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Oilers Sign Ryan Fanti: The Domino Effect

By Phil Gretzky

LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 23: General manager Ken Holland of the Detroit Red Wings speaks with the media following the NHL general managers meetings at the Bellagio Las Vegas on June 23, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 23: General manager Ken Holland of the Detroit Red Wings speaks with the media following the NHL general managers meetings at the Bellagio Las Vegas on June 23, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Edmonton Oilers Goalie Mikko Koskinen
Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports /

Give Koskinen credit for as of late, he’s been playing much better, as has the team in front of him. However, if Koskinen has proven anything throughout his career, it’s that he’s inconsistent and can’t handle a starter’s workload. He’s also not a goalie that you can count on to stand on his head enough to steal a game for you, which is what all the best goalies in the NHL can do. After all, in the NHL every win counts, and sometimes the skaters won’t be on their game. For those games, if you want to win you need the goaltender to stand on his head and steal a win the team has no business winning.

Many previous Oilers goalies did it for us – Curtis Joseph and Tommy Salo, to name two – but Koskinen is not that guy.

Anyway, this means we shouldn’t read past the current hot streak Koskinen is on and think it’s sustainable in the long term. Koskinen has done this previously in his career, and has always come back down to earth sooner or later. Even if he is becoming a starter (best case scenario), at age 33 how long do you think that’ll last? Two seasons max, I’d say.

The Oilers need better options long term, and we know Ken Holland was working the phones earlier in the season trying to initiate a trade, but as we all know by now no trade came about. I firmly believe that if Rangers GM Chris Drury wasn’t so stubborn about asking too much for a struggling goalie that Alexandar Georgiev would be an Edmonton Oiler right now and we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

So, with no immediate help coming in trade, free agency, the waiver wire, or the draft, there’s only one more place to go – college free agency.

After all, if Mikko Koskinen was the answer long term, don’t you think he’d have a contract extension in his pocket by now and the Oilers wouldn’t have signed Fanti? He wasn’t a Holland pickup, he inherited him from Chiarelli, and GMs always like to bring in their own players. That’s a strike against him. His contract is up after this season so it’s easy to get his cap space off the books.

Never say never but chances are good Koskinen will not be playing in Edmonton next year. You read it here first.

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