Wild Extend Koivu Long-Term

I am going to assume that the Minnesota Wild have done the bulk of what they are going to do in this off-season, especially after seeing that they have finished negotiating and putting pen to paper with their top scoring forward, Mikko Koivu. Koivu will avoid going to unrestricted free agency in 2011 after signing a 7-year deal worth $47.25 million, which turns out to be a $6.75 million cap hit per season.

Koivu has established himself as top dog in Minnesota and along with compatriot Niklas Backstrom in goal, the Wild have a heavy Finnish backbone to their squad and it's something that they can really build upon. In 2010, Koivu led all Wild players in points with 71 (22 goals and 49 assists) in 80 games, ranking him 36th among all players in pool points and 23rd among forwards. That's pretty good for a team that doesn't have a great deal of offense to surround him with, so the team is desperately trying not to let go of him like they did Marian Gaborik, not too long ago.

Since this deal doesn't have much of an impact on the 2011, being an extension and all, there really is no sense reflecting on the cap too much. The Wild look to have quite a few of their signed players taken care of through the 2012 season, minus a few potential UFAs on the list.

This is a hefty deal for the Wild to take on, but it really becomes a question of who is really left out there to be a cornerstone player or what would a team have to give up to get one, if they didn't have one to begin with. Now that Koivu is the designated guy to lead the Wild for the next eight (or less) years, management will have to focus on bringing in wingers that will help Koivu get better or get Koivu to make better. There really is no two ways about this one. We can only watch to find out whether or not this was the right direction.