It has been almost 18½ years since the Wild put out a bunch of smokescreens — OK, lies — so the Montreal Canadiens would think they were going to draft Mike Komisarek sixth overall in the 2001 draft.



That’s how badly the Wild brass, from general manager Doug Risebrough, head scout Tommy Thompson and coach Jacques Lemaire to, especially, Finnish scout Matti Vaisanen, worried the Habs would make a trade to leapfrog over Minnesota so they could select captain Saku Koivu’s brother, Mikko.



“Eighteen years ago. That’s crazy,” Mikko Koivu, 36, said when reminded how long he has been part of the Wild organization. “That feels so long ago. Then again, it doesn’t. It goes fast. It feels like yesterday that I made my NHL debut.”



Brian Rolston still remembers Koivu’s first day of training camp.



It was September 2005 and the free-agent Rolston walked into the locker room and was greeted by...