Blue Jackets sign veteran Mikko Koivu to one-year, $1.5M deal

Watch as Mikko Koivu feeds Zach Parise with a no-look pass from behind the goal line to get the Wild their first goal of the season as they play the Avalanche.

After 15 years in Minnesota, Mikko Koivu is headed to Ohio.

The veteran centreman has agreed to a one-year deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets worth $1.5 million, the team announced Saturday.

Koivu suited up for 1,028 games with the Wild over the course of his decade and a half there, amassing 205 goals and 709 points in that span. He served as the club’s captain for the past 12 seasons.

The 37-year-old posted four goals and 21 points in 55 games in 2019-20, that after a 29-point effort through 48 games one year prior. Koivu’s finest campaign in recent years came in 2016-17, when he put up 18 goals and 58 points for the Wild, finishing as a Selke Trophy finalist.

Last month, Wild GM Bill Guerin — who took over the organizational reins in August 2019 — announced that Minnesota wouldn’t re-sign Koivu after his two-year, $11-million deal wrapped up at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season.

October 10, 2020

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Mikko Koivu
SIGNED BY
Columbus Blue Jackets
LENGTH
1 yr
CONTRACT TYPE
Free Agency
SALARY CAP HIT
$1.5 million
TOTAL
$1.5 million

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