Around the Oilogosphere – May 1st Edition – Koskinen Signs, 2018 Mock Draft, JVR to the Oilers, and More NHL Rumors!

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For what feels like the first time in a very long time the Edmonton Oilers will go into a season with three capable NHL goalies under contract. Cam Talbot, Mikko Koskinen, and Al Montoya.

Your definition of “capable” may vary but as fans of the team, when’s the last time the Oilers had goaltending depth three deep at the NHL level?

They came close when they had Khabibulin and Dubnyk running the show. Do we have to go as far back as ’06 when they had Roloson, Markkanen, and Conklin? Or WAY back when the team was icing Bob Essensa, Tommy Salo, and Mikhail Shtalenkov…

If the Oilers choose to sign Nick Ellis and/or Laurent Brossoit for next season, it could be argued that two more 3-deep tier of goalies would be present for the AHL and the ECHL.

Talbot
Koskinen
———-
Montoya (NHL/AHL)
———-
Brossoit
Ellis
———-
Starrett (AHL/ECHL)
Wells
Skinner (if he signs)

That spells depth for me.

Today, Koskinen’s signing was finally announced by the team with the term and dollar amount being revealed.

1 year @ $2M w/ 500k signing bonus.

Immediately, as always, the fanbase of the Oilers went into a frenzy. The hive once again was thrown to the ground. Opinions are all over the place. As usual.

Overpay:
Draisaitl $1M
Russell $1M
Koskinen $1M

Dead Money:

Montoya $1M
Pouliot $1.3M

Total = $5.3M

Draft picks wasted on GM, Coach, Reinhart, Montoya..

2nd, 3rd, 1st, 2nd, and 4th.

Where’s the value?

What is the plan?

— NateInVegas (@NateInVegas) May 1, 2018

How would one conclude 2m is an overpayment if they have zero knowledge about the player? Oilers twitter is the 🐐

— El Castroso (@ElPatsFan) May 1, 2018

Haven't seen Koskinen recently. I have a tough time understanding 2+million on a backup, who has next to no NHL experience. They wasted a 4th on Montoya who has another year left, and will likely have to bury his $. Seems like dicey asset management IMO

— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) May 1, 2018

Oilers Twitter: We need a better backup than Brossoit

Oilers acquire Montoya

OT: Not good enough. We need a better backup than Montoya

Oilers sign a highly touted KHL goalie

OT: We don’t want to pay that much for a good backup

— x – Spruce Grove Corey (@corn_cwm) May 1, 2018

What some are missing there was a risk doing nothing. The alternatives are a) doing nothing b) trade for a backup C) try to sign a free agent backup. There is no no risk option

— Heather (@margih99) May 2, 2018

https://twitter.com/Stephane774/status/991459935002152962

Some folks cannot help themselves but to complain about every. single. thing… Must be a hard life.

What I like about the Oilers signing this player is that it gives them some depth and competition going into the season. All three goaltenders on expiring contracts, so the cream will rise to the top there and the Oilers will have a much clearer answer as to who will be minding their nets in 2019 no doubt.

One thing that happened last year that really sunk the team is Talbot’s early struggles and McLellan’s unwillingness to go with Brossoit. In my opinion, I believe that Talbot knew that Brossoit wasn’t ready and took it upon himself to look after the net as long as he could. That’s just speculation of course and we know that McLellan is a one tendy kind of guy that rarely goes to his backup which could actually undo this Koskinen signing in the upcoming season.

But if Talbot were to go down, at least the Oilers would have some competent backup to tide the team over.

I feel like $2M on the cap isn’t completely out of order and Montoya’s cap hit in the minors will be 37.5k, so I can’t argue with that. I don’t mind paying Montoya to help develop the young goalies in Bakersfield. I also don’t mind the idea of having another Finn on the roster for Mr. Puljujarvi to confide in.

But back to the cap hit.

The Oilers will have a combined hit of $6.19M for the trio of goalies mentioned above. The Oilers are about in the middle when it comes to how much teams spend on their puck stoppers but there are teams in the NHL that pay their netminders far more than that. I mean Dallas was paying their two goalies over $10M combined! Take a gander at what Carolina was paying their goalies. Paying Chad Johnson $2.5M a year didn’t make them better and the combination of Greiss and Halak couldn’t keep the puck out of the Islanders net even though they were handsomely rewarded ($7.8M combined).

This payment and term are more than some are comfortable with and that’s fine but Koskinen isn’t coming in riding his NCAA or junior hockey stats either. He’s been a very good goalie in Europe for some time and that’s worth something. In the last 5 seasons, he’s had 1 where his GAA was over 2.08 and two seasons where his SV% was under .923 (.915 and .916). To add to that, he’s 29/30 years old and it’s not fair to use the numbers he put up when he was with the Islanders organization to judge him with. Goalies develop later than skaters and the KHL is the closest league in terms of competition that the NHL has. It’s better than the AHL no doubt.

All that Mikko Koskinen has to do is come in and not be the weakest link. He doesn’t have to be an all-star or the next Mikka Kirprusoff, albeit it’d be nice, he simply has to come in and be a solid goalie for the Oilers and the Oilers have to be a solid team in front of him. If that happens, nobody will give a flying squirrel’s nutsack how much be made in 2018/19.

For me, the pros outweigh the cons here. Would I like the Oilers to pay their backup under $1M? Sure! Do I know if Koskinen is going to pan out? I do not but nobody else does either. They’re simply making a judgment based on fear.

As far as the Oilers cap situation, I believe they’ll have around $17M to play around with to sign RFAs Darnell Nurse, Drake Caggiula, Matt Benning, and Ryan Strome.

Nurse – bridge deal @ 3.5M per
Caggiula – 1 or 2 years at $1M-$1.5M
Benning – 2 to 3 years at $2M – $2.5M
Strome – 3 years @ $3M

I’m not including Slepyshev because I reckon he’s outtie 5000 and Pakarinen is gone apparently. So that makes the job a bit easier there. There are a handful of RFAs in the minors that might get re-signed but that money will hardly put a dent in the cap, so no need to spend a lot of time on that.

If my predictions come true, the Oilers will spend about $10.5M of the $17M re-signing their RFAs thus leaving $7M for UFA options. What do the Oilers need?

RH’d with some offensive prowess
Top 6 winger who likes to shoot.

UFA options:

(RHD) John Carlson: Nope. Not a hope in hell he’s coming to Edmonton.
(RHD) Mike Green: A more realistic option but not the player he was in WAS.
(RW) Michael Grabner: Speed to burn and scores a bit. Is he a top-6 option though? Didn’t do anything after going to NJ.
(LW) James Van Riemsdyk: Not fast but a great net-front presence. Will cost you though.
(LW) Evander Kane: Will eat up all of that remaining cap but he’s fast, gritty, and scores goals. Showing well in SJ (who I think will sign him if not Vancouver or Vegas)
(LW) Patrick Maroon: The LW is pretty slow but Patty has hands and will take care of business when the time comes. He scores in bunches but goes on droughts.
(LW) Thomas Vanek: Great complimentary player but goes Eberle in the post-season. So if your goal is to get to the playoffs, Vanek will score for you but don’t expect anything after that.
(RW/LW) James Neal: Will also take up much of that remaining cap and he’s 30 years old. Injuries are starting to accumulate but he’s never played a season in the NHL where he didn’t score 20 goals. Can be a real SOB on the ice too.

The way I see it is the Oilers should stay away from the big dogs on the UFA market. I really think that Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi will be battling it out for the no.2/3 RW spots next season and one of them will come through with 20 goals but I hope it’s both of them.

Edmonton needs to shore things up by adding cheap veterans who have something to prove going into 2018. At the very least, if things don’t work out, they can be moved on at the deadline if not beforehand.

The Oilers have to stop trying to force things to happen either by trade or free agency. Let the tried and true method of drafting and developing take over.

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