Updates appear at bottom
According to Youngblood at the Star-Trib, Mikko Koivu is ready to go, and his coach concurs with that assessment. His involuntary absence stands at 23 games heading into tonight's game against the Mighty Red Wheel, and according to some Wild fans, Mikko's return will be just the impetus the Wild needs to shed it's inconsistent ways and take its rightful place at the top of the NHL. While that feels like an unrealistic expectation for a third-year NHLer, he was the Wild's best player the first 19 games of the season and the team has been undeniably mediocre since he went out.
The problem is making room on the roster for him.
Mikko is currently on Injured reserve. The team is therefore able to replace him on the active roster without taking up an extra spot. They are at the 23-man maximum right now. So someone who is currently on the roster needs to come off the roster to make room for Mikko.
But the situation is not as simple as waiving a guy, since the Wild failed to do so before the deadline for getting Mikko onto the roster for tonight's game.
That leaves the team with two main options: 1) hope someone of little consequence gets hurt in the morning skate or 2) trade or release a guy outright.
That begs the question of "who goes", and the consensus seems to be someone of a Matt Foy or Branko Radivojevic nature. I would add a Derek Boogaard to that (though I have nothing to back it up) and even a Petteri Nummelin or Kurtis Foster (again, with nothing to back any of this up as even rumors).
Adding fuel to the fire, there is a rumor on the wild.com message boards that the team has called an 11am CST press conference today.
Stay tuned.
**UPDATE**
Twin Cities newschannels are reporting that the Minnesota Wild will announce that the team has been sold at a press conference scheduled for 12:30 pm CST today. More details to follow.
NiNY
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