Mikko Koivu signs 7 year extension ($6.75 cap hit)

[hong57]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=327566

such a gd player.. y the fuck did i trade him away in the 1st place

[bills09]

hes sick but thats a big contract.

[inferno31]

hes sick but thats a big contract.

Agreed, very difficult contract for him to live up to IMO.

[hong57]

ya it's a tad bit high.. but he's everything the minny has and he does everything and the leadership.. im afraid he will produce even more coming season

[Shep]

It's an overpayment they had to make after losing Gaborik.

[Robin Hood]

i think hes worth every penny

[jcarton]

Nice player but i wouldn't be happy paying him that amount at all

[Radiohead]

If Gomez can make more, then Koivu's worth 6.75.

[Nick]

nate referencing one of the first contracts in the NHL is not sound logic.


Mike Richards makes notably less... so Koivu should make less.


it doesn't work -> different total cap, different team situation, etc.

Judge the player for what he's worth, and IMO this contract is slightly on the high side, however a few years from now, if the cap continues to go up, IMO this contract will seem like a very solid signing (see Datsyuk or Kronwall @ time of signing).

[Shoalzie]

It's a steep price...Kesler is comparable player, if not better, and his cap his only $5 million. I guess there's a little extra more for him considering he's the #1 center on his team. Plekanec is also a $5 million cap hit and like Koivu, he's 27. Big fan of his game...he's getting better each year so we'll see if that $6.75 million cap hit will be more appropriate.

[Robin Hood]

i would like to ask everyone who thinks this contract is overpayment one question: how do you pay your franchise player any less than this? and ESP in minny. where they dont have any other franchise type players nor are they ever big players in free agency when a franchise player becomes available. koivu is worth EVERY penny of that 6.75 million to minny. anyone who says otherwise is looking at this by comparing koivus contract to other players. but thats not the way to look at it. you pay your franchise players this kind of money. and then add supplementary pieces for less. comparing him to kesler etc is like comparing apples to oranges.

[inferno31]

i would like to ask everyone who thinks this contract is overpayment one question: how do you pay your franchise player any less than this? and ESP in minny. where they dont have any other franchise type players nor are they ever big players in free agency when a franchise player becomes available. koivu is worth EVERY penny of that 6.75 million to minny. anyone who says otherwise is looking at this by comparing koivus contract to other players. but thats not the way to look at it. you pay your franchise players this kind of money. and then add supplementary pieces for less. comparing him to kesler etc is like comparing apples to oranges.

They paid him as much as they lost out on Gaborik who was their franchise player. I'm not sure Koviu deserves that tag, hes never scored more than 22 goals or 71 points (career highs this year). They just didn't want to lose another big piece which is fine, but for his level of production and what he does its an overpayment.
6.7 is more than Getzlaf, Richards etc. Again as you said you can't compare him, but compare his stats to other "franchise" players, and you'll see why it seems like an overpayment.

I think he should of been around 5-6 tops. Not a huge difference though.

[Shoalzie]

Would Koivu get that kind of money on the open market? I doubt it. I think the Wild overpaid him because he's valuable to his team. He's best player on his team but that doesn't make him a franchise player. The great teams have a core of top players...the Hawks with Kane, Toews, and Keith for example. You lump a group of guys together as your "franchise players" and pay them as so.

What the Wild did was slightly overpay for a guy who's value is a bit warped considering they just lost Gaborik the year before and they don't particularly have a great team other than Koivu. If you have only one or two really good players on a bad team...they'll get paid more than they would if they were on a more balanced roster. It's almost like each team has a market value...kind of like the Lidstrom rule Holland followed when it came to signing Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Franzen...no one makes more than Lidstrom. Koivu on the Blackhawks would probably be a $5-5.5 million player. On the Wild that is lacking in talent, he gets paid more. The best players on bad teams are due to be overpaid because they're being leaned on more and being paid so they don't leave for greener pastures.

[Robin Hood]

i would like to ask everyone who thinks this contract is overpayment one question: how do you pay your franchise player any less than this? and ESP in minny. where they dont have any other franchise type players nor are they ever big players in free agency when a franchise player becomes available. koivu is worth EVERY penny of that 6.75 million to minny. anyone who says otherwise is looking at this by comparing koivus contract to other players. but thats not the way to look at it. you pay your franchise players this kind of money. and then add supplementary pieces for less. comparing him to kesler etc is like comparing apples to oranges.

They paid him as much as they lost out on Gaborik who was their franchise player. I'm not sure Koviu deserves that tag, hes never scored more than 22 goals or 71 points (career highs this year). They just didn't want to lose another big piece which is fine, but for his level of production and what he does its an overpayment.
6.7 is more than Getzlaf, Richards etc. Again as you said you can't compare him, but compare his stats to other "franchise" players, and you'll see why it seems like an overpayment.

I think he should of been around 5-6 tops. Not a huge difference though.

like i said comparing his salary to getz, richards, toews, datsyuk is irrelevant. because supply and demand alone prove that minnys access to a franchise player is very low in supply. and they have a very high demand for one. TO minny, koivu is worth every penny of that 6.75m. their team will be built to compete around koivu as their number #1 center. by 2011-2012, this contract will seem like a bargain.

[Robin Hood]

Would Koivu get that kind of money on the open market? I doubt it. I think the Wild overpaid him because he's valuable to his team. He's best player on his team but that doesn't make him a franchise player. The great teams have a core of top players...the Hawks with Kane, Toews, and Keith for example. You lump a group of guys together as your "franchise players" and pay them as so.

What the Wild did was slightly overpay for a guy who's value is a bit warped considering they just lost Gaborik the year before and they don't particularly have a great team other than Koivu. If you have only one or two really good players on a bad team...they'll get paid more than they would if they were on a more balanced roster. It's almost like each team has a market value...kind of like the Lidstrom rule Holland followed when it came to signing Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Franzen...no one makes more than Lidstrom. Koivu on the Blackhawks would probably be a $5-5.5 million player. On the Wild that is lacking in talent, he gets paid more. The best players on bad teams are due to be overpaid because they're being leaned on more and being paid so they don't leave for greener pastures.

thats the point shoalzie. you're incorrectly characterizing market value to a team. of course koivu has more worth in minny than he would in chicago. but thats exactly why to minny that 6.75 million makes COMPLETE sense. if you told me koivu was on the blackhawks making that much money i would say he is overpaid. but on a team like minny, its the perfect deal to make.

[Tony]

Well, at least I'll be above the cap floor for while ...

[Florida Chris]

Great Player, but ya a little on the high side, but I imagine for Minny fans well worth it. I think it will be a very good contract in the last 3 or 4 years of it. Minny has lots of cap now, but in 3 or 4 years they may not, so all in all I think its just a solid signing for Minny.