Mikko Koivu Signed to 7 Year Extension
Hat Tip: Hockey Wilderness
Why is this front-paged? Because Mikko Koivu's deal will certainly be used as some kind of milestone for any extension for signing Zach Parise. Devils fans should pay attention.
How much is the deal? $47.25 million with a NTC per Michael Russo. That's a cap hit of $6.75 million/year. Keeping Parise could be expensive than that, so I suggest keeping that in the back of you mind when the topic of re-signing Parise or signing some other big name player comes up.
And, of course, this will certainly affect Ilya Kovalchuk negotiations. Forget about Kovy going low now.
over 1 year ago
John Fischer
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Not by much, judging by what Minnesota’s GM Chuck Fletcher was calling him “our best hockey player. He’s our Captain. And he’s still just 27 with his best hockey years ahead of him.”
It’s not as though, at least us as fans, dont feel the same way about Zach. I see Zach’s deal being the same length, and for maybe $500K more per year.
"What in tarnation's goin' on 'round here?!?" - Yosemite Sam in reference to Ilya Kovalchuk not yet signing
Damn it Mikko!
There is nothing quite as satisfying as out running security after you've punched out a Flyers fan!
Mikko was a great sleeper pick on my fantasy team two years ago…but him signing for so much…now it’s like a kick in the teeth and it seems the prospect of having both Kovy and Parise longterm has seriously dimmed.
Really?
Did any of us think Parise would be getting less than $7MM per year in his extension? Koivu means as much to Minnesota as Parise means to us
"What in tarnation's goin' on 'round here?!?" - Yosemite Sam in reference to Ilya Kovalchuk not yet signing
What I mean is, if Koivu is getting $6.75M per year, I don’t think Kovy is going to want to settle for $8.5 some-odd million per year.
And whatever price we could have signed Zach for likely just went up as well.
by Marty 4 Prez on Jul 15, 2010 9:38 PM EDT up reply actions
When considering this signing and how it might affect any potential Parise negotiations, I have to cringe a little bit. Zach is clearly the better player, so I can’t see him asking for less than $7 million per unless he’s willing to pull a Marty and take less money to build a better team around him.
When considering this signing and how it affects the Kovalchuk sweepstakes, I want to do a little dance. I can’t see any way this possibly helps the Kings, because there’s no reason now for Ilya to take a long-term $6-6.5 million/season deal. Koivu is a nice player, but he isn’t anywhere close to the player Ilya Kovalchuk is. Either the Kings will have to ante up more money (and I gather from all their public statements that they will not do so), or the Devils’ chances of retaining Kovy just got a whole lot better.
Koivu
I think you guys may be underestimating Koivu. For some reason, I get a feed from Minnesota thru FoxSports, and watch the Wild alot. He truly is their entire team in that when he plays well (which is just about every game) his team thrives. Think back to the 2004 Final and Jarome Iginla. When he was ‘on’, the whole team was on.
Koivu’s numbers may not be $6.75MM, but what he means to Minnesota is not quantifiable, truly.
"What in tarnation's goin' on 'round here?!?" - Yosemite Sam in reference to Ilya Kovalchuk not yet signing
Minnesota overpaid
Koivu is 5-5.5 mil cap hit annually. I don’t care about his supposed “intangibles”, the Wild needed to keep their current best player after Gaborik bolted and they did so by overpaying him.
I don’t care about his supposed "intangibles",
Hard to hear from a Devils fan considering we have one of the best ‘intangibles’ players in the game. He wears Number 9
"What in tarnation's goin' on 'round here?!?" - Yosemite Sam in reference to Ilya Kovalchuk not yet signing
intangibles?
No Parise s a ridiculously hard worker, we all know what he brings to the table. There’s no undefined character to his game that we don’t see. He works his butt off and knows where to be with the puck in front of the net.
Do you understand what intangibles mean? Koivu’s intangibles are supposed locker room presence, leadership skills, calming presence, etc, etc. Not anything he does or doesn’t do on the ice.
He’s also a 40 goal scorer… Koivu is not.
Yes, I fully understand what ‘intangibles’ are, and thinking that Parise does not have many of the same intangibles undercuts Zach’s value.
No undefined character to Parise’s game?
Koivu’s intangibles are supposed locker room presence, leadership skills, calming presence, etc, etc
There is nothing “supposed” about it, he’s their Captain for a reason.
We do all suppose Parise will be Captain one day, he offers all that Koivu does for the Wild, don’t you think?
"What in tarnation's goin' on 'round here?!?" - Yosemite Sam in reference to Ilya Kovalchuk not yet signing
Nothing wrong with paying for intangibles. If a million bucks is all it takes to bring a supposed higher level of leadership and character to the team, sign me up.
by Tom Stivali on Jul 15, 2010 11:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Has there been any proof that Koivu possess these intangible to warrant being paid more than Datsyuk?
Seriously if you know of any please let me know.
He’s technically making more than Datsyuk every other year, but yeah, that’s an overpay.
And it’s going to impact the Devils, anyone who tries to sign Patrice Bergeron next, etc.
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The New Jersey Devils SBN Blog
by John Fischer on Jul 15, 2010 11:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Datsyuk contract
was also signed 4 years before Koivu’s contract goes into effect. Being that Koivu’s new contract is an extension, he is still only making $3.25MM next year. In essence, he has an 8-year contract, with an average Cap Hit of $6.3125. Does the contract sound better now?
"What in tarnation's goin' on 'round here?!?" - Yosemite Sam in reference to Ilya Kovalchuk not yet signing
How much of an overpay is it really? $500-$700K? He is also a center, which gives him a nudge in value. The comparable contract for Parise unfortunately is Nash but to work with the Devils cap situation he has to be somewhere in the high 6’s, low 7’s. If he wants Nash money then things get interesting.
by Tom Stivali on Jul 16, 2010 12:23 AM EDT up reply actions
I also i don’t understand why you think another team overpaying for a player is going to effect Parise?
Then we may as well say Gomez, Drury’s and every other bad contract handed out to a player not as good as Parise are going to effect this. I mean if that’s the thinking then Parise is easily worth 2 or 3 million more than those guys if you consider gross overpayment. Most GMs do not.
This wasn’t an awful contract, just an overpayment by a team who doesn’t want to lose more players. I think everyone at any negotiating table is going to realize and it won’t effect anything.
Do you guys watch the Wild games? Quite clearly, the GM thinks the world of Koivu, and I think he is right to think that he would command $7MM on the open market.
Do we think Datsyuk is the player Koivu is in the locker room? He clearly is not in that regard. Just stating someone’s salary does not show that one player is better than another, there are other factors to consider.
If Koivu received a $6MM avg Cap Hit, does that mean the contract becomes a good one?
"What in tarnation's goin' on 'round here?!?" - Yosemite Sam in reference to Ilya Kovalchuk not yet signing
Well
He was appointed Captain and his coach and GM think he is a leader. As long as they think the intangibles are there isn’t that enough?
What is he making $300,000 more than Datsyuk over the life of the contract? A deal signed 3 years ago. That doesn’t mean anything. It’s not like he is getting more than Crosby. The taxes on the last year of the contract probably evens up that 300K anyway.
by Tom Stivali on Jul 16, 2010 12:12 AM EDT up reply actions
Sorry I tend to think his GM can’t suffer through losing the WIld’s best player again.
I’m not saying Koivu is garbage… not by any means. But he hasn’t done anything in his career to warrant that sort of contract. The Wild just reached to ensure they kept a player in the fold.
Again, Koivu is a 5-5.5 mil a year player. When he puts in 30 goals and/or cracks 80pts and gets the Wild to the playoffs then talk to me. But he’s 27 now and hitting his prime which is of 75pt two-way center. I can’t comment on the intangibles because i don;t watch Wild games, but I also know they haven’t made the playoffs and they have done next to nothing this off season to improve their team. So is Koivu going to lead that same team to the playoffs this coming season?
The guy can’t take his team to the playoffs all by himself. His 71 pts puts him in the company of Zetterberg, Lecavalier, Plekanec, Datsyuk, Staal, and Alfredsson. And he did it with lesser teammates. Andrew Brunette notched 61 pts playing on his wing at the age of 36.
The Wild will be better this year. They picked up Cullen, who will be a big help to their second line and PP. They’ll get P.M. Bouchard back a concussion that knocked him out after the opening game of the season. And their young defense of Zidlicky, Burns, Schultz, Barker, and Zanon will mature.
Although I often do, Im having a hard time agreeing with you here Zele. How do you quantify
But he hasn’t done anything in his career to warrant that sort of contract.?
I understand the want to jump to names like Datsyuk and Zetterberg, which is fine. But because a guy like Datsyuk has Zetterberg, neither will be paid as a Franchise Center. Compare Koivu’s (kicking in next year mind you) to Statsny or Kopitar, and the Contract makes perfect sense. Neither of those Franchise Centers have ‘taken’ their team to the Playoffs.
From a points perspective, Koivu scored more points than Toews, no one comes close to questioning his contract. Koivu is a similar player.
Besides Koivu being the only offensive catalyst on the Wild, he has Brunnette and Miettinen as his wingers.
Im confident that if Havlat can stay healthy, the Wild make the Playoffs this coming season, led by Koivu.
"What in tarnation's goin' on 'round here?!?" - Yosemite Sam in reference to Ilya Kovalchuk not yet signing
Remember: $6.75 mil is the average value - the cap hit
How the Mikko Koivu’s salary is broken down at CapGeek is…interesting:
2011-2012 $7,290,000
2012-2013 $5,400,000
2013-2014 $7,290,000
2014-2015 $5,400,000
2015-2016 $7,290,000
2016-2017 $5,400,000
2017-2018 $9,180,000
That’s an odd breakdown. Also, why would the deal pay him the most money when he’s 34 at the end of the deal instead of making that the first year or so? I suspect CapGeek will update that accordingly.
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The New Jersey Devils SBN Blog
My take on it is that after this big money contract, Koivu will be signing a significantly smaller contract, and this $9.18MM final year will allow him to “live comfortably” from ‘17-’18 to ‘18-’19 when he will presumably be making only a couple million. Just a thought.
"What in tarnation's goin' on 'round here?!?" - Yosemite Sam in reference to Ilya Kovalchuk not yet signing
Per Mike Russo
Seems the deal is structured like that for lockout protection
by Tom Stivali on Jul 15, 2010 10:48 PM EDT up reply actions
Koivu extension, with signing bonuses.
"What in tarnation's goin' on 'round here?!?" - Yosemite Sam in reference to Ilya Kovalchuk not yet signing
Oh yeah, this will relate to tomorrow's post
Or at least one of the posts tomorrow from me. I’m going to show how exactly this deal will affect any Parise extensions but could definitely impact Zajac’s free agency years from now. Expect that tomorrow evening.
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The New Jersey Devils SBN Blog
Zajac’s free agency?? That’s awful far in the future. I can see the comparison you’re making between Zajac and Koivu though. That said, Koivu puts up 5-10 more points each year than Zajac and doesn’t have nearly the same caliber of wingers to play with.
Contracts expiring the year before Zajac’s expires: Rolston, White, Salvador, Brodeur ($16 M total)
Contracts expiring at the same time as Zajac’s: Elias, Zubrus, Clarkson ($12 M total)
Entry-level deals which may require raises that year: Tedenby, Josefson, Urbom
I don’t think Lou will any problem saving enough cap space to re-sign Zajac given the huge contracts coming off in 2-3 yrs. The raises required by our young Swedes might throw a monkey wrench into it all, though. You just never know when a young player will have a breakout year.
Who knows where Zajac will be in three years but I think he maxes out as a guy who can pot a consistent 25-30 goals and 40-45 assists, which puts him in Koivu’s current point range – but that’s with Zach Parise as his winger. That’s also in the range of Tomas Plekanec, who earned just $5.0 M in free agency this summer. Zajac is the superior two-way centerman, but I think he falls somewhere in between Plekanec and Koivu’s contract.
I think Koivu is more comparable to Parise. We might consider Parise to be a better player, but centermen do get priority in this league. And Koivu is a guy that drives the Minnesota offense. I don’t think a $6.75 cap hit is terrible for a legit franchise player, even if he’s not going to be among the league’s top 10 scorers. I think Marleau’s $6.9M contract is wayyyyy worse.
Not re-signing Zach Parise would be a big mistake, he is easily the hardest working devil. Not to mention he has great locker room chemistry and a leadership presence on the team, he is becoming a future captain more and more each year. People also seem to think that he wasn’t active in the playoffs, well he wasn’t given the puck much because of the blatantly give the puck to 17 play. But when he had the puck it was magic we all remember the short-handed breakaway.
by st.pattysdaymassacre26 on Jul 16, 2010 12:46 AM EDT reply actions
What? Parise and Kovalchuk didn’t play with each other except on the power play. Moreover, how do we know Parise will be a captain?
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The New Jersey Devils SBN Blog
by John Fischer on Jul 16, 2010 10:26 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
mikko koivu is almost certainly a better player than ilya kovalchuk, so i don’t see how this would affect kovalchuk at all.
because, from the looks of the last 2 weeks, kovalchuk and his camp all feel that he IS better than koivu and is deserving of more money.
by Marty'sBetter30 on Jul 16, 2010 8:48 AM EDT up reply actions
Really? I’ll grant you that Koivu is a way better two-way forward than Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk’s production, however, is superior and involves more rare talents than Koivu.
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The New Jersey Devils SBN Blog
by John Fischer on Jul 16, 2010 9:02 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
kovalchuk is handed all the good ice time and all of the best opportunities to score goals. his career corsi is still poor given all of that. throw in his power play production, which looks great on the surface but doesn’t look so great when you look at points/60 or goals/60, then throw in the fact that his career has been in the southeast which is probably worth an extra goal or 2 a year – yeah, i believe that koivu is a better player than kovalchuk. kovalchuk’s talents are rare, but he overstays shifts and has poor positioning in all three zones.
Coronation of a New King
Once the new king is crowned ( I think it will be today) it would be real nice to get Zach squared away so we don’t have a drama like this going into his RFA year. He is worth a shot for an offer sheet, and I would rather tie him up now long term to prevent that.
So whats next? Still need a puck moving D man. Was Elias trying to tell Lou something with his Kaberle interview?
That contract is Scott Gomez outrageous
Koivu has not even scored 30 goals in a season. Kovy is definitly going to want top dollar now. I am at the point where I think we should concentrate on getting Zach signed long term and just not worry about Kovy, No way can we pay both of those guys long term and field a competitivie team.
by Late for Dinner on Jul 16, 2010 12:58 PM EDT reply actions
I dont get that argument. Does that mean you arent worth $6MM+ if you dont score 30 goals? By that logic, no defenseman will ever get paid that amount. And neither would guys like Brad Richards or Joe Thornton since he got to San Jose or Marc Savard. He is their Franchise player and deservedly so.
Kovy wants top dollar regardless as he offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get a superstar scorer thru Free Agency.
But I agree, we need to concentrate on our future Franchise player in Zach.
"What in tarnation's goin' on 'round here?!?" - Yosemite Sam in reference to Ilya Kovalchuk not yet signing
I guess we won’t be the only ones possibly complaining about paying $5M (7) for 20 (22) goals. If he’s the whole Minnesota team, why did he only score 10% of their goals this year? Zach scored 17% of the Devils goals this year, Zajac over 11%. The Wild overpaid, this is like Al Davis paying Nnamdi Asomugha more than he’s worth, now the Jets are feeling the pain with Darrelle Revis wanting to be paid more. Anybody with a comparable player is going to get hurt. Unless Koivu scores more than 29 next year, Rolston’s goals this past season cost less.
Go Devils
Go Jets
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Lot harder to find a cornerstone C with 2 way talent that can control the entire team Like Koivu can than it is to find a scoring winger. You seen him play? The guy is really, really good. He manages to get the whole team to play at his level. He’s the heart of the team and they feed off it.
From their perspective, he’s worth every penny.
From an outside perspective of having to sign your own guys, then it’s overpaid. Lay your best offer on the table, for the player and for the team. They take it or walk. Welcome to salary capped professional sports.
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