Another veteran forward won’t be back with the Minnesota Wild next season.
After trading Eric Staal earlier this week, general manager Bill Guerin announced on Friday morning that captain Mikko Koivu will play for another team in 2020-2021.
This therefore ends a 19-year association between the Finn and the National Hockey League club.
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Koivu was the Wild’s first-round pick (sixth overall) in the 2001 Draft. He played 1,028 games in the Minnesota roster. He amassed 205 goals and 504 assists for 709 points.
Saku’s little brother had been the captain of the Wild since the start of the 2009-2010 season. He is also the first representative of the team to have played 1,000 games with the club.
“His hard work, dedication and the fact that he always put the team first will be extremely difficult to replace in our roster,” the Wild wrote in his letter. Off the ice, Mikko has had a big impact on our state, as he has positively impacted so many people in our community with his charitable contributions to the Minnesota Children’s Hospital. ”
Koivu, 37, will therefore become a free agent without compensation on October 9. In recent years, he commanded a salary of $ 5.5 million per year.
In 2019-2020, he had four goals and 17 assists for 21 points in 55 games.
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