Confirmed with Link: Oilers sign Mikko Koskinen

[Drivesaitl]

Heres the most comments I've seen thus far in this article;

Friedman Says the Oilers are the Front Runners for Giant Finnish Goalie Mikko Koskinen

This sounds concerning;


Here are some scouting reports of the big guy:

He takes up a ton of net and he is difficult to beat when he has time to square up to the shooter. Predictably, he struggles a bit with his mobility and regularly ends up scrambling. However, he is extremely flexible for a man his size. That combined with his long limbs helps Koskinen make up for whatever deficiencies exist in his lateral movement. Brent Craswell (link)

Koskinen’s greatest asset is his size, which he uses to seemingly fill the entire net and he covers a lot of space in the butterfly. He is inexperienced in terms of the number of games played and has not had a lot of international experience – excelling in the SM-Liiga where he ordinarily does not see the booming slapshots or accurate snipers more common in North America. Still learning as a goaltender, he must work to improve his quickness and foot speed
.

So Like Nillson just another goalie that is big but that is not good fundamentally and that has problems with mobility. That should work out well here in the NHL (sarcasm)

Apparently Koskinen is unorthodox, not a form goalie. Just using his size to try to get it done. With other comments suggesting his success in KHL is very team related. In 2016 hockey world championships he was playing behind a Finnish team that was pretty stingy defensively as well. Good team play can mask a lot of problems.​

 

[Smartguy]

The only mistake there was getting rid of Nilsson

Agreed Nilsson was solid here, our team was a tire fire as well, Nilsson was probably one the best backups in the NHL a year ago, he struggled in Vancouver this year though

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Chad Johnson, Ondrej Pavelec, Jaro Halak, Carter Hutton, Anton Khudobin? There's always tons of NHL-calibre options out there.

So basically get Montoya get some competition and hope they expect to get very little money, that's not what anyone would call a "plan", more of a hope.

 

[Smartguy]

3.14GAA and .900 Save % on the year is not what I would call solid. Nilsson had one brief stint all season where he wasn't being exposed. From Nov 20, 2015, -Dec 6, 2016 Nilsson had good numbers. Total of an 8 game stint. But he's rarely ever found that kind of success. That brief couple of weeks he had way different numbers than his overall work here or since.

He's a goalie that is easily exploited at this level.

Go check out Talbots Sv% and Gaa this year if your using numbers, and cut out Talbots good stretch for about the 10 games he had toward the end of the year. I have no problem giving Koskinen that money, for all we know we’re talking about our head goalie a year from now, worse case scenario he can push Talbot to be better knowing he has to fight for a job again

 

[Drivesaitl]

Go check out Talbots Sv% and Gaa this year if your using numbers, and cut out Talbots good stretch for about the 10 games he had toward the end of the year. I have no problem giving Koskinen that money, for all we know we’re talking about our head goalie a year from now, worse case scenario he can push Talbot to be better knowing he has to fight for a job again

This is so clearly Nilsson part 2. Oilers desperately going off the form chart paying a former Islanders bust goalie that's been playing in the KHL that is a big goalie that takes up a lot of space. Its eerily reminiscent. Except this time we're paying 2.5M for this crapshoot instead of the 1M we paid to Nilsson. Then add in what we pay for Montoya to be back up and then consider that when we signed Nilsson cap was never a worry.

On the surface this looks like another real shitty Chia type decision here.

 

[belair]

Chad Johnson, Ondrej Pavelec, Jaro Halak, Carter Hutton, Anton Khudobin? There's always tons of NHL-calibre options out there.

I mean, this could pay off, but it's a pretty big gamble. More to the point, Chia is now batting 100 on seasons where they've started without a proven NHL back up.

What exactly is a 'proven' backup though? The only thing that's 'proven' about the guys you've mentioned are that they're consistently inconsistent. If past summers are a good basis to go on, guys like Hutton and Khudobin are looking at possible long-term deals from teams looking for potential starters. I'd expect those cap numbers are probably going to be a bit higher than the $2.5m Koskinen is making.

The cap number is a bit more than I was comfortable with, but I think if we offered any less we may have been looking at a Pavelec or a Johnson this summer. Guess it's another 'wait and see' scenario.

 

[Fourier]

Chad Johnson, Ondrej Pavelec, Jaro Halak, Carter Hutton, Anton Khudobin? There's always tons of NHL-calibre options out there.

I mean, this could pay off, but it's a pretty big gamble. More to the point, Chia is now batting 100 on seasons where they've started without a proven NHL back up.

I agree with your main point that this is a gamble. But Montoya is a proven NHL back-up. It's just that like most back-ups his play is very up and down. Since 2010 he has pretty much been good to very good half the time and poor the other half. Though you were also correct in suggesting that they would not give a guy $2.5M if the plan was BAK.

 

[PaPaDee]

Not sure how I feel about this, I think I'd rather just have kept Montoya and saved the $ to address other areas.

 

[belair]

Heres the most comments I've seen thus far in this article;

Friedman Says the Oilers are the Front Runners for Giant Finnish Goalie Mikko Koskinen

This sounds concerning;


Here are some scouting reports of the big guy:

He takes up a ton of net and he is difficult to beat when he has time to square up to the shooter. Predictably, he struggles a bit with his mobility and regularly ends up scrambling. However, he is extremely flexible for a man his size. That combined with his long limbs helps Koskinen make up for whatever deficiencies exist in his lateral movement. Brent Craswell (link)

Koskinen’s greatest asset is his size, which he uses to seemingly fill the entire net and he covers a lot of space in the butterfly. He is inexperienced in terms of the number of games played and has not had a lot of international experience – excelling in the SM-Liiga where he ordinarily does not see the booming slapshots or accurate snipers more common in North America. Still learning as a goaltender, he must work to improve his quickness and foot speed
.

So Like Nillson just another goalie that is big but that is not good fundamentally and that has problems with mobility. That should work out well here in the NHL (sarcasm)

Apparently Koskinen is unorthodox, not a form goalie. Just using his size to try to get it done. With other comments suggesting his success in KHL is very team related. In 2016 hockey world championships he was playing behind a Finnish team that was pretty stingy defensively as well. Good team play can mask a lot of problems.​

I wouldn't put a lot of weight into that report since he hasn't played Liiga since 2013.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I wouldn't put a lot of weight into that report since he hasn't played Liiga since 2013.

Its two quotes that I combined from the same source article. But one of the scouting reports being 2013, the other 2016, and its the same guy being scouted..

The main thing to me is that goalies that are just big and that lack mobility tend to not do well in the premium hockey league on the planet. They tend to get exploited like the last time Koskinen was in NA.

Now that said goalies can change, but as per the 2016 report that isn't really the noted case here.

For clarity, again this link;

Mikko Koskinen

ps watch the hilites in that link. The mobility is comical. All he does is stretch his pads out to posts and scramble a lot.

Even on the one play even resembling a solid cross ice play he only makes the stop because the player dusts the puck up instead of actually one timing it.

The oilers pk and pass coverage is suspect. How would this guy do on NHL one timers and solid finish? This guy is really scrambled eggs in net.

I like my goalies to have elite mobility. Talbot has that.

 

[BleedingOil]

Hes really going to push talbot! This should be a great signing if true.

 

[Little Fury]

So basically get Montoya get some competition and hope they expect to get very little money, that's not what anyone would call a "plan", more of a hope.

And overpaying a total unknown is a plan?

What exactly is a 'proven' backup though? The only thing that's 'proven' about the guys you've mentioned are that they're consistently inconsistent.

If they were consistent, they wouldn't be backups.

If past summers are a good basis to go on, guys like Hutton and Khudobin are looking at possible long-term deals from teams looking for potential starters. I'd expect those cap numbers are probably going to be a bit higher than the $2.5m Koskinen is making.

None of those guys are currently making more than $1.5M. Most are older and would probably be happy with a job and a paycheque at this point. I don't see many long term, high cap deals going to backups in this league. There's too many goalies and not enough jobs.

The cap number is a bit more than I was comfortable with, but I think if we offered any less we may have been looking at a Pavelec or a Johnson this summer. Guess it's another 'wait and see' scenario

I actually think they are gambling on him not only pushing Talbot, but possibly supplanting him as starter allowing them to move on from Cam hen his contract is up.

 

[Del Preston]

$2.5M sounds like too much, but the guy who is reporting the contract amount writes for Eklund's site and had been saying Koskinen was going to the Islanders.

 

[Raab]

I think we can assume this means Talbot might not want to stay in Edmonton past next year. Giving this guy a 2 year deal at least gives us a bit of insurance if he walks.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I think we can assume this means Talbot might not want to stay in Edmonton past next year. Giving this guy a 2 year deal at least gives us a bit of insurance if he walks.

That's the most depressing thought I've had yet on a bad Monday morning..

If this guy ends up being our #1 at anytime I'm just changing the channel.

 

[Hemsky is a gangsta]

$2.5M sounds like too much, but the guy who is reporting the contract amount writes for Eklund's site and had been saying Koskinen was going to the Islanders.

Thank god, you've calmed by fears at least until this actually turns out to be real. I checked and Raanta, who was highly sought after, signed for 1 year, $1.4M including bonuses.

 

[Psychoil]

Way too expensive for a f***ing backup. Urgh why is chia still here

 

[soothsayer]

I have no idea if this is good or bad. 2.5 for 2 years seems pretty high for a guy with virtually zero NHL experience, and whose impressive stats have been put up while playing on Putin's personal hockey team. Not to mention, the Oilers under Chiarelli is a team that has made a number of questionable decisions on goaltenders--e.g., keeping Brossoit up when he clearly wasn't ready, waiting too long to bring in a legitimate backup goalie, and, the real doozy, signing Jonas Gustavsson. This last one especially gives credence to those who are skeptical of this current move. (If this rumor actually comes to pass.)

 

[TFHockey]

Hey gang... it's only a two year contract. If the scouts think he can play 25-30 games and push Talbot this is a win for the Oilers. Yeah $2.5 Million is a lot but hey, we didn't give up any assets for him.

That is one of the items off of chias list.

1. RDH PMD
2. #1 RW
3. Middle 6 winger
4. Back up goalie who can play 25-30 games (check!)

 

[Faelko]

Well that's the rub, isn't it? They THINK he can. They don't know. And if he doesn't they're stuck with him for another year.

I suspect there’s an opt out so he can return to the KHL if he stinks it up.

I’m still skeptical he’ll work out, mostly because these types of deals rarely do for us.

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

Funny thinking that a 2.5 million is the biggest mistake in your team when Lucic has the contract he has..

 

[soothsayer]

Hey gang... it's only a two year contract. If the scouts think he can play 25-30 games and push Talbot this is a win for the Oilers. Yeah $2.5 Million is a lot but hey, we didn't give up any assets for him.

That is one of the items off of chias list.

1. RDH PMD
2. #1 RW
3. Middle 6 winger
4. Back up goalie who can play 25-30 games (check!)

Except he's only ever played 4 NHL games and that was 8 years ago. And these are the same scouts who thought Gustavsson was a good signing early during the free agent period.

 

[Gord]

good thing we used that pick on Montoya...

and are likely stuck with his contract for the next year.

 

[Faelko]

It's cute you guys think McL will actually play his back up.

Well the 3 he had to choose from have been horrifically bad once they moved Nilsson.

 

[Faelko]

and are likely stuck with his contract for the next year.

Buried in the AHL, won’t matter