With the Oilers believed to be the frontrunners to sign goaltender Mikko Koskinen, Postmedia’s Jim Matheson speculates that the deal could be one of the richer ones for a backup, suggesting that it could be in the range of $2MM per season. While on the surface, that may seem pricey for someone with next to no track record in the NHL (just four underwhelming appearances with the Islanders in 2010-11), it’s still somewhat understandable as he has been one of the top KHL netminders in recent years and would undoubtedly command a sizable contract if he were to remain there. However, if the final deal winds up being around that cap hit, that will further whittle away at Edmonton’s somewhat limited cap room heading into 2018-19.
More from the West:
- Zach Parise wasn’t the only notable Wild player dealing with an injury. Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune notes that center Joel Eriksson Ek played through the postseason with an injury that prevented him from taking many faceoffs while head coach Bruce Boudreau acknowledged that center Charlie Coyle was playing through a couple of injuries as well. Neither of those players, nor Zach Parise (sternum) and Ryan Suter (ankle), will require surgery.
- Given his track record of working with younger players, Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma suggests that recently-fired coach Glen Gulutzan could be a fit once again in Vancouver. He had worked with the Canucks for three years as an assistant before taking the head coaching job with Calgary. GM Jim Benning stated that the team is still figuring out the plan for their assistants heading into 2018-19 but if they want to bring Gulutzan back in his old role, they may have to move quickly as Kuzma reports that two other rebuilding teams have already reached out to him to gauge his interest in a similar spot to work with their young players.