GDT: PS #1 // Oilers @ Flames // Sept 17 @ 7 PM MST
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I'm really curious how he put those numbers up in the KHL. I'm trying to tell myself how the d-men were not doing their jobs well and it led to him being out of position on that post.
He looked like he was moving like a slug laterally. For some reason I thought he was signed to a 2 year contract and 1/2 into today's game a sigh of relief could be heard in my home when I realized that it was only a 1 year contract.
Thehockeyguy (Youtubechannel) did a video this year on Edmonton's goaltending history and I found it interesting how even when we had Moog and Fur, we've always literally ridden the hell out of our starting goalies. Is Kos doesn't pull his pants up Talbot is easily going to see 70+ games again this year. Talbot will be a 32 year old UFA at the end of this year and 2 different things will happen.
1: We resign him for a minimum of 5M for 3-4 years and he'll be way too tired to compete night in and night out at that pace.
2: We let him walk and he'll most likely be playing 55-60 games with that next organization and he'll look much better as his minutes will me much more well managed.
I really don't see a #3 there and it worries the hell out of me because it seems hard to get a QUALITY starting goalie these days. I donno, do we even have the assets to acquire a legit starting goalie without giving up roster players this coming free-agency? I'm still not cool with us coughing up our 1st rounder, but I'm cool with trading both of our 3nd rounders (we've got the Islanders' 3rd from trading Davidson) or our second rounder.
He's REALLY BIG. Most likely top 3 biggest goalie in the NHL.
Covers a TON of the net even when he's on his knees, but his lateral movement looked so bad that you'd think that he was playing through an incredibly serious injury like sprained knee, torn groin from hell or forgot to wear his jockstrap and took 10 pucks to the breadbasket pre-game.
Had no rebound control. 80% of the shots he faced from dangerous scoring areas bounced off of him and far away enough that Calgary's B-team had a legit chance at a goal on every one of those rebounds.
The video coverage was crap as expected with exhibition games and I wish I could go back to pay more attention to what the Oilers' d-men were doing around the net, but I really wasn't able to see that many horrible glaring mistakes.
Oilers Propagandist
Relax junior, it’s just a post.
Oilers Propagandist
Relax junior, it’s just a post.
I am the Liquor
ABK
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Ha Ha.. LOLlol you... you need to go away lol.
other guy is semi-harmless.
Meant to post that comment on the Flames board, not here.
Oops.
Senor Catface
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Smart Alek
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Bouchard is clearly going to be a star in this league, but from this game and one of the rookie tourny games I watched, I don't believe his defensive game is ready for the NHL. It's truly a shame he can't be sent to the AHL, because that's where he belongs right now. Ultimately, I would say he's about 1.5 years away from being ready. His offence though... is going to be quite the treat to watch for a long, long time.
Ethan Bear looked good as well. He's not yet a stalwart defensively either, but still significantly better. The Oilers can live with that considering what he provides up front and what they need. I could see him being fantastic partners with Bouchard on the PP in the future. He doesn't have the dynamism of Bouchard, but he's good offensively, and he was the only defenseman who was capable of keeping the puck in on the point during his stint last year. He belongs on the third pairing and the top power play this year... offensively he reminds me of Ekholm, which is a damn sight better than the rest of his team.
Yamamoto... here's an example of a player who was sent back when he should have been, and used that time to make himself NHL ready. Offensively, he'll be the best winger on the team this year. Rattie must have been watching this game through his fingers, because at the first sign of a production drop-off, Kailer will take his position where he belongs for the next decade.
Ethan Bear looked good as well. He's not yet a stalwart defensively either, but still significantly better. The Oilers can live with that considering what he provides up front and what they need. I could see him being fantastic partners with Bouchard on the PP in the future. He doesn't have the dynamism of Bouchard, but he's good offensively, and he was the only defenseman who was capable of keeping the puck in on the point during his stint last year. He belongs on the third pairing and the top power play this year... offensively he reminds me of Ekholm, which is a damn sight better than the rest of his team.
Yamamoto... here's an example of a player who was sent back when he should have been, and used that time to make himself NHL ready. Offensively, he'll be the best winger on the team this year. Rattie must have been watching this game through his fingers, because at the first sign of a production drop-off, Kailer will take his position where he belongs for the next decade.
Unfortunately that's not as bold of a statement as it should be. I'd still like to see him re-produce a game like the one yesterday vs some actual NHL players before even saying that he belongs on the opening night roster. I like what he has been doing so far, and I followed as closely as I could his amazing second half of last season in juniors, but at the same time as some seem to underestimate him (especially after those couple of rookie games) we shouldn't make the mistake of over-estimating him.
Thanks for the write up!
Jimmi McJenkins
Sometimes miracles
Very impressive night from McLeod, 22+ mins in your first outing, well done. There were other very good performances.
Koskinen was not one of them. He was not good in his first outing. I suspect he can be better then this, but as debut, not good.
I'll echo some of the things about Bouchard, he's got just a stupid amount of poise with the puck.
Koskinen was not one of them. He was not good in his first outing. I suspect he can be better then this, but as debut, not good.
I'll echo some of the things about Bouchard, he's got just a stupid amount of poise with the puck.
oXo Cube
Power Play Merchant
The thought I had watching Bouchard is that rather than a prospect having a good game he looks like a pro having a bad one.
I don't think he will succeed but I think he has earned a few more chances to try and stick.
I don't think he will succeed but I think he has earned a few more chances to try and stick.
CrazyJoeDavola
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Aceboogie
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This is a goalie playing his first game on a NA sized rink in an NHL style environment. People need to relax, goalies take a bit to get accustomed, they are creatures of habit.
SourOil
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Two assists, line combined for 7 points. Controlled the puck well and played the half-wall on the PP. So far he hasn't looked out of place, and that's a good thing.
Not that we need to pile on Koskinen here, but I'm going to anyway. He looked very bad.
In pre-season, you can look past a goalie's rebound control (as another poster mentioned), you can look past some of the slowness, and you can even look past some of the tracking issues. And squeakers shouldn't really bother anyone in the first pre-season game.
What I think is seriously concerning is his crease movement. I've never seen an NHL goalie butterfly slide as poorly as Koskinen did last night. It would be surprising to see such poor movement even in the AHL. In what should have been routine slides he frequently ended up on the other side of the post, way, way passed squareness with a potential follow-up shot. In other words, there were numerous times when he performed a butterfly slide across the crease, and ended up much farther than where he should have ended up, leaving a wide open net on what should otherwise have been a relatively routine play. To be totally blunt, he looked like a giant rec-league goalie. In contrast, watch Talbot tonight (or any NHL goalie) and notice how he looks like he's moving on tracks when he moves and slides across the ice. (Talbot moves very well.)
It's true that it's just one game and it's his first time on the ice since April(?). But the movement looked very bad even given those two considerations. Not to mention, his highlight reels from the KHL are largely montages of him making desperation saves as a result of being way out of position.
So it's possible that this is who he is as a goalie. If that ends up being the case, then I think he is going to get scorched by NHL teams. The amount of work teams, not to mention individual players, do on scouting goalies is super extensive. Players are going to know that his movement is a glaring weakness, which means we will see lots of puck movement in the Oilers' zone and maybe even a strange amount of cross-ice one-timers from way out. Just remember when Tampa played Chicago in the Finals of 2015, and Bishop had an injured groin that inhibited his movement. Chicago started doing cross-ice one-timers from the top of the circle (and scoring) because they knew Bishop was having trouble getting across the crease. We will see similar things with Koskinen in net if his movement isn't shored up.
In pre-season, you can look past a goalie's rebound control (as another poster mentioned), you can look past some of the slowness, and you can even look past some of the tracking issues. And squeakers shouldn't really bother anyone in the first pre-season game.
What I think is seriously concerning is his crease movement. I've never seen an NHL goalie butterfly slide as poorly as Koskinen did last night. It would be surprising to see such poor movement even in the AHL. In what should have been routine slides he frequently ended up on the other side of the post, way, way passed squareness with a potential follow-up shot. In other words, there were numerous times when he performed a butterfly slide across the crease, and ended up much farther than where he should have ended up, leaving a wide open net on what should otherwise have been a relatively routine play. To be totally blunt, he looked like a giant rec-league goalie. In contrast, watch Talbot tonight (or any NHL goalie) and notice how he looks like he's moving on tracks when he moves and slides across the ice. (Talbot moves very well.)
It's true that it's just one game and it's his first time on the ice since April(?). But the movement looked very bad even given those two considerations. Not to mention, his highlight reels from the KHL are largely montages of him making desperation saves as a result of being way out of position.
So it's possible that this is who he is as a goalie. If that ends up being the case, then I think he is going to get scorched by NHL teams. The amount of work teams, not to mention individual players, do on scouting goalies is super extensive. Players are going to know that his movement is a glaring weakness, which means we will see lots of puck movement in the Oilers' zone and maybe even a strange amount of cross-ice one-timers from way out. Just remember when Tampa played Chicago in the Finals of 2015, and Bishop had an injured groin that inhibited his movement. Chicago started doing cross-ice one-timers from the top of the circle (and scoring) because they knew Bishop was having trouble getting across the crease. We will see similar things with Koskinen in net if his movement isn't shored up.
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Jesus Take the Wheel
Registered User
I realize that... I just didn't see anything standout about his game. Is he one of the best 14 forwards for this team?
I guess we'll have to see... but with players like Yamamoto and Benson looking better than him I don't know if there's going to be room for him.
There's going to be quite a logjam for the 4th line and 13/14 forwards.
I count about 15 Oiler forwards I'd have ahead of Chiasson on the roster at this point (only Caggiula I think I'd have behind him but I have a decidedly anti-Caggiula bias)
I see it this way, so far Benson and Yama have looked better because the competition has been lesser skilled than them so its easy to produce and look good, once quality of competition picks up that becomes a lot more difficult so I'm waiting to see how the younger guys looks when that happens,
The first Russell goal last last night was a direct result of the play Chiasson made which was a prototypical 4th liner goal in the NHL, hard on the forecheck, turning the puck over and quickly moving it towards the slot/net. Chiasson might not have stood out as much as our young flashy guys, but I think his play is easier to maintain once quality of competition ramps up
nexttothemoon
and again...
Good analysis.
Personally I'm in the camp that wants to see him play more to see if this was an aberration because of rust and not having played on NHL sized ice in over half a decade or whether there will be confirmation that he has issues with his technique that will continually result in underwhelming performances that opposition players will be able to take advantage of.
It's obviously a lot better to find out in pre-season games rather than in the regular season when the results actually count.
Throw him back in there tonight and see how he rebounds from this performance.
Drivesaitl
Finding Hyman
Interesting comment. Because he played with such confidence, and the confidence to make mistakes. Which is a true audtion. This is preseason, and like I said in another thread its up to players to show what they got. Part of this is making mistakes because a player "went for it". Bouchard is truly going for it and its the type of play that coaches and orgs want to see from prospects. He didn't play a safe game, he played a balls game.
Mostly its Bouchard and Caleb Jones that get it. Maybe Benson to a lesser degree.
But most of these guys aren't showing anything close to what is required to be in the conversation even a week from now.
nexttothemoon
and again...
I think Yamamoto gets it as well. He didn't show a lot in the rookie games from what I saw... but we sure saw it last night. He certainly seemed to be taking the approach that this game was a potential "they'll cut me if I don't stand out" situation... and it showed in the level of urgency he seemed to play with last night.
I honestly think he was getting close to being underwhelming so far... but last night he ratcheted it up to being a standout again.
Yes... low quality, low competition game... but better to standout in those games than look flat and not show much.
I honestly think he was getting close to being underwhelming so far... but last night he ratcheted it up to being a standout again.
Yes... low quality, low competition game... but better to standout in those games than look flat and not show much.
Drivesaitl
Finding Hyman
I didn't include Yama as I feel he's already in the convo and probably senses that. He's going to get some looks and on the basis of showing he org what he could do last season. He's doing enough, and well scored 2 goals in a game in which he didn't even seem to be on as much as last season. But the key thing is he's getting plenty of chances and getting in those spots. He'll be fine.
guymez
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I agree with this and it should be applied to Aberg as well. He is very close to taking a flight to Bakersfield IMO.
He absolutely has to stand out in this game tonight.
PulYou
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“It’s a long season with many games. You’re going to let in bad goals and you’re going to make great saves, you can’t think about them, you have to move on.
“And you can’t rely on one game.”
Mikko Koskinen can only laugh at inauspicious Oilers debut
“And you can’t rely on one game.”
Mikko Koskinen can only laugh at inauspicious Oilers debut
