Koivu Out for Remainder of the Season

[hf101]

Koivu suffered a torn ACL and meniscus from last night's game vs the Sabres and will have surgery on Friday.  Koivu averages the third-most ice time among Wild forwards, ranks tied for second on the club with 12 power-play points, and is tied for the team lead in takeaways with 35. In 48 games, he has eight goals and 29 points.

 

 

Do the Wild have enough internally to move forward with the season as they currently hold the first Wild card spot for the playoffs or should Fenton look outside the organization and maybe make a trade for Jeff Carter or someone else?

 

 

[OccamsRazor]

18 minutes ago, hf101 said:

Koivu suffered a torn ACL and meniscus from last night's game vs the Sabres and will have surgery on Friday.  Koivu averages the third-most ice time among Wild forwards, ranks tied for second on the club with 12 power-play points, and is tied for the team lead in takeaways with 35. In 48 games, he has eight goals and 29 points.

 

Do the Wild have enough internally to move forward with the season as they currently hold the first Wild card spot for the playoffs or should Fenton look outside the organization and maybe make a trade for Jeff Carter or someone else?

 

 

 

Damn that sucks. Hard to find a 2nd line center this time of year.

 

If i were them trying to hold onto a playoff position i would go hard after this guy... 

[hf101]

Jori Lehtera went on waivers today, I think it is possible Fenton could claim him.

[OccamsRazor]

Just now, hf101 said:

Jori Lehtera went on waivers today, I think it is possible Fenton could claim him.

 

Yikes...i would be ECSTATIC about that!!!

 

Yet i think the Wild fans here will hate you for even even typing that. They would have the cap space to do it IRing him.

 

If he were to even do that i would let him pass through waivers and then tell the Flyers to pick up half his salary and then trade for him.

 

But if i were a Wild fan i would go after Kevin Hayes he is just 26 has some good size and grit at 6-5 216.

 

Could be the perfect 2nd line center to replace him beyond this year.

 

He has put up solid numbers on a not so hot Ranger club. 11 goals 25 assist +5 for 36 points in 43 games.

 

Who else could they target who would be available??

 

 

[Icechipper]

Philadelphia fans down on Lehtera. In some hit water for some cocaine association. Details were sketchy. But yes we need a No. 1 center because that's what Koivu has been for the Wild. Nashville went in big with 6-6 center vet Brian Boyle of New Jersey. Who steps forward as captain? I'd like Staal to step up to that as on-ice leader/captain. Give him the C then go shopping. North Dakota product Travis Zajac a target. Played with Parise in Jersey. Winnipeg boy.

[OccamsRazor]

8 minutes ago, Icechipper said:

Philadelphia fans down on Lehtera.

 

Sure but trust me ask any Flyers fans who has eyes...it isn't because of the cocaine issue....he is slow like glacial slow...i see mountains move faster.

 

But by all means claim i beg you too.

 

9 minutes ago, Icechipper said:

But yes we need a No. 1 center because that's what Koivu has been for the Wild.

 

Don't get me wrong i don't follow the Wild closely but Koivu was the Wild's 2nd line center right??

 

I thought Staal played on the top line between Zucker and Granlund am i wrong??

 

Kevin Hayes will be a nice add for you guys...i don't know what his cost would be though.

[hf101]

11 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Yikes...i would be ECSTATIC about that!!!

 

Yet i think the Wild fans here will hate you for even even typing that. They would have the cap space to do it IRing him.

 

If he were to even do that i would let him pass through waivers and then tell the Flyers to pick up half his salary and then trade for him.

 

But if i were a Wild fan i would go after Kevin Hayes he is just 26 has some good size and grit at 6-5 216.

 

Could be the perfect 2nd line center to replace him beyond this year.

 

He has put up solid numbers on a not so hot Ranger club. 11 goals 25 assist +5 for 36 points in 43 games.

 

Who else could they target who would be available??

 

 

 

I was thinking Lehtera merely as a 4th liner allowing the Wild to fill Koivu's 2/3rd line spot internally with Coyle and Kunin.    Basically the move adds some depth "free".   If he is claimed on waivers the Flyers don't need to share the financial burden.  The Wild would have room on the Cap with Koivu going on IR, and Dumba is there already too.

 

And Yeah Hayes would be a great acquisition on any team. but I doubt the Wild would send valuable draft picks to the Rangers for a player they probably would have a hard time keeping since he is a FA, and Koivu comes back next year on the cap.    I really think the Rangers will be signing Hayes - who else do the Rangers have to sink money into?

 

11 minutes ago, Icechipper said:

Nashville went in big with 6-6 center vet Brian Boyle of New Jersey. Who steps forward as captain? I'd like Staal to step up to that as on-ice leader/captain. Give him the C then go shopping. North Dakota product Travis Zajac a target. Played with Parise in Jersey.

 

That's a great move by Nashville - perfect role player for the playoffs.   Zajac is really an interesting option as his next two years at $5.75M  could basically be addressed by not signing Staal.    Is Zajac better than Staal?

[hf101]

@OccamsRazor   Fenton did just trade for Victor Rask.   Maybe they get by without another center upfront?

[Lonkkis]

30 minutes ago, hf101 said:

Jori Lehtera went on waivers today, I think it is possible Fenton could claim him.

 

Keep that guy outta this team! And I say this as a finn myself.

[Icechipper]

Koivu took all the big faceoffs and was assigned to shut down star players. Internal candidates are Charlie Coyle (45 pct. faceoff) and Joel Erickson-Ek, apparently also a shutdown guy. Faceoff percentage greatly higher than shooting marks.

[OccamsRazor]

5 minutes ago, hf101 said:

And Yeah Hayes would be a great acquisition on any team. but I doubt the Wild would send valuable draft picks to the Rangers for a player they probably would have a hard time keeping since he is a FA, and Koivu comes back next year on the cap.    I really think the Rangers will be signing Hayes - who else do the Rangers have to sink money into?

 

Good point but they could try and see if they could sign him before trading for him right??

 

But they might not want to give up what it would take to get him i agree not know the depth of their prospect pool and picks they have.

[OccamsRazor]

4 minutes ago, Icechipper said:

Joel Erickson-Ek

 

Talk about a disappointing pick.

[OccamsRazor]

6 minutes ago, hf101 said:

@OccamsRazor   Fenton did just trade for Victor Rask.   Maybe they get by without another center upfront?

 

Yes you could just bump him up to the 2nd....and hell no to Coyle playing the 2nd...but as i said i'm not a fan and are indifferent to what they do.

[Alexandron]

Of course, sad news to hear about Koivu's trauma. But I think Eric Staal should be our new Captain as well as number 1 Center. In my opinion, he really merits that position. The hardworking experienced solid professional player. I know he politely refused once. The Wild organization should insist to him to take that position. He was a Captain for Carolina in the past, and I will be happy to have his captaincy for the Wild team too. Maybe the team will improve their mentality also.  I do not see anyone else who is merit more that position. Or maybe Parise would like to get a Captain position?

[hf101]

1 minute ago, Lonkkis said:

 

Keep that guy outta this team! And I say this as a finn myself.

 

lol,  well I'm just playing the cards as I see them tossed.  Lehtera hasn't played since what Jan 19th?  Fletcher hadn't done anything with him.  Now Fletcher had to know Koivu was injured last night and he and Fenton could easily have had a phone call today.  Just sayin...

It's possible.  

[hf101]

6 minutes ago, Alexandron said:

Of course, sad news to hear about Koivu's trauma. But I think Eric Staal should be our new Captain as well as number 1 Center. In my opinion, he really merits that position. The hardworking experienced solid professional player. I know he politely refused once. The Wild organization should insist to him to take that position. He was a Captain for Carolina in the past, and I will be happy to have his captaincy for the Wild team too. Maybe the team will improve their mentality also.  I do not see anyone else who is merit more that position. Or maybe Parise would like to get a Captain position?

 

Where have you ever seen a precedence for taking the C away from an injured captain?  Generally, teams just go with 3 A's.

[Fargocase]

Great news for the haters.  Scape goat for all the Wild's failures over the years hurt.  And now the Wild's chances to suck greatly increased...  Double Win!  

[CreaseAndAssist]

2 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Talk about a disappointing pick.

 

Your disappointed?  Ha, we're even MORE disappointed.  

[CreaseAndAssist]

50 minutes ago, Fargocase said:

Great news for the haters.  Scape goat for all the Wild's failures over the years hurt.  And now the Wild's chances to suck greatly increased...  Double Win!  

 

(shrugs)  I don't feel the least bit bad for El Kapitan.  We weren't really a playoff team IMO anyways; even WITH Koivu.  The question is whether Koivu will show up and support his teammates or will he just stay home like he did the last time he was out with a significant injury?  

 

Scapegoat implies it wasn't his fault, when in fact we were way overpaying for at best 2nd line center.  Dancing around his ego has put us in the terrible situation we're now in.  We didn't want to insult him by reducing his role; so now we don't really have a plan or an heir apparent to fill in.  

 

We would only compound our error by shedding more assets or picks to trade for a stop gap player to take his place.  Koivu's bad contracts and NMC's have already done plenty of damage to this organization.  

[rottenrefs]

3 hours ago, Icechipper said:

Koivu took all the big faceoffs and was assigned to shut down star players. Internal candidates are Charlie Coyle (45 pct. faceoff) and Joel Erickson-Ek, apparently also a shutdown guy. Faceoff percentage greatly higher than shooting marks.

Nanne today said the obvious replacement for Koivu is Ek... Noting he's a defensive center.

 

[Tomdog]

I really don’t see the need to get too worked up over this. 

Yes mikko wins faceoffs, but last time I looked that doesn’t necessarily win the game. 

I think coyles speed will compensate for the shortcomings in the faceoff circle. 

Keep our draft picks for next year. 

[IllaZilla]

At some point this team needs to decide what to do with Coyle. Put him in as #2C. See what he can do.

 

Or put Kunin in there. Wasn't he being touted as some sort of future highlight reel player? Weren't they making a big deal out of his scoring ability in the Beer Ten Hockey League?

 

This team wasn't going to go far in the Playoffs anyways WITH Koivu, so they might as well see what can happen with some of the younger players...

[IllaZilla]

9 hours ago, rottenrefs said:

Nanne today said the obvious replacement for Koivu is Ek... Noting he's a defensive center.

 

 

Yes, he's so defensive he has a -7. Go have another beer Lou...

[ClusterChuck]

Coyle sort of 'woke up' when he took Koivu's spot for 3 games.

I say put him there again.

Also a huge opportunity for him and he has 2+ weeks to show why we should keep him.

Put Parise with him and maybe Greenway and leave them be.

 

Put Staal as #1C and like @hf101 said, Go with the 3 A's.

I'd like to see him take the C only because it's a season ending injury.

[Hockey-78]

There is a God...! It's good for the team and the organization to see where we stand without him. The first step towards a rebuild direction.

 

And yeah, fill the void from within the organization. It would be both insane and hilarious if we were to go after some veteran C and give some picks/prospect in the trade.