Friday: Koivu has undergone successful surgery to repair both the ACL and meniscus. An update on his recovery timeline will be provided in the summer.
Wednesday: The Minnesota Wild are still fighting for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, but will now have to do it without their captain. Mikko Koivu has suffered a torn ACL and torn meniscus in his right knee, and will have surgery to repair the damage on Friday.
Not only is this a blow to the Wild’s playoff chances, but a devastating injury for Koivu at this point in his career. The 35-year old center has one year remaining on his current contract and was already nearing the end of his time as a real top option in the middle. While it’s too early to speculate on whether Koivu’s career is in jeopardy, he will definitely miss a good chunk of whatever time he had left. A torn ACL takes quite a bit of time to recover from, and some players struggle to ever get back to the same level.
More immediately though, this drastically changes things for the Wild as they look to make the playoffs this season. Not only are they losing their best defensive center, but will also likely weaken themselves on the wing by moving Charlie Coyle back to the middle. It’s nice that they possess that kind of versatility, but they’ll now have to think long and hard before adding anything at the deadline.
The Wild are sitting in a wild card spot at the moment, but have dropped three in a row and are only holding on because of the lack of challengers in the Western Conference. A loss like Koivu could very well push them even lower in the standings, or at least reduce their chances of competing in the postseason.
End of career thanks mikko for everything you did for minny
Here’s to hoping he can be the next to have a Selänne-esque comeback for at least a couple (or more) years. Big fan, here, of Finns who play the game right! He’s one of ’em!
Never want to see a guy go out like that. Hoping for a speedy recovery for Mr. Koivu!
Adam Henrique…