After spending 15 years with the Minnesota Wild, Mikko Koivu decided to go to free agency and not return to the only team he’s ever played for. Instead, he inked a one-year year contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He will be getting an AAV of $1.5 million per season with the deal for his new team.
CBJ finalizing a deal with Mikko Koivu, one year, around $1.5 M
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 10, 2020
Mikko Koivu Signs Columbus
Koivu released a statement just a few weeks ago prior to the start of free agency. In there he told the fans of the Wild he was going to go to free agency. The former Selke Trophy finalist saw his production slip a bit this season as he only had four goals and 21 points in 55 games. It was the same last season as well as he only had eight goals and 29 points in 48 games so staying healthy is paramount for Koivu. Before these last two injury-riddled seasons, he was relatively healthy for a lot of years. The last time he didn’t play more than 80 games in a season besides these two came back in 2013-2014.
His offensive production definitely has declined in recent seasons but he’s still one of the best defensive forwards in hockey. His play in the defensive zone is still top-notch. It has earned him being top five in the Selke in two of his last four seasons. According to Natural Stat Trick, his xGA (expected goals against) with him on the ice for the Wild in the playoffs was 1.01. He’s going to bring much needed defensive help for the Blue Jackets going into next season.
On top of that, Koivu is still chasing his first Stanley Cup Championship. He never even got to the Stanley Cup Final, let alone the Eastern Conference Final while he was with the Wild. He’s hoping to do that here as now he’s close to the end of his career at 37 years old.
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