Mikko Koivu just signed a 7-year, $47.25M contract with Minnesota, starting in 2011-12.  Koivu made $3.3M this year, which made him about as big a bargain as you can get for an RFA in the NHL.  So is Koivu worth almost $7M per year, which makes him one of the 20-highest-paid players in the NHL?

If anyone is, Koivu is.  He literally does everything: he takes on tough competition, he wins faceoffs at a very high rate, he scores and he logs a huge amount of PP and PK time.  Even though Minnesota seemingly followed a strategy of conceding shots (but limiting the quality of each chance), they've consistently outshot their opponents when Koivu is on the ice.  The only potential downside for Koivu is injuries, but he's been very durable over the last two seasons. 

It's likely that Koivu will actually even outperform his contract over the next few years - if you're going to drop $50M on a player, it had better be one this good.