Devin Setoguchi was trying to explain on Tuesday morning just how impressed he's been with his new center, Mikko Koivu.
"I don't know if you guys caught the last game ... I mean, he won every battle," Setoguchi said. "He makes good plays, he can shoot the puck. He's the complete center man."
Just one thing was missing. In the first year of a seven-year, $47.25 million contract, Koivu still didn't have a goal. It was a stat that highlighted the slow start of the Minnesota Wild's top line that was assembled by GM Chuck Fletcher over the summer. Koivu, Setoguchi and Dany Heatley were reunited as a line on Tuesday night, and during the first intermission of his team's game against the Detroit Red Wings, the Wild GM conceded the trio and his team are still a work in progress.
"We thought it would be. New coach, we have six new forwards from last year to this year," Fletcher said. "Anytime you throw those elements together, you're going to have a lot of inconsistency in your performance and a lot of work that has to be accomplished before you get to where you want to get to."
As for Koivu? Fletcher's faith in the captain was unwavering.
To read more from Craig on the Wild's future, plus news and notes from around the NHL, become an ESPN Insider.
- Senior NHL writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Wrote for The Sporting News
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
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