Saku Koivu to sign with Anaheim Ducks

RT@AnaheimDucks: Breaking news: Ducks are expected to announce signing of former Montreal center Saku Koivu later this morning. - Ducks Twitter page

Koivu to Ducks contract looks to be 1 yr / 3.25 million (TSN Tracker)

This is horribly disappointing. Apparently Saku has decided to play with Teemu Selanne instead of brother Mikko Koivu. This will leave Fletcher to look elsewhere for an impact centerman.

Saku Koivu

#11 / Center / Montreal Canadiens

Height: 5-10

Weight: 182

Born: Nov 23, 1974

Where do we look now? Any ideas?

Per Mirtle: Top remaining free agents: Tanguay, Zubov, Biron, Lang, Fernandez, Mara, Sykora, Sundin, Axelsson, Morris, Moen

On not signing in Minnesota: "We spoke to Minnesota a few times. All the talks went very well, but it was more personal reasons. I didn’t feel comfortable. I kind of felt that Minnesota’s Mikko’s place at this point. I wanted him to have his own privacy in a way and make his own name and career. And I just felt there were too many risks for us as brothers and as family members to join on the same team and kind of compete for the same ice time. And I felt we’re better off playing somewhere else."Did Mikko understand this because it seems like he was intrigued by being teammates: "I think Mikko was really excited about the possibility for us playing on the same team and I can’t deny, if you really think about the possibilities and only the positive side, it would have been a pretty exciting thing. But I looked at it in, I guess, a more negative way and I was thinking, ‘what if this happens or what if things won’t work out?’ And right now, we have such a great relationship and I was too afraid to challenge that. You never know what is going to happen. For me, this was a safer option and I felt myself, I felt more comfortable. "When I spoke to Mikko today, he understood totally. I guess I looked at things as more of an older brother and I wanted to protect him in a way and I felt there were too many risks for me to sign there." But isn’t it riskier taking a one-year than the multi-years the Wild offered? "I felt that the fit for the team in Anaheim and for myself, it was perfect for a one-year deal. We’re going from one extreme coming from Montreal to a very different lifestyle, different weather and hockey not being as big as it is in Montreal. At this point in my career, being an older player and with my family, I felt I wanted to have control for our future. Obviously I’m hoping and I’m confident things will work out and hopefully I play many years in Anaheim. I felt it was an easier decision for me to take it a year at a time at this point and see how everything works out, how we like it there. And then if everything works out well, then we can spend many years hopefully to come"