Confirmed with Link: Oilers sign Mikko Koskinen

[Little Fury]

Yeah, all his hilites is like watching goaltending from the 70;s. Every save I'm seeing is a stretch stop instead of moving to puck direction. A lot of scouting reports question the mobility of this goalie. Mobility is paramount to NHL goaltenders. If you can't move across in this league theres going to be a lot of long nights from forwards that will have the patience of make good cross ice feeds.

That's what I'm seeing: a guy who throws himself around counting on his size to make the stop. That's not gonna fly in a league like this where economy of movement is so important for goalies.

 

[Faelko]

Not too sure what to make of the signing. He certainly seems to be a pretty good goalie the past few years based on his stats that I have seen on eliteprospects. I hope this works out for Edmonton but we are team that already isn't in the best cap situation and if this signing doesn't work out it will be just more wasted cap space. Did the Oilers feel like they had no chance on guys like Khudobin or Hutton who are proven in the league? That would have been a safer bet and maybe even cheaper to me. I hope that Koskinen works out for Edmonton.

I don’t see any reason that Hutton and Khudonin don’t resign with their current teams. There’s certainly a risk waiting for July 1st and “possibly” having these guys available and even then they’ll likely get overpaid.

 

[Mr Positive]

Brutal technique?

imo he did 100% the right thing by committing to the guy in front. The guy passing back to the open man would be unexpected and uncommon even in the NHL

 

[CupofOil]

It's a rumour at this point.

If it becomes a reality than some of the freak outs in this thread would make sense but at this point nothing is official.

Having said that, it seems he was highly sought after so we are going to have to outbid for his services. Also, he only costs money not assets.

My issue is that the Oilers have bigger needs at wing and defense so to spend $5M on a backup goalie restricts their ability to improve those other areas. I wouldn't mind if it was a more proven player but it's risky depending on this guy to push Talbot IMO.

It's not a big deal either way, it's just another in a long line of Chia overpays that continue to build up. That's if the rumor is true of course.

 

[nabob]

...and for that he'd be playing elsewhere.

It's like posters don't realize that UFAs can sign anywhere and the market determines how much they make.

 

[Sugi21]

Brutal technique?

Lol that's desperation... kind of like Chia this offseason

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Never trust finnish goaltending.

If Chiarelli would have been a chance to sign Antti Raanta he would have done it.
Koskinen was one the best goalies in KHL and really likely he'll be Oiler next 2 yrs so deal with it and move on.

 

[McDNicks17]

Judging by this twelve second highlight reel(that clearly doesn't focus on highlight reel plays over typical goaltending), I've determined that he obviously has terrible technique and that's he's clearly being carried by a team I know nothing about in a league that I know even less about.

Top notch analysis as usual, HFboards.

 

[nabob]

My issue is that the Oilers have bigger needs at wing and defense so to spend $5M on a backup goalie restricts their ability to improve those other areas. I wouldn't mind if it was a more proven player but it's risky depending on this guy to push Talbot IMO.

It's not a big deal either way, it's just another in a long line of Chia overpays that continue to build up. That's if the rumor is true of course.

And if he bumps Talbot then we have a quality starter making $2.5M against the cap next season. Which gives us a ton of money.

With his playoff work and stats from the KHL I'd say he is more proven and able
To take over as a #1 than any other backup that will be a UFA this season.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Here's a detailed look at Koskinens numbers.....

Mikko Koskinen

his playoff stats are pretty darn great
not sure where they rank against the rest of the goalies in the KHL but he gets better in the playoffs which is a good sign

 

[nabob]

just imagine that saving of 1M could get us.

Could have kept Montoya as our backup.

Chia spends an extra $1M on a very likely improvement and people complain.

 

[guymez]

Brutal technique?

He was committed to the shooter.
A negative bias might suggest its poor technique....a positive bias might suggest its good athleticism and a strong compete level.

In any event limited video evidence is hardly worthy of a conclusion about a goalies technique.

 

[Little Fury]

imo he did 100% the right thing by committing to the guy in front. The guy passing back to the open man would be unexpected and uncommon even in the NHL

It's not his read that's the issue, it's his lateral movement when he saw the play going the other way and just kind of....collapsed. Contrast that with these:

 

[guymez]

his playoff stats are pretty darn great
not sure where they rank against the rest of the goalies in the KHL but he gets better in the playoffs which is a good sign

I agree.

Also...compare his KHL playoff numbers to a player like Bobrovsky (or other former KHL goalies) and it stacks up quite nicely. Being able to elevate your game when the games have more importance is a positive indicator IMO.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Judging by this twelve second highlight reel(that clearly doesn't focus on highlight reel plays over typical goaltending), I've determined that he obviously has terrible technique and that's he's clearly being carried by a team I know nothing about in a league that I know even less about.

Top notch analysis as usual, HFboards.

If the defense doesn't improve it won't matter how good he is.

 

[CupofOil]

And if he bumps Talbot then we have a quality starter making $2.5M against the cap next season. Which gives us a ton of money.

With his playoff work and stats from the KHL I'd say he is more proven and able
To take over as a #1 than any other backup that will be a UFA this season.

That would be great but you have to admit that it's a risk for a team to invest $5M into a career KHL goalie. It could work out but again, Chia is betting on a hope and a prayer.

I'd love it if this thread gets bumped a year from now and makes me and other naysayers look like fools but for now, I'm skeptical.
Hopefully the rumor is bogus and the numbers he signs for are more modest, something like 2.5 total over 2 years.

 

[Aerrol]

FWIW I remember @GameChanger speaking highly of this goalie's technique/potential. I'm a fan of picking talent out of Europe, especially goalies. I see Tim Thomas mentioned - well, if he comes over and has a few seasons for us like Thomas did for the Bruins, that's clearly a win.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

That's what I'm seeing: a guy who throws himself around counting on his size to make the stop. That's not gonna fly in a league like this where economy of movement is so important for goalies.

 

[SK13]

Okay.

Yikes.

 

[VainGretzky]

a little here, a little there. It can add up to costing playoffs as well..

EDMONTON OILERS

FINAL CAP HIT

: $66,381,610

FINAL CAP SPACE

: $8,618,390

Cap is mininum 78 million most likely 80

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Stauffer just said the tweet is incorrect

 

[Little Fury]

First save is a good example of what I'm talking about: Anderson actually manages to recover from being frozen by the guy he thought was going to shoot and push himself across the crease to put himself in a better position to make that stop. Andersen's save was pure luck.

Regardless, I'm not making any judgements overall, just pointing out that the falling tree stye of goaltending exhibited in that single clip is a particularly reliable one.

 

[ManofSteel55]

He's not going to come over for minimum wage.

If he wants to play in the NHL he might. He might not sign with us, but we can't really afford to be overpaying guys by a million when we already have nearly 6 or 8 million (at least) a year used in overpay money. I'd have offered him the 2.5, but that would be total for 2 years, not for one.

 

[ManofSteel55]

People complain that we don’t have a suitable backup, and then complain when chia finds one

Do we even know if he is that though?

 

[MoneyGuy]

a little here, a little there. It can add up to costing playoffs as well..

EDMONTON OILERS

FINAL CAP HIT

: $66,381,610

FINAL CAP SPACE

: $8,618,390

I'm not sure you're getting my point. I never suggested leaving cap space on the table so that has nothing to do with my point of view.