Mikko Koivu

Mikko-Sakari Koivu (born 12 March 1983) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player.

After playing in the Finnish junior leagues, Koivu began playing for TPS of the SM-liiga as a 17-year-old in the 2000–01 season, the same team for which older brother Saku also once played.

As a junior, Koivu competed in two World Junior U18 Championships, capturing gold in 2000 and bronze in 2001.

Koivu was drafted sixth overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild.

He was selected sixth overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild and continued to play with TPS for three more seasons.

Koivu did double duty in 2001, also participating in the World Junior Championships, earning a silver medal while contributing three assists.

He played in his second World Junior Championship the following year in 2002, tallying five points in six games as Finland captured another silver medal.

It also marked Koivu's fourth and final medal in junior international play.

Koivu moved to North America for the 2004–05 season to play for Minnesota's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Houston Aeros, while that NHL season was canceled.

The next season, he made his NHL debut with the Wild, scoring 21 points in his rookie season.

After four seasons with TPS in the SM-liiga, Koivu joined the Wild in 2005.

He spent fifteen seasons in Minnesota, including eleven as captain, accumulating several franchise records, including games played, assists and points scored.

Koivu retired in 2021, after a short stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

He signed a one-year contract with the Wild on 18 July 2006.

In 2006–07, Koivu improved to a career-high 20 goals, 34 assists and 54 points.

Injuries slowed him down in his third season, however; in a game against the Vancouver Canucks, defenceman Mattias Öhlund retaliated to an unpenalized elbow from Koivu and slashed him, breaking a bone in Koivu's leg.

Öhlund was given a four-game suspension and Koivu missed 24 games as a result of the injury.

On 30 June 2007, the Wild re-signed Koivu to a four-year, $13 million contract worth $3.25 million annually.

Before the 2008–09 season commenced, Koivu was announced as a permanent alternate captain for the entire season, along with teammate Andrew Brunette, assuming they were not captain for the month (the Wild captaincy was rotated among the players on a monthly basis, each season).

But Koivu started the 2008–09 season as team captain for the months of October and November.

Though rumors swirled that then-Wild Head Coach Jacques Lemaire was close to ending the captain rotation and naming Koivu the permanent captain, he was replaced by Kim Johnsson in December, reverting to his role as alternate captain.

On 16 October 2008, Koivu tied a Wild franchise record for most assists in a game with four against the Florida Panthers.

He also added a goal for a career-high five-point game as the Wild defeated Florida 6–2.

In January 2009, Koivu was once again honoured with the Wild captaincy after only a month's hiatus.

In July 2009, it was announced that Koivu would be on the cover of Finland's version of EA Sports' video game NHL 10.

He was also voted the best Finn in the League by NHL.com.

Koivu was named the first permanent captain in Wild franchise history on 20 October 2009.

During the ensuing off-season, he signed a then-franchise-record seven-year, $47 million contract extension on 16 July 2010, which went into effect during the 2011–12 season.

Internationally, Koivu served as captain of the gold medal-winning Finnish national team at the 2011 World Championship.

On 12 January 2012, Koivu was selected to his first NHL All-Star Game.

However, he was unable to participate due to injury and was replaced by Oilers forward Jordan Eberle.

On 18 March 2014, Koivu recorded three points in a 6–0 win over the New York Islanders, in the process becoming the Wild's all-time leading scorer with 438 points in 588 games.

On 28 February 2016, Koivu surpassed Nick Schultz's 743 games played with the Minnesota Wild to own this franchise record as well.

On 18 September 2017, the Wild signed Koivu to a two-year, $11 million contract extension worth $5.5 million annually.

On 6 February 2019, Koivu was ruled out for the remainder of the 2018–19 season after suffering a tear in his Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus in his right knee.

The incident occurred the night before in a game against the Buffalo Sabres.

He ended his season with eight goals and 29 points in 48 games.

The Wild retired Koivu's number 9 on March 13, 2022, becoming the first player in franchise history to receive that honor.

On 10 October 2020, Koivu ended his 15-year tenure with the Wild and signed as a free agent to a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

On 9 February 2021, after only posting a goal and an assist for 2 points in 7 games, Koivu announced his retirement from the NHL.