Season Preview: Mikko Koskinen

Mikko Koskinen

Height: 6'7"
Weight: 192 lbs
Birthdate: July 18, 1988 (23 years old)
Birthplace: Vantaa, Finland
Acquired: Draft, Round 2, 31st overall, 2009 NHL Entry Draft

2010-2011 Team: Bridgeport Sound Tigers/New York Islanders (call up)
2010-2011 Stats (BPT): 36 GP - 12-21-1 - 3.49 GAA - .892 SV% - 0 SO
2010-2011 Stats (NYI): 4 GP - 2-1-0 - 4.33 GAA - .873 SV% - 0 SO
2010-2012 Team: Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Team Role: Third String Goaltender

Last year: Koskinen had a whirlwind year last season after missing much of the 2009-10 campaign with a severe labrum injury. After having a poor start to the season with the Sound Tigers, Koskinen was called up to the NHL as the Islanders were hit with major injuries at the goaltending position. Koskinen notched his first to victories, a shootout win against the Montreal Canadiens and the Friday night massacre against the Pittsburgh Penguins, before being sent down when Rick DiPietro and Nathan Lawson returned from injury. He finished the season somewhat strong for the Sound Tigers, but barring a great training camp will fall to #3 on the depth chart behind Kevin Poulin and Anders Nilsson.

Expectations: It's really hard to expect anything from Koskinen, as the goaltending situation at the professional level is so uncertain that he could end up anywhere from being loaned to another AHL team to playing about half the games at Bridgeport. Koskinen is entering the last year of his ELC, and with the scarcity of spots at the goaltending position, he will have to prove that he is worthy of a qualifying offer, especially with Poulin and Nilsson seemingly ahead of him right now. This is the first summer Koskinen has gotten a full summer of healthy training as a professional, so it's important that he comes out strong. There's no question that he has talent, but it is very raw and losing a year of development time could prove to be a problem. Let's hope that he has a turnaround season and shows that the Isles have four valuable commodities in the net.

Projections: GP 31 - 11-15-5 - 2.89 GAA - .894 SV%

Thoughts:

CH: As we said earlier, it's so hard to project what Koskinen will be able to do this year. Who knows if he would accept an assignment to the ECHL if everyone comes out of camp completely healthy. My guess is that he wouldn't. So the Isles would be stuck with a three-goaltender rotation at the AHL and NHL levels. That's an unhealthy situation for everyone, especially with three developing goaltenders at Bridgeport. The Islanders are going to have to find somewhere for Koskinen to play, even if it means shipping him off for the season to another AHL team. Of course, that is nowhere near ideal, but the Isles need to find out what they have in Koskinen sooner rather than later. Hopefully, they find a way to configure a rotation at the AHL level where all three goalies can play 25+ games each, but quite frankly that isn't even enough. The goaltending depth will be one of the prime stories at training camp, and it will be very interesting to see it unfold.

AT: I have a feeling Koskinen gets traded in a package deal at some point, perhaps for the fabled top 4 d-man we're all awaiting. While he had a very up and down year last year the potential we saw in the NHL and his supreme stats at the end of last season showed he is and will be a great goalie in the NHL some day. But with Kevin Poulin who already showed he can play at the NHL level and is very capable of doing so and Anders Nilsson who put up outstanding stats in the SEL against players much older than him, it's hard to see Koskinen winning a top 2 slot in Bridgeport. Yet, is the ECHL right for him? Playing is better than not playing, sure, but the ECHL also won't teach him much. Kalamazoo and Bridgeport are two completely different teams in completely different leagues. Like Carey said, it's going to be extremely interesting to see how Garth handles this situation, and what he plans to do if he insists on keeping all 3 goalies.