We all know that Chuck Fletcher, even though he’s from Quebec, is a good old Minnesota Boy at heart. He was after all the Minnesota Wild General Manager for nine seasons before joining the Flyers in 2018. During that time, one Mikko Koivu was Captain of the Wild for most of that tenure.
Mikko Koivu has been in the League since the 2005-2006 season where he put up 21 points in 64 games after spending a season in the AHL with the sorely missed Houston Areos. He has been a roster lock for the Minnesota Wild ever since.
In his time, all for the Wild, he played 1,208 regular season games putting up 205 goals and 504 assists. He has also played in 59 playoff games, only putting up 28 points. The Wild have always been mediocre, and sadly Mikko Koivu was “mediocre” with them. On any other team he would have been a 70 point a season player, but he stayed loyal to the team that drafted him and played the better part of 15 seasons with the Wild.
Koivu finds himself in some very unfamiliar territory this year, as the Wild decided to move on from their Captain and all-time game leading center. I really hope they retire the #9 in Minnesota one day.
Well, there has been some serious buzz in the hockey world about The Flyers taking a chance on the 15-year veteran. NHL.com even posted a story about this today. I honestly would not hate this signing. He brings that much needed experience the Flyers have been looking for. This experience is what they sought out for in players like Niskanen and Chris Stewart but did not find too much of.
Koivu has announced multiple times that he is not ready to hang up the skates next to his brother’s. Fletcher always had a lot of praise for his Captain while working with The Wild.
While I would like to see Koivu with The Flyers and give him a chance at a Cup, I do not know if it is really possible or even what The Flyers might need. He would make great NHL depth at center while the younger guys get it together. I also worry that if they sign Koivu, it will not bode well for the status of Nolan Patrick being our 3C this fall.
I do not think that its money here for the Flyers, its just a older player blocking a younger NHL hungry player.
We will have to wait and see what happens tomorrow when free agency opens.
-Branded Mitch
