Oilers bring in Koskinen to ease Talbot’s burden

Finnish Olympian expected to play major role coming off solid KHL season

The Edmonton Oilers’ backup goalie carousel took another turn Tuesday with the signing of Finnish netminder Mikko Koskinen, who will take the place of Al Montoya ... who took the place of Laurent Brossoit ... who took the place of the Jonas Gustavsson.

The Finnish-born Koskinen, who turns 30 in mid-July, inked a one-year deal for $2 million plus a $500,000 signing bonus, which means the Oilers feel he can do more than just caddy for starter Cam Talbot.

The other backups the Oilers have brought in over the last three years were priced in the $1 million range or lower, including Swede Anders Nilsson, who also came from the KHL before Gustavsson, and was paid $1 million to be Talbot’s backup for one season.

Presumably, the Oilers feel the 6-foot-6 Koskinen, who’s played the last five seasons in the KHL — the last four with powerhouse SKA St. Petersburg — can push Talbot and give him more than token rest. Talbot has played more than 140 games over the past two seasons.

It also means the Oilers believe Koskinen can carry the ball if Talbot was to get hurt, Brossoit wasn’t able to do that last season.

The Oilers could have waited until Philadelphia Flyers backup Petr Mrazek became an unrestricted free agent in July and signed him instead, but they like Koskinen more, even if he’s played just four National Hockey League games, all with the New York Islanders some eight years ago.

At his season’s end press briefing, Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli said finding a goalie to ease the pressure on Talbot “was at or near the top of our list” even if they had Montoya under contract.

“There’s the travel and all the games. I would hope Cam is our goalie going forward past next season (his contract ends June 30, 2019) but we have to put Cam in a position to succeed,” said Chiarelli.

“We have to manage this better and have a better alternative. I don’t want to throw Al (Montoya) under the bus, but maybe we need to upgrade that ( backup) position.”

The bigger story is this: Getting Talbot back to the 2016-2017 version of the player who finished fourth in Vezina Trophy voting as the NHL’s top goalie.

Backup or not, if Talbot doesn’t rebound from this year’s 3.02 goals-against average and .908 save percentage in 67 games, the Oilers have little chance of making the playoffs.

But back to Koskinen. The Islanders’ second-round draft pick, 31st overall in 2009, also got into 47 ECHL and AHL games before heading overseas.

He had a 1.69 average and .931 save percentage last season with SKA St. Petersburg. They’re excellent numbers, but the KHL is a very defensive league and he played on a stacked team.

He was the starter for the Finns at the Olympics in February and also played for his country in two world championships.

One thing to consider: As big as Koskinen is, so was Nilsson, and he had his ups and downs with the Oilers.

Koskinen’s arrival in Edmonton means Montoya, who played nine games after the Oilers traded a fourth-round draft pick to Montreal to get him this past January, is likely gone. He has one year left at $1.062 million and the Oilers can bury most of that on their AHL farm team in Bakersfield, Calif., with about $40,000 counting against the NHL cap. He’d be veteran insurance against an NHL injury, but that would mean Montoya, 33, would be taking ice time away from the younger Nick Ellis or Brossoit down there.

Both Ellis and Brossoit are due to become restricted free agents, so the Oilers have to decide whom to re-sign with ECHLer Shane Starrett, and coming-out-of-junior draft Dylan Wells also in the picture. Prospect Stuart Skinner of the Swift Current Broncos will be signed shortly, too.

The Oilers could also try to trade Montoya or put him on waivers after camp to see if anybody else wants him, but the bottom line is this: they didn’t feel Brossoit could handle the backup job, so they got Montoya, who got minimal work, and it cost them an extra year on his contract, plus a draft pick.

ON THE BENCH

A possible offensive right-shot defenceman the Oilers could target in a trade using the 10th pick in the draft plus another player: The Vegas Golden Knights’ Colin Miller, 25, who is a restricted free agent July 1.

He has two goals, both on the power play, for the Golden Knights in the playoffs, after scoring 41 points in the regular season.

His calling card? Big shot.