Mikko Koskinen (born 18 July 1988) is a Finnish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

for

HC Lugano Hockey Club Lugano, often abbreviated to HC Lugano or HCL, is a professional ice hockey club based in Lugano, Switzerland. The team competes in the National League (NL) and has won seven Swiss championships. History The founding of HC Lugano took ...

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

(NL). Koskinen was drafted in the second round, 31st overall, in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

Playing career

Koskinen was drafted 31st overall by the

in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft after playing for the

Espoo Blues The Espoo Blues were an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They played in Espoo, Finland, at the Espoo Metro Areena. The club went bankrupt at the end of the 2015–16 Liiga season. History The club was established in February 1984 as Kiekko-Espoo ...

in the Finnish

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

. He was the first goalie and first Finnish player selected that year. Prior to the draft, he was the second-ranked European goaltender by

NHL Central Scouting Bureau The NHL Central Scouting Services (CSS) is a department within the National Hockey League that ranks prospects for the NHL Entry Draft at specific times during the hockey season. Players are ranked based on how well they will translate to the profe ...

. On 13 July 2009, Koskinen signed a three-year entry-level contract with the New York Islanders. In the 2009–10 season, his first in North America, Koskinen was assigned to the Islanders affiliate, the

Bridgeport Sound Tigers The Bridgeport Islanders (previously known as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers) are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League (AHL). They are the AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, who own the f ...

, to start the year. After only two appearances with the Sound Tigers, he suffered a torn labrum in his hip which required surgery and ruled him out for the majority of the season. On 19 March 2010, after four months of rehab, Koskinen was reassigned to the secondary Islanders affiliate, the

Utah Grizzlies The Utah Grizzlies are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Franchise history The current Utah Grizzlies franchise started in 1981 as the Nashville South Stars ...

, for the remainder of the year. Undefeated in six starts, he helped the Grizzlies reach the conference semi-finals before returning to the Sound Tigers' first-round playoff series on 18 April 2010. Koskinen made his

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) debut on 8 February 2011 against the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

as the Islanders lost 5–3. He earned his first career NHL win two days later in a 4–3 shootout victory over the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

. On 12 November 2011, Koskinen returned to Finland, signing with

KalPa Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Niiralan monttu, Olvi Areena. Team history Established in 1929 as ''Sortavalan Palloseura'' in Sortavala, the club r ...

. In April 2013, Koskinen signed with the

. In September 2013, Koskinen left Finland to play for Sibir Novosibirsk in the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL). Part way through the 2014–15 season he was traded to SKA Saint Petersburg for fellow goaltender

Alexander Salák Alexander Salák (born January 5, 1987) is a Czech professional ice hockey goaltender. He is currently an unrestricted free agent who most recently played for Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He played two games in the National ...

. Koskinen and his team went on to win the

Gagarin Cup The Gagarin Cup (russian: Кубок Гагарина, Kubok Gagarina) is the trophy presented to the winner of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) playoffs, and is named after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. The Cup was ...

, the KHL championship trophy in April 2015 and 2017. On 1 May 2018, Koskinen agreed to terms on a one year, $2.5 million contract with the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

of the NHL. On 21 January 2019, the Oilers signed Koskinen to a three-year, $13.5 million extension. The decision to sign Koskinen for three years based on such a short tenure was considered unusual, and many speculated that it was a cause of the dismissal of controversial Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli days later. After the end of the

2021–22 NHL season The 2021–22 NHL season was the 105th season of operation (104th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league expanded to 32 teams with the addition of the Seattle Kraken. The league had an October-to-April regular season sche ...

and the end of his contract with the Oilers, Koskinen signed a two-year contract with

of the Swiss

(NL) on 13 June 2022.

International play

Koskinen has represented Finland in the World Championships in 2014 and 2016. In 2016, he was included in the All-Star Team and was named the best goaltender.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

International

KHL

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koskinen, Mikko 1988 births Living people Bridgeport Sound Tigers players Edmonton Oilers players Espoo Blues players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Finnish ice hockey goaltenders KalPa players Kiekko-Vantaa players New York Islanders draft picks New York Islanders players Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players of Finland Sportspeople from Vantaa HC Sibir Novosibirsk players SKA Saint Petersburg players Utah Grizzlies (ECHL) players