Koivu, 36, will become the 55th player (54th skater) in NHL history to play his first 1,000 games with the same team. He will also become the 342nd player (339th skater) in NHL history to reach the 1,000-game milestone. He is the franchise leader in gamed played (999), assists (496), points (699), plus/minus rating (plus-70), shots on goal (2,241), power-play points (249), power-play assists (189), shorthanded points (25), shorthanded assists (15), multi-point games (150), faceoffs won (10,159) and faceoffs taken (18,929), ranks T-1st in overtime goals (five), second in goals (203), power-play goals (60), shorthanded goals (10) and penalty minutes (572), and third in game-winning goals (33).
The 6-foot-3, 213-pound native of Turku, Finland, will be the seventh player to play his 1,000th game in a Wild sweater, joining Ryan Suter (Oct. 25, 2018 vs. Los Angeles), Eric Staal (March 19, 2017 at Winnipeg), Matt Cooke (March 11, 2014 vs. Edmonton), Matt Cullen (Jan. 10, 2012 vs. San Jose), Andrew Brunette (Feb. 1, 2011 vs. Los Angeles) and Keith Carney (Feb. 24, 2008 vs. Calgary).
Koivu was drafted by the Wild with the sixth overall selection in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. He made his NHL debut on Nov. 5, 2005 at San Jose and scored his first NHL goal on Nov. 6, 2005 at Anaheim against Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Koivu was named the first full-time team captain in team history on Oct. 20, 2009. He and his wife, Helena, have three children, a daughter, Sofie, and sons, Kasper and Oskar. Koivu is the title sponsor of two private patient rooms at Children's Minnesota Neuroscience and Epilepsy Center in St. Paul.
