Last season, the Minnesota Wild made center Mikko Koivu the first full-time captain in the franchise’s 10-year history.  Thursday, the team gave Koivu a seven-year $47.25 million contract extension that could keep the 27-year-old Finn in the land of 10,000 lakes through the 2017-2018 season.  A very pleased Koivu was still in his native Finland when the contract was announced, but took part in a media conference call at 2:30 am local time. Koivu told the press he was still going to hit the gym the next morning. but he was “more than excited, very thrilled.”

Despite the Wild having the third-worst record in the Western Conference last year and missing the playoffs for the second straight year, Koivu sees much more than dollar signs in Minnesota:

I really like the way we are going. If I didn’t believe in our organization or this team, I would never sign a long-term contract like that. … All I care is about winning. I do want to be a part of the team that will have a good chance to win something, and winning in Minnesota is something special [because it is so incredibly rare and unprecedented].

Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher had a few superlatives for his captain:

He was our captain, our top offensive player, our top defensive forward and truly our franchise player. He’s an elite player. This past season was his best offensive season in the NHL [22 goals, 49 assists], and personally I feel his best days are ahead of him, offensively. But to define Mikko by his statistics is to miss the whole point of what he’s all about. He’s a terrific defensive player, he logs a lot of minutes, he can play in every situation, he’s a top faceoff guy, and perhaps most importantly, he wants to win. He cares.

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