Would Mikko Koivu make a good addition to the New Jersey Devils?
The Minnesota Wild have been one of the few inactive teams to be in the news this week as we head into the Stanley Cup Final. The Dallas Stars are going to face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the Wild have been in the news just as much if not more. First, they traded Eric Staal to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for former New Jersey Devils forward, Marcus Johansson. Then, they announced that long-time captain Mikko Koivu won’t be returning to the Wild next season.
Koivu is one of the greatest players in the history of that young Wild franchise. He leads the franchise in games, assists, points, plus-minus, shots, faceoff wins, and multi-point games. There is no doubt that he will be remembered fondly there.
Would a 37-year-old Koivu be worth the add for the Devils on a short-term deal? The answer is a loud no. He has been a great player and could probably be a guy that helps out the kids, but they have plenty of those available. Koivu, at this stage of the game, is just another Travis Zajac. The Devils just don’t need another one of those.
Nico Hischier is on his way to being a much better version of prime Koivu, so bringing him in might be nice for that but they need to move on from older players. There are plenty of other young guys who can come in and try their luck in the Devils lineup. There are also a lot of centers in the organization and you never know who they decide to draft this year.
2020-21 isn’t a year that the Devils expect to compete for the Stanley Cup so adding that veteran presence to be the final piece just doesn’t feel right. That might be a nice move two or three years from now but they aren’t there yet. They have a lot of development to do and we would like to see them getting younger instead of adding older guys. Mikko Koivu is a great man and awesome in the community but if he decides not to retire, a Stanley Cup contender might be a better option for him. This is not a good fit at all, whatsoever.