Ville Koivunen

August 2026 – Koivunen and the Pittsburgh Penguins agreed to an eight year deal with a $4 million AAV. The length of the term is certainly interesting given that the 23 year old has limited NHL experience and has yet to put together a body of work that would seem to justify the length of the commitment. What the term length does most likely is keep the salary ceiling down, allowing the Penguins to rest assured they have a useful bottom six player locked up long term at a cost that looks inexpensive today, and will look more affordable as the cap rises.

For fantasy purposes, so far in his NHL career (47 GP), Koivunen has seen sheltered usage with less than 15 minutes of icetime a night, spent mostly on the second and third line, with sparing use on the powerplay. He’s played at roughly a 25 point, 90 shot, 10 hit line across a full season, and the new financial commitment brings the expectation that his NHL role is solidified moving forward.

His underlying numbers scream for positive regression (sub 5% shooting and 5 on 5 team shooting percentage), and in the back quarter of the season, he saw a lift in powerplay usage. He started two thirds of his shifts in the offensive zone, and relative to Pittsburg’s forward corps owned one of the strongest relative Corsi percentages.

In cap leagues, that term is difficult to deploy on a performer with a shallow track record, but he could be an excellent young depth forward on a team looking for some cost certainty. Watch list him, and look for positive signs in training camp. Alex Wyatt

September 2025 –  As is the case with every European player, the question was if Koivunen would be able to maintain his high point total and skilled play. He answered every question and then some. In 63 games, he registered 21 goals, 35 assists and 56 points in the AHL. Additionally, Koivunen saw eight games of NHL action and looked the part. He had seven assists and really injected some life into the late-season Penguins. In each game he played in, his ice time increased. Koivunen rocketed his way up the depth chart and surprisingly put himself into opening night consideration. Arden McLeod

March 2025 – The Pittsburgh Penguins recalled Koivunen from their AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Mark Henry

March 2024 – Koivunen has been traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins as a part of the package for Jake Guentzel. Curtis Rines

March 2022 – Koivunen is having a good season for Kärpät in the Liiga, sitting sixth in team scoring with 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points in 53 games. Keep an eye on the 18-year-old’s development as he is a young prospect playing against men in Finland. Alex Wyatt

July 2021 – Koivunen was selected in the second round, 51st overall, by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2021 NHL Draft. Nick Richard

April 2021 – Ville Koivunen has gained notoriety as the season went on. He played with Samu Tuomaala, the top Finnish forward on most boards, in Kärpät and made the motor run on most nights for that line. He elevates whoever he plays with and has helped Tuomaala stay in the first round on most boards. He may not have the most impressive tools on the surface, but when you dig into his game, you will see that he has the skating and mobility to be agile on the wing and the dual-threat ability to make him a superb playmaker while remaining a shooting threat. He gets himself into a position to succeed by working through traffic, showing a bit of a slippery nature to his game off the puck. He doesn’t always use his speed to its full extent but can pull more speed out of his back pocket when needed.  He is harder to knock off the puck than most players his size, showing a solid base and strength that allows him to navigate pressure with or without the puck. Koivunen regularly finds the open man as a playmaker and puts the perfect amount of touch on his passes. His ability to toss sauce all over the offensive zone is impressive, and he has a knack for dropping it right onto a teammate’s stick. He is a very good powerplay threat. He can play any position on the powerplay from the net front to the half-wall, being an effective playmaker from any position, even on his off-wing. Koivunen may not be in many first-rounds come draft day, but he is one of the players drafted on day two that could have people asking why he wasn’t drafted higher when we look back on 2021 in a decade. Tony Ferrari