Fleury signing appears to have created a rift between Cam Talbot's camp and Wild GM Bill Guerin; could the Leafs pursue Talbot?

Talbot put together a solid season for the Wild in 2021-22, with a .911sv% over 49 games. The Wild then acquired Marc-Andre Fleury from the Blackhawks at the deadline, which had to sting a bit, since it basically indicated that the Wild have no faith in Talbot as a true number one. That lit a fire under the veteran netminder, as Talbot was the hottest goalie in the NHL heading into the playoffs, so when he was benched in favour of Fleury for all but 1 game against the St. Louis Blues, a rift had begun to form.

Now, Guerin has stated that he plans to have Fleury and Talbot work as a tandem. For a guy that had earned his starter's job and played well to have it suddenly taken away is bad enough. Now he is being told his role and ice time are going to be reduced and his status as Minnesota's number one goalie is being taken away by an older rival with worse numbers? Yeah, I wouldn't be happy either.

Talbot's agent, George Bazos, met with Guerin after the Fleury signing. When asked about it by Pierre LeBrun, he had this to say:

Guerin was questioned about Bazos' comment today and his response was equally frosty.

From the sounds of things, Talbot isn't happy about Fleury being brought back. Judging by Geurin's response, he doesn't care what they think. It's not often conversations like this make it into the media and it's even more rare to see a GM respond like Guerin did. If Talbot and his camp feel he is being disrespected, however, there may be a trade request on the horizon. Guerin has already bought out Ryan Suter and Zach Parise over dressing room issues. It would not shock me to see Talbot moved in the near future if Guerin thinks these issues will spill over into the dressing room. If they do, I'm sure Kyle Dubas and the Leafs will be ready to pounce, if the price is right - but they won't be alone. Both Edmonton and Washington are in the market for goaltenders as well.