Koivu playing less minutes next season and JEE more is part of a strategy. It's what smart teams do and it's why teams like Detroit have faltered when they have replacement for guys like Lidstrom. The wisdom of that pick will be apparent soon. This stuff about the captaincy ... it's not just you, but it has to be some of the dumbest narrative I've ever seen in the hockey sphere.
I guess a great Captain is more of a "know it when you see it" type of thing going on, those guys tend to just have an aura about them. Koivu doesn't have that, but nobody else on the Wild (or at least half the other NHL teams) does either. Bobby Clarke is my favorite Captain of all time, that entire Philly team would have done anything for him.
Koivu's average ToI (18:29) last year was by far his lowest in the last decade.
I don't see JEE taking a whole lot of ToI from Koivu next year.
-Koivu will still be on the 1st PK unit, and rightfully so.
-JEE hasn't shown the offense to take any PP time away from Koivu.
-So that only leaves even strength (I don't have 5v5 stats infront of me, so just using even strength) ToI. Koivu was below 14 mins last year, and JEE was at 11:35. JEE just getting a full years of 3rd line time should bump his time up to around ~12:30.
The best way to lower Koivu's ToI is to lessen his 2:29 PP ToI/game. Maybe a little can be shaved off his 2:02 PK ToI, but he is the best defensive FWD on the team, so it wouldn't be a huge drop off. Lessen/eliminate his 3v3 OT time is another way to shave a little time (I have no clue of how many OT mins he played this year).