Confirmed with Link: Oilers sign Mikko Koskinen

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KMart27

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Jun 9, 2013
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Agreed, but isn't that the whole idea of trying to set up a 1A/1B type situation?

It feels like there will be open competition for the starter job. If both play decently then maybe Koskinen is seen as more than just a backup.

If you are setting up a 1A/1B don't you want a little more evidence that both goalies have that potential? We know Talbot is capable of being a top 5 goalie in the league. We don't know what Koskinen is capable of. Considering the signing, one has to think that management believes he is capable of being in a 1A/1B. I'm just not comfortable judging because I really have no idea what to expect. I hope he is great but I also wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't last the entire season in the NHL.
 

KeithIsActuallyBad

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which would be the best-case scenario...that means the scouts did their job and found a decent goalie
how on Earth can that be a bad thing lol
Because that means they'll have to pay him way more than 2.5 per season thereafter wards or lose him for nothing, neither of which is a good scenario for the team.

Half of that price would be completely reasonable and even if he exceeded expectations his price wouldn't be as high. If he plays better than the starter he's going to want to get paid more than him.
 

shoop

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Jul 6, 2008
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If you are setting up a 1A/1B don't you want a little more evidence that both goalies have that potential? We know Talbot is capable of being a top 5 goalie in the league. We don't know what Koskinen is capable of. Considering the signing, one has to think that management believes he is capable of being in a 1A/1B. I'm just not comfortable judging because I really have no idea what to expect. I hope he is great but I also wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't last the entire season in the NHL.

I don't think you are going to get a proven 1B willing to take a one-year deal for $2.5M. That's what scouts are for. It's certainly a gamble. Hopefully the scouting staff has done their homework on Koskinen.
 

joestevens29

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Because that means they'll have to pay him way more than 2.5 per season thereafter wards or lose him for nothing, neither of which is a good scenario for the team.

Half of that price would be completely reasonable and even if he exceeded expectations his price wouldn't be as high. If he plays better than the starter he's going to want to get paid more than him.
He's a UFA after this season, so it doesn't matter what he makes this year.
 

GMofOilers

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Why doesn't it matter? We're not exactly swimming in cap space to begin with and prices generally don't go down after one year deals.

Remember Russell?

If he plays as good as your suggesting you kick Talbot to the curve. Easy solution and not much to worry about.
 

soothsayer

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Oct 27, 2009
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If he plays as good as your suggesting you kick Talbot to the curve. Easy solution and not much to worry about.

Nobody should trust a goalie to be their starter after one good year. That's conventional wisdom at this point.
 

McGoMcD

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Lehtonen and Lehner would've been my picks of those guys but do you think either signs for $2.5 million or less? I don't. IMO it's premature to call this a good or bad signing. If he comes in and sucks then it will clearly be a bad signing. If he comes in and does well then we have another option if Talbot struggles. Best case scenario he becomes a starter for us and outplays Talbot, worst case he sucks and we send him down and he eats ~$1.5 million in cap space.

I agree, it is too early to say. Still, based on his credentials I just don't see why he commands 2.5 mill. But I guess we will find out.
 

GMofOilers

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And he's going to take less than Talbot... because...?

Paying for the success of a single year is how teams get roped into terrible contracts.

Well we paid Talbot after one year......... Personally I would love to see a proven top 5 goalie here myself, but thats just not going to happen.

Lets wait to see what this guy does instead of the If's or but's for this up coming year, instead of assuming all summer.
 

KeithIsActuallyBad

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Well we paid Talbot after one year......... Personally I would love to see a proven top 5 goalie here myself, but thats just not going to happen.

Lets wait to see what this guy does instead of the If's or but's for this up coming year, instead of assuming all summer.
Yeah we did. So imagine worse than that. Because the Oilers don't know what a value contract looks like.

Also Talbot only got paid 1.45 the year we got him and had more NHL experience under his belt.
 

Cypress

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If Koskinen takes Talbot's job we could move Talbot at the deadline, let him walk as a UFA, or re-sign him on a cheaper deal.
 

soothsayer

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Well we paid Talbot after one year......... Personally I would love to see a proven top 5 goalie here myself, but thats just not going to happen.

Lets wait to see what this guy does instead of the If's or but's for this up coming year, instead of assuming all summer.

Talbot had a good NHL track record by the time he signed his extension.
 

LaGu

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Talbot had a good NHL track record by the time he signed his extension.
He did, but we're still talking about 100 GP, excellent back-up stats and half a season looking good as a starter. That gave Talbot $4.2M. 100 GP is nothing for a GK. I don't mind that deal btw.

I am also not completely comfortable with this signing, but seeing his current (tax free) salary and being established as a top KHL/national team goalie I am not at all surprised that he asked for $2.5M. Otherwise he'd probably just have stayed in SKA, where he apparently was pretty happy.
 

nexttothemoon

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Both Talbot and Koskinen are UFA after this year... so there's strong incentive for both to put up a good season and get bigger/longer contracts going forward.

It's actually set up to be quite a good head to head battle that hopefully pushes both to be at their best (in theory anyway).

Whichever one shits the bed is not re-signed and the other get an extension contract with the team in the summer of 2019 . That "winner" will likely get a contract of ~$4+ million... likely similar to what Talbot makes now. The loser will likely be gone and a cheaper backup will have to be found yet again (with some luck maybe from within the Oilers org).

In a scenario where one plays very well and takes the starter job by the throat and the other plays well also... some would say that's the worst case scenario because then both would likely be in line for a contract going forward. I view that as optimal though... pick the best and sign him and offer the other a backup salary to stay... or that backup decides to walk as a UFA to greener pastures... so be it.

In the scenario that they both shit the bed and it's another wasted season... well they are both off the books by next summer and you are once again big game hunting for a starter AND backup in the summer of 2019... with zero money tied up on goalies at that point.

No one really knows which scenario will unfold but there's zero cap money tied up on goalies past this year so the ~$6.6 million spent on starter/backup goalies this year will be free next summer to go after something "better" if neccesary.

I don't see this situation as ideal (Talbot may be regressing... Koskinen an unknown quantity at the NHL level)... but I also don't see this as a terrible situation either. Talbot and Koskinen have both been starters in their respective leagues and have had some success... remains to be seen if that can lead to a good season upcoming between them.
 
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Drivesaitl

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So anyone who is critical of management is a troll and not a fan?

Insightful.

Especially coming from a poster who has become one of the most one note contributors on this forum regarding constant criticisms of cam Talbot.

Quite exactly. Not like the poster has shown any degree of objectivity regarding Talbot. Looks like he found another topic now.
If he plays as good as your suggesting you kick Talbot to the curve. Easy solution and not much to worry about.

Try harder. Weren't you just complaining about fan negativity. You were more negative re; Talbot is this season than any poster is with any player.
 
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McVirginOil

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Jun 30, 2014
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Read the post I quoted again.

You can have whatever your opinion is on the Oilers. Thats totally fine.

Doesnt make you any smarter or dumber then anyone else on here.

Whats getting really annoying on this board is the constant negativity. Every topic on hand turns negative about the ogranization.

My advice for those people is:

Take a long break over this summer, dont think about or care about the Oilers at all once. Try and bring some positivity back into being a fan, after a nice break.

Its just not worth being a fan of something you want to hate, or want to see fail. Its actually unhealthy.
Fans that actually care about the team point out negative things because they want the team to be better (as well as positive things).

Fans that don’t care about the team endlessly praise incompetent management regardless if it’s a bad move or a good move.

Just because someone anticipates a move as a bad one does not mean they want the team to fail to prove their point.
 
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Drivesaitl

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Read the post I quoted again.

You can have whatever your opinion is on the Oilers. Thats totally fine.

Doesnt make you any smarter or dumber then anyone else on here.

Whats getting really annoying on this board is the constant negativity. Every topic on hand turns negative about the ogranization.

My advice for those people is:

Take a long break over this summer, dont think about or care about the Oilers at all once. Try and bring some positivity back into being a fan, after a nice break.

Its just not worth being a fan of something you want to hate, or want to see fail. Its actually unhealthy.

The same poster within minutes says "Kick Talbot to the curb, no loss."

wow

How do you think your 2 thousand Talbot posts sounded to the average user here this season?
 

nabob

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And whose analysis of this goaltender's game should we trust, yours? People's on this board? I've played goalie all my life and taught goaltending, but I'm not even touching on my analysis of his goaltending based on clips, because that's all any of us have seen.

We have his stats and they are okay. Not good enough to justify 2.5 M. So we have to assume that the organization has done some analysis that makes them confident in taking this risk, and it is a risk, given the cap situation. (Some people seem to not realize how close the Oilers are to the cap.) Part of my point is that the organization has lost the benefit of the doubt here, which is being given way too freely by some posters.

So you are basing this signing purely off of the organization that signed him (there were many that tried) and not off of the player.

Guess the Oilers might as well trade their 2nd round pick for nothing right now then seeing as how they haven't made a good one in a decade.
 

soothsayer

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Oct 27, 2009
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So you are basing this signing purely off of the organization that signed him (there were many that tried) and not off of the player.

Guess the Oilers might as well trade their 2nd round pick for nothing right now then seeing as how they haven't made a good one in a decade.

I think you've confused my post with the voices in your head. At this point you're responding to yourself my dude.
 

LaGu

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Sorry if someone pointed this out already, but there's one other reason why this signing seems deeply misguided. Remember Slava Malamud's amazing Twitter thread about how SKA St. Petersburg was stacked this year, totally ignoring league rules, to bring glory to Putin in an election year? May tell you something about Koskinen's wondrous .931 save percentage this year, after two years around .915. I'm really surprised Lowetide missed this—he interviewed Malamud on his show after the thread went viral.

View attachment 118853

Full thread here.

So SKA was the only team that could win, or maybe/possibly CSKA.

Didn't AK Bars just win the Gagarin Cup?



Anyway, who cares. KHL teams kick out players not up to the task at any point during any season, happens all the time, and Koskinen has managed to remain and be the no1 in SKA for years. To me he looks like the best keeper not in the NHL, let's hope that will be worth something.
 
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nexttothemoon

and again...
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Goalies are tough to judge... if you bet me last season before the season began that all of Price, Holtby, Schneider and Craig Anderson would put up sub 91% save pct numbers I'd have lost a lot of money as I'd take that bet easily.
 
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