Saku Antero Koivu (born November 23, 1974) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player and an alternate captain of the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He began his NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens in 1995–96 after three seasons with TPS of the Finnish SM-liiga. Koivu served as the Canadiens' captain for nine of his thirteen seasons with the club (not including the locked-out 2004–05 season), which makes his the second longest captaincy tenure in team history after Jean Béliveau.

Saku started his professional ice hockey career playing for TPS in the Finnish SM-liiga, beginning in 1992–93. He posted 10 points in his rookie season, including 5 points in the playoffs to help TPS to a Kanada-malja championship. After improving to 53 points the following season, he put up a league-high 73 points in 1994–95. In addition to earning the Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy as league scoring champion, Koivu was awarded the Kultainen kypärä award as the players' choice for the best player and the Lasse Oksanen trophy as league MVP. He went on to record 17 points in 13 post-season games that year to earn the Jari Kurri trophy as playoff MVP and win his second Kanada-malja trophy in three years with TPS.

Koivu was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, following his rookie season in the SM-liiga, as their first-round selection (21st overall). He moved to North America for the 1995–96 season to join the Canadiens. In his first year, Koivu ranked 4th in scoring amongst NHL rookies with 45 points in 82 games. The following season, Koivu was among the NHL leading scorers (13 goals, 25 assists and 38 points) before suffering a knee injury on December 7, 1996, in a game against Chicago Blackhawks. He missed 32 games that season but returned to finish with 56 points in 50 games.