Blue Jackets Sign Mikko Koivu

2:25PM: The Blue Jackets have made the deal official, announcing a one-year deal at the previously-reported $1.5MM price tag.  GM Jarmo Kekalainen released the following statement:

Mikko Koivu has been a very consistent, productive two-way player in the National Hockey League for many years. He is a great leader, has impeccable character and will be a valuable addition to our young team. We are very excited that he has chosen to continue his career as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

1:16 PM: Columbus has changed up their center depth this offseason already with the acquisition of Max Domi from Montreal and the signing of Mikhail Grigorenko.  Their changes down the middle may not be done yet, however, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the Blue Jackets are in discussions with UFA center Mikko Koivu.  John Matisz of The Score adds (via Twitter) that a one-year, $1.5MM deal is expected.

The 37-year-old is on the lookout for a new team after Minnesota informed their now-former captain that they wouldn’t be retaining him after Koivu spent the last 15 years with the Wild.  He’s coming off of a quiet season offensively with just four goals and 17 assists in 55 games; his 21 points matched his previous career-low set back in his rookie season in 2005-06.  But the Blue Jackets (or any suitor) wouldn’t be looking for offense from Koivu at this stage of his career.  Instead, he’d be deployed in more of a defense-first role while he’s still above average at the faceoff dot.

If Koivu does sign with Columbus, it could allow them to shift Boone Jenner back to the wing which is a position he’s quite familiar with having spent several seasons on the left side in the past.  That would then presumably allow Koivu to slide into a third-line role which is a better fit for him.  Of course, that’s why he had to take a sizable cut in pay from the $5MM salary he received last season for a deal to make sense for the Blue Jackets.

Columbus has a little more than $14MM in cap space to work with after clearing out Ryan Murray and Markus Nutivaara just before free agency.  However, most of that money will be earmarked for top center Pierre-Luc Dubois and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov but that leaves enough for them to get a deal done with Koivu without really affecting their plans to re-sign their youngsters.