Mikko Koivu – When I think about the Minnesota Wild and look at their roster, I’m not sure how I can get excited about this team for the next few seasons. They haven’t made any terrible signings, but I think it could be argued that they’ve overpaid for close to half the team. With no money, a lackluster offense, and coach Todd Richards’ up-tempo system replacing the defense-first Lemaire approach, what remedies do they have? Would be interested to hear a few ideas in the comments.
Hockey Wilderness points out that the reactions from fans outside of Minnesota to the Mikko Koivu extension were venomous, while the Wild faithful seemed to overwhelmingly approve. The first half of their analysis is outstanding, but their justification for why he was worth $6.75m per season falls a bit flat: