Canadiens grab Aatos Koivu, son of longtime former captain, in third round

Watch as the Montreal Canadiens select Finnish centreman Aatos Koivu, son of franchise legend Saku Koivu, with the 70th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.

The Montreal Canadiens selected forward Aatos Koivu, son of former captain Saku Koivu, with the 70th overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft on Saturday.

Aatos recorded 16 goals and 31 points across 28 games in Finland’s U20 SM-Sarja league and will now be a part of Montreal’s plans, just as his father was when the Habs selected him 21st overall in 1993.

Saku was a Canadien for 13 seasons, captaining the team for a decade between 1999 and 2009.

Becoming the first European-born captain in the franchise’s history, Saku posted 641 points with Montreal before making his way to Anaheim, where he played five seasons before announcing his retirement in 2014.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.