Edmonton Oilers: Mikko Koskinen needs to bounce back

It has been said before in the past, but it is worth saying again. The Edmonton Oilers need Mikko Koskinen to bounce back in a big way this season.

The Edmonton Oilers have Mikko Koskinen signed through the end of this season. After this year the expectation will be to address a goaltending need in free agency or a trade, but for the rest of this deal, Koskinen needs to be at his best.

Koskinen was inconsistent last year. After his best season in 2019-20 where he put up a goals-against-average of 2.75 and a save percentage of .917, his play fell off last season. The Oilers have Mike Smith in the net, and after that, it is Mikko Koskinen.

While there might be a small competition between Koskinen and Alex Stalock who the team claimed off waivers, that cannot be the case. Koskinen needs to be the clear pick to be the number two guy in net, and honestly, I hope he plays well enough that he can take the net back for some of the season.

It is going to be a long year and the Oilers are going to need Mike Smith at his best come April. The idea that the team is going to be leaning on Smith throughout a long playoff run seems a little scary. We have seen how important goaltending can be in the playoffs, and Edmonton needs to have two capable goalies ready to go every night.

In my mind, a trade still would be the best course of action for the team, but alas that seems to be off of the table as the season is already so close and no move has been made yet. That means everyone will just have to sit back and hope Koskinen can be the guy that earned a big contract extension in the first place.

Edmonton might be able to get by outscoring their opponents during the regular season, but when it comes to the playoffs goals get a little harder to come by, and that is when this team needs great goaltending to lean on.