2 seasons as a starter to draw from, while Price missed most of last season with injuries, but had a career season before that. It's difficult to make a direct comparison because their last 3 years don't line up, and there are pros and cons to both players.

So, team performance enters in to help people make a decision. Simply put: Edmonton had their best season in a decade and only added since, while MTL struggled, and arguably got worse over the summer. Furthermore, I figure you look at their D, Montreals cupboards are bare, while Edmonton has several good options who just need NHL time an drew experience.

Bottom line: MTL subtracts from Price's value in this format, while the Oilers boost Talbot's value.
Advantage: Talbot.

[Eskimo Brother]

I'm taking Price. This kind of league is lost by bad performances, and won by breakouts. Neither Talbot nor Price are breaking out any more, and I don't want to be losing the league on a flop. Price I know exactly what I'm getting, and I love that. I'll take my risks elsewhere in this league, and if my playing it safe in net costs me a couple points that I have to make up elsewhere, so be it.

[Bass56]

Price, no question

[lucafen4]

Do you want the better real life goalie on a team that wins 40 games?
Or a top 5 goalie on a team that will win 45-50 games?

by the way, Talbot had 7so 2.39gaa .919 svpct -- Price 3so 2.23 & .923 --

Sometimes it's better to have a really good goalie on a really good team vs the best goalie on a 'meh' team.

Montreal added Drouin, lost 3 Dmen and Radulov... they added Hemsky yes. but that D is something to behold

Emelin, Beaulieu, Markov are not being replaced by Streit and Juulsen. Their #1 need this year was to upgrade the C position. It's been left untouched. I don't see this team being near as good as they were last year. I have them missing the playoffs.

We all know the real world choice, but we're not living in the real world. we're in fantasy. And this fantasy only counts W & SO - I'll take Talbot with 5 more wins and an extra SO this year

[rataylor22]

You are overestimating their cap crunch.
Even if they resign Draisaitl to an 8x8, their cap number for 2018-19 is 60 million(Currently 52m). So they have 15 million in room. Their top 4 Defensemen are all signed for 4+ years.
-Unless Nurse Busts out this year, he hasn't earned anything huge in terms of a raise given his 11 point career high and suspect defensive play.
-Unless Caggiula busts out, he has not earned anything huge for his career high 18 points.
- Strome has a very real chance at busting out beside McDavid, but he hasn't yet.

Their UFA's are Fayne(not due for any sort of raise, if they even keep him), Maroon(will get a raise if they keep him), Letestu(Career Bottom 6 grinder, not getting much more money, if any)


Price has a long contract yes, but the team around him has yet to do a damn thing to give me confidence in them going forward.

I am a huge Drouin fan since he was a Moosehead, but I am dreading his treatment under Julien. Galchenyuk needed exactly 3 games to get into Julien's doghouse at C and get moved to wing and be told there is currently no intentions to put him back at C.

Danault is currently their #1 C and his skills will never be more than 2nd line C, followed by Plekanec who is old and slow. Shaw is a 3rd line C at best. Gallagher started to look like crap last year and his best was never much beyond 40 points anyways.

Weber came out on fire then slowed to a crawl. Markov was literally their best Dman last year over the whole year despite his age and they let him go.
Alzner and Petry are good top 4 Dmen, Schlemko a good bottom pairing Dman.

Nothing montreal is doing is giving me confidence in the next 3-4 years.

The categories are Wins and Shutouts. Wins is a team statistic and Talbot has a better chance at them for the next few years.

They have 7 forwards, 5 defensemen, and 1 goalie under contract. That would leave 15 million for 10 players. You're really not paying attention to their cap crunch.

[donions]

They have 7 forwards, 5 defensemen, and 1 goalie under contract. That would leave 15 million for 10 players. You're really not paying attention to their cap crunch.

thats pretty standard for competitive teams that spend to the cap every year in todays NHL, Chicago and Pittsburgh have been managing it for years. Its a crunch for sure but manageable.
The Flames have 7 F, 5 D, 1G signed for 2018 at a 56mill cap hit, but they have to re-sign Backlund before next year, so they'd be at 8 F but over 60mill, aka less then 15 mill to spend on the remaining 9 players. Doesnt mean the Flames are doomed, just makes for some tough decisions in the future and a need for ELC youngsters and cheap vets to fill out a roster.

back to topic....Price is the best in the world, tho Talbot will play more games, it pains me to say it but I think that gives Talbot the edge. Cant help but think playing Vegas, Vancouver, and Arizona a bunch this season will pad Talbot's stats too, maybe add a couple SO's.

[striderz]

Schneider is a very talented goalie. Wouldn't you prefer him over Talbot too?