Koivu Has Broken Finger

The Minnesota Wild have received some better news than originally expected, as their captain, Mikko Koivu, has been diagnosed with a broken finger, but the damage was not severe enough to warrant any surgery.  The expected time frame for Koivu's absence is about three weeks, which will put him back in time for the last month of the season, in theory.

The news is far better than the expectation that Koivu may be done for the remainder of the season, which would put a damper on the Wild's chances of making the playoffs in the Western Conference.

A big part of the Wild being in the running for a Western Conference playoff spot belongs to Koivu this season, who has 15 goals and 34 assists in 58 games this season, running at about the same clip as in the past, just a shade under a point-per-game player.  Currently, Koivu sits in 44th in pool scoring, which is right between where he finished in 2009 and 2010, if it wasn't for these next three weeks, I would say he would finish with a Mikko-type finish to the season.

For the Wild's sake, they are just about to take on a busier part of their schedule, trying to make up some games that they have in hand on some teams in the same neighbourhood as they are in the standings, so the loss of Koivu could hurt greatly.

In the draft, three weeks will likely hurt Jani's chances at an end-of-season jersey prize, but going into Tuesday's action, he sits tied for 13th with 49 points, trailing Allan S. by 28 points at the moment.

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