It goes without saying that one of the biggest reasons the Oilers failed so miserably this year was because they were let down between the pipes. This is especially early on. The season prior, Cam Talbot played incredibly well all season long and played a ton of games.

In 2016-2017 Talbot played almost 500 more minutes than the 2nd most-played goaltender. He was in Brodeur/Kiprusoff territory for minutes in a single season. Talbot’s save percentage was a solid but not otherworldly .919, but if you can get that kind of goaltending for 4000+ minutes, you’ll take it. In addition to the skaters having career years, having the goaltender do the same vaulted the Oilers much higher than expected.

Then everything went to hell.

Cam Talbot still played a lot of hockey despite missing a little time, but it was 560 fewer than the year before. Just for perspective, Talbot still played the 5th most minutes among NHL goaltenders last season. More importantly, instead of a solid .919, Talbot fell to .908 last year. That’s 41st of 56 goaltenders who appeared in at least 20 games.

Chiarelli’s Oilers were banking on Talbot’s durability and dependability in the net. So when he struggled early there were immediate problems. Despite not making any moves to bolster the goaltending position in the offseason nor via the waiver-wire early (when players like Malcom Subban were going through), the Oilers were not sold on backup Laurent Brossoit. So when Brossoit started the season poor also, the lack of confidence turned to panic. And when you’re in trouble between the pipes because your starter is not playing up to par, Brossoit’s .883 save percentage is going to keep you up at night.

Edmonton eventually made a trade for Al Montoya, who was coming off an injury and had played just 4 games (poorly). For the services of Montoya (whose contract still has 1 more season left) the Oilers gave what is now a 4th round pick (I believe 102nd overall). Montoya, though better than Brossoit, is no screaming hell either. He finished with a .906 save percentage on the Oilers.

All told, the Oilers ended with the 23rd ranked saved percentage 5v5 and the 30th ranked save percentage on the penalty kill. The problems with Edmonton’s shaky goaltending were compounded by the bizarre PK they ran for 80% of the season, but even at even strength it was weak.

Naturally, this is a problem Edmonton wants to remedy. Personally, I think the fact that Talbot had baby twins at home is the source of his poor play. Netminding is 90% mental and every first-time parent can attest to living in a sleepless fog when those babies first come home. I wouldn’t be shocked if his life and game normalizes as time goes on. However, you can hardly blame the Oilers for wanting more insurance than a gut feeling by a local blogger.

That’s why it’s not surprising to see Edmonton the apparent front-runner to land KHL free agent goaltender Mikko Koskinen. Koskinen is a former Islanders 31st overall pick *alarm bells* who came to North America from his native Finland very early and never stuck. Over a couple seasons in his early 20’s he played 50ish games before going back to Europe.

Koskinen jumped from the Finnish league to the KHL in 2013 and since then he’s posted save percentages of:

2013-2014 .939
2014-2015 .921
2014-2015 .927
2015-2016 .915
2016-2017 .916
2017-2018 .931

It’s safe to say that the 6’7”, 29 year old goaltender has done enough overseas to pique the interest of NHL teams. Edmonton is in a position where they need to gamble on someone like Koskinen because they cannot afford more established goaltenders.

I’m interested in seeing the Cap hit for Koskinen no matter where he signs, but Edmonton is up against financial troubles. They cannot afford wasted dollars on the backup goaltender position, but they also cannot afford to get the kind of garbage backstopping they had last year. It’s a real catch 22. Similarly, the Oilers will need to do something with Montoya, who as previously mentioned still has a year on his deal.

What the Oilers really need is Talbot to play .920 hockey again. Failing that, they need a backup they aren’t afraid to play. They need someone who can provide some healthy competition to Talbot and really make it difficult for the Oilers to choose because they think he could also get the job done.

I believe KHL contracts end at the conclusion of April, so we wait until May to see what happens.

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