Ottawa Senators goaltender Cam Talbot will be out of the lineup for five to seven weeks due to an upper-body injury, the team announced Monday.
In a corresponding move, the Senators have claimed netminder Magnus Hellberg off waivers from the Seattle Kraken.
Talbot suffered the injury last week, but Senators head coach D.J. Smith downplayed the severity saying Talbot was day-to-day and would return to the ice soon.
“Just got a puck under the equipment. … In the regular season, he could probably play but there’s just no point [in the pre-season],” Smith said to explain why Talbot wasn’t starting Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.
The Senators acquired Talbot from the Minnesota Wild during the summer for prospect netminder Filip Gustavsson.
Talbot, 35, has won 201 games in his NHL career with the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames and Minnesota. He earned a career-high 42 wins during the 2016-17 season with the Oilers setting a franchise single-season record.
Hellberg has played five career NHL games. The 31-year-old has had stints with the Nashville Predators, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings and Kraken organizations. In 187 AHL games, the Swede has a .914 save percentage.
With Talbot out, the Senators will depend heavily on Anton Forsberg as the starter to begin the 2022-23 season. Forsberg and Talbot were expected to serve as a tandem throughout the campaign.
