Koivu Inks Seven-Year Extension With Wild

 

Having already felt the burn of losing a start player just one summer ago, the Minnesota Wild were uninterested in watching another skate away. To avoid a Marian Gaborik situation with their new leader next July, General Manager Cliff Fletcher wasted little time signing franchise player Mikko Koivu to a hefty contract extension. The Minnesota Star Tribune’s Michael Russo reported late Thursday that a seven-year deal worth $47.25 million was agreed upon between player and club that will keep the 27-year old on board through the 2017-18 campaign. The actual year-by-year figures of the extension are a bit odd, but it equals an annual $6.75 million against Minnesota’s cap. Currently, Koivu has one year left on a contract that pays him $3.7 million in actual salary and counts as a $3.25 million cap hit.

"It's a milestone day in the history of the Minnesota Wild," Fletcher said in a statement from the team. "When you have your franchise player commit to you, really for the next eight seasons. He's our best hockey player. He's our captain. And he's still just 27 with his best hockey years ahead of him."

According to Russo, Koivu will be afforded a full no-movement clause and has five different signing bonuses throughout the contract that makes it quite unbalanced financially. He will earn a base salary of $5.4 million starting with the 2011-12 season and receive signing bonuses worth $1.89 million each in October 2011, October 2013, October 2014, October 2015 and January 18. As a result, the year-by-year breakdown of Koivu’s extension is as follows:

• 2011-12: $7.29 million
• 2012-13: $5.4 million
• 2013-14: $7.29 million
• 2014-15: $5.4 million
• 2015-16: $7.29 million
• 2016-17: $5.4 million
• 2017-18: $9.18 million

It appears that this was a no-nonsense negotiation between Koivu and Fletcher. Koivu made it clear he wanted to remain in Minnesota, but that was the same song and dance Gaborik gave then-GM Doug Risebrough a year before his unrestricted free agency and the Wild were subsequently left to witness the last original member of their franchise walk away for a five-year deal with the New York Rangers. So it was easy for Fletcher to agree to give Koivu the seven years he wanted and the around $7 million per season his agent was convinced he could fetch on the market next summer. There are strong doubts Koivu would actually receive that type of compensation if he entered free agency, but since there was a mutual interest in keeping Koivu in a Wild uniform, Fletcher wasn’t interested in finding out.

"Everybody has treated myself and my family and friends always first class," Koivu said. "I really feel Minnesota is my home. That was the biggest point when we started. I'm happy to be there and to be a member of the Wild."

For as much as Koivu may not yet be a top tier player in the NHL, which renders this contract a bit much, he is still 27 years old and entering his prime. What the Wild essentially did here was lock Koivu up for the best years of his career. Koivu will be 35 years old in the final year of the extension.

Selected sixth overall by the Wild in 2001, Koivu has grown into one of the league's better all-around power forwards. He is a key offensive contributor with solid two-way skill, an ability to play in all situations and a knack for making those around him better. He is coming off his best season yet with career-highs in goals (22), assists (49) and points (71), as well as a Bronze Medal as a member of Team Finland in the 2010 Winter Olympics.