This week, on Days of our Oilers..

SOMEONE STOP THE MAN ! I'm not even an Oilers fan but I can feel the pain. So sorry guys...

edit : it has a no-trade clause I'M DEAD HAHAHAHAHHAH

2 years at 3.25 mil/year

That's what a good contract would look like, but also closer to the end of the year when he's proven he can be consistently good for a season. The contract he has isn't that, but it also isn't too big of an overpay, which is saying something for this GM and this franchise. The biggest issue is the timing. The team has been so up and down lately, and the downs are really low. Basically sealing in your starter going forward, with the team barely holding a .500 record together... doesn't seem like a sound move. But let's face it, Chia is definitely close to being fired, so a few drastic and risky moves are almost expected. All that said, I voted Yes because I'm a hopeless Oilers fan and maybe this is a great contract for what is basically Rinne.

The difference between the two is, of course, the track record of experience in the KHL in the previous 5 seasons (and 2 years in Liiga prior to that).

13/14 (KHL) - 41g | 1.70 | .939
14/15 (KHL) - 50g | 2.10 | .923
15/16 (KHL) - 41g | 2.42 | .915 | (WC’s) - 8g | 1.13 | .947
16/17 (KHL) - 23g | 2.08 | .916
17/18 (KHL) - 29g | 1.57 | .937 | (OG’s) - 5g | 1.62 | .932

Recent Awards:
KHL Most Valuable Goalie (15)
KHL Goalie of the Month (2x)
KHL Goalie of the Week (7x)
Gagarin Cup Champion (15 & 17)
Gagarin Cup Playoffs Best Sv% (16)
Gagarin Cup Playoffs Best GAA (17)
World Championship Silver Medal (14 & 16)
World Championship Best Goalie (16)
World Championship All-Star Team (16)
World Championship Top 3 on Team (16)

Koskinen has shown that he can excel in the 2nd best League in the World and has held his own through his first 25+ NHL game’s on return to NA. If it were someone without that extensive track record then it would be an absurd deal, but in such a context it makes a bit more sense. Compare to the 3y deal for Kovalchuk - at least with Koskinen there is 4+ months of recent NA work to support such a signing, so I would say it is lower risk than the Kings’ signing. He has shown that he can be an average goalie (and he is being paid “average”, to even a bit below). With his experience and track record there’s the possibility for more.

It’s not as bad a signing as it initially appears.

It is an awful signing. The KHL may be the 2nd best league in the world but it it miles below the NHL. You don't pay a goalie $4.5 mil per year on 27 games. EDM probably could have got Varlamov for that price in the offseason.

Chia's last move could not have been better. This is the knee-jerk garbage we have come to expect from the bald-headed franchise assassin

Goalies are a bit different when comparing quality of the two leagues. Everybody knows goalies tend to develop slower and some only reach top level in their late 20s - early 30s. Some spend time playing for all sorts of teams in different leagues around the world, but the important thing is that they keep on playing and keep their confidence levels up. Put a confident goalie who is above average in net on a good team and I could really care less where he played last year.

It is an awful signing. The KHL may be the 2nd best league in the world but it it miles below the NHL. You don't pay a goalie $4.5 mil per year on 27 games. EDM probably could have got Varlamov for that price in the offseason.

You could have got a much more proven goalie for cheaper in the offseason....

I doubt it. Maybe for a similar price though. Like I said before, a 2 year deal at around 3 mil aav would have been better, and also wait until closer to the end of the season. Playing against inferior offenses? It's all relative to the competition, especially for goalies. Worse team in front of him, worse players attacking...it evens out and the goalies still see good chances that require good goaltending. You could argue the KHL team he played on was stacked as well, so he probably already was playing with an advantage compared to other KHL goalies, but I'm not going to make such a claim with the limited data on KHL stats. He's clearly a capable goalie by what he's shown so far though. 4+mil per year for 3 is steep though, definitely an overpay at this point, but not surprising considering it's Edmonton and that's very typical.

I'm generally curious though as to who you think would be available at that price range that is "much more proven".

Why did EDM ownership allow this deal if they were gonna fire Chiarelli the next day? Or was this contract the last straw? So many unanswered questions.