Cam Talbot Becomes the First Goalie to Win for Nine NHL Franchises

Cam Talbot became the first goaltender in NHL history to win a game for nine different franchises on Oct. 9, when the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in a shootout at Nationwide Arena. In his first start for Columbus, he made 20 saves and stopped all three Pittsburgh attempts in the tiebreaker.

Talbot signed a one-year, $950,000 contract with the Blue Jackets on Sept. 14 after two seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. The win put him ahead of Sean Burke, Ron Tugnutt and Curtis McElhinney, who each won games for eight franchises, according to the Blue Jackets' recap of the game.

A 3-2 shootout win in his Blue Jackets debut

Damon Severson, playing his first game of the season after shoulder surgery on April 2, put Columbus ahead at 10:52 of the first period with a one-timer from the left face-off circle off a cross-ice pass from Zach Werenski. Mathieu Olivier made it 2-0 at 11:40 of the second period when a shot from the right circle went in off the skate of Pittsburgh goaltender Sergei Murashov.

Bryan Rust pulled one back at 14:30 of the second, and Evgeni Malkin tied the game at 3:19 of the third when Erik Karlsson's slap shot deflected off Olivier's stick and then off Malkin before it went in. Murashov finished with 43 saves, 23 of them in the second period. Kent Johnson scored the only goal of the shootout.

Talbot described keeping his focus and playing the puck during a quiet first period, when he faced only three shots.

Pittsburgh's shootout attempts came from Rickard Rakell, Egor Chinakhov and Ben Kindel; Talbot stopped each one.

Columbus moved to 2-1-0 with the win. The Blue Jackets and Penguins have now needed more than 60 minutes in five consecutive meetings.

The nine franchises where Talbot has won

NHL season-by-season records show wins with nine franchises; his first Columbus victory came in his 14th NHL season.

The totals in the right-hand column are counted from his season-by-season entries in the league's player data, and they sum to 279, the same as his career wins in those records.

The distribution explains how the list grew. Edmonton accounts for 104 of the 279 wins over four seasons, while Philadelphia and Columbus account for one each. Talbot has played for four franchises across the past five seasons, moving from Ottawa to Los Angeles to Detroit and now Columbus, which is the pattern that carried him to nine.

How the league counts franchises

Sean Burke's record covers nine team names because he won for the Hartford Whalers and later for the Carolina Hurricanes, the same franchise in a different city. Counted by franchise his total is eight, which matches the league's summary. Ron Tugnutt won for eight franchises: Quebec, Edmonton, Anaheim, Montreal, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Dallas. Curtis McElhinney also reached eight: Calgary, Anaheim, Ottawa, Arizona, Columbus, Toronto, Carolina and Tampa Bay.

Talbot's nine franchises are nine separate organizations, so the same number applies either way. Playoff wins do not add a tenth: his postseason wins came with Edmonton, Calgary, Minnesota and Los Angeles, all of which are already on the list.

A one-year deal, and the oldest win in Columbus history

Columbus signed Talbot on Sept. 14 as a 39-year-old free agent, and he made his debut 25 days later. At 39 years and 96 days, he became the oldest goaltender to record a win in franchise history, the recap noted. Fredrik Norrena held the previous mark at 34 years and 336 days on Oct. 30, 2008.

Talbot's last two seasons in Detroit produced 47 games and 21 wins in 2024-25, then 34 games and 12 wins in 2025-26 with a 3.19 goals-against average and an .883 save percentage. In one game for Columbus he has a 1.85 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.

What comes next for the Blue Jackets

In the October 12 standings snapshot, Columbus was 2-2-0 after four games. The Blue Jackets host the Florida Panthers on Oct. 13 and the New York Rangers on Oct. 17 before visiting the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 18. Their roster lists two goaltenders: Talbot and Jet Greaves, who played 55 games for Columbus in 2025-26 with a 2.60 goals-against average. The October 12 player-data snapshot shows Greaves started three of the first four games, going 1-2-0 with a 3.69 goals-against average. Those records do not establish the next starter.

That leaves the split between the two open, along with the question of how often a 39-year-old on a one-year contract will play. The nine-franchise milestone is already set; future starts can add to his Columbus win total.