Vitals
Player: Ville Koivunen
Born: June 13, 2003 (22 years old)
Height: 6’0
Weight: 184 pounds
Hometown: Oulu, Finland
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021 second-round, No. 51 overall, by the Carolina Hurricanes
2025-26 Regular Season Statistics: 39 games played, 2 goals, 5 assists, 7 total points, -10
Contract Status: Koivunen is a restricted free agent this summer
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Story of the Season
After a promising debut in the NHL at the end of the 2024-25 season, Koivunen earned a spot on the opening night roster and was initially playing a top-six role. But things never really clicked for him at the NHL level, he eventually found himself back in the American Hockey League, and spent the 2025-26 season bouncing between the two levels. While he put up impressive numbers in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the second year in a row (he has been a point-per-game player with 97 points in 97 regular season games), it has not yet consistently translated to the NHL. The Penguins tried to go younger this season. A lot of the players they put into positions at the NHL level did not fully take advantage of it. At least not yet.
Monthly Splits
Via Yahoo! Sports
With just four points in his first 25 games, Koivunen never found any sort of consistency with his production and did not yet develop the scoring touch or playmaking that the Penguins were hoping for.
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Even when he came back up at the end of the regular season the offense he was displaying in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton never carried over with zero goals and just two assists over his final 12 games of the season in March and April.
Regular season 5v5 advanced stats
Data via Natural Stat Trick. Ranking is out of 18 forwards on the team who qualified by playing a minimum of 150 minutes.
Corsi For%: 56.9% (1st)
Goals For%: 35.7% (18th)
xGF%: 57.3% (1st)
Scoring Chance %: 59.1% (1st)
High Danger Scoring Chance%: 57.8% (1st)
5v5 on-ice shooting%: 4.72% (18th)
On-ice save%: .889 (15th)
Goals/60: 0.13 (17th)
Assist/60: 0.27 (17th)
Points/60: 0.40 (18th)
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Everything about this chart is positively hilarious, at least in some sort of bizarre, twisted way. He is either first or last in nearly every category.
All of the possession and scoring chance metrics? First. All of the actual goals scored and goals created metrics? Last. An enormous disconnect and basically makes him a newer version of Dominik Simon.
On one hand, it is positive that he pushes play and helps generate opportunities. That is important. There is value in that. It is also immensely frustrating that it does not turn into anything tangible on the scoreboard. That is going to have to start changing if he is going to be a regular in the top-six, or even in the top-nine. It is going to have to start changing rapidly.
Highlights
Questions to ponder
The big question is simply can he translate the AHL production into NHL production, and can he turn the territorial edge the Penguins get with him on the ice into something that becomes actuals goals?
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There were countless times during the season where Koivunen would seem to be in a prime scoring position with a chance to score, only to have his shot get blocked or deflected away from the net. Is his decision-making and shot just a split second too slow for the NHL? There is a fine line between success and failure at the highest level, and openings that exist in the minor leagues are not going to be there as long in the NHL. Any small hesitation is going to take away the opportunity you have in front of you.
Ideal 2026-27
He does not need to be a star, but he needs to show something.
He needs to produce something.
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An ideal season for Koivunen would be sticking in the NHL for the entire season, and showing that he can at least contribute in the middle-six forward group and give them (and him) something to build on.
Give them 15 goals. Give them 30-35 points. Take a step forward. Become an NHL player.
Bottom line
Koivunen has nothing left to prove at the AHL level, and we are getting close to make-or-break time with the Penguins. That might seem like a harsh thing to say about a 23-year-old, especially when development is different for every player, but if you are going to a top-six or top-line player you probably need to start showing something by this age. You do not need to be at your peak or your absolute best. But you need to do something.
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At this point he is starting to go from prospect to suspect.
He is almost certain to get re-signed as a restricted free agent, but it is going to be a short-term “prove it” deal. It is going to be all on him to actually start proving it.
Final Grade: D+
It was a very disappointing season for Koivunen, at least as it relates to his NHL play.
There were positives, especially with the ability to help drive possession. But the Penguins expected to see, and wanted to see, more offense from him. The talent is there. The creativity is there. He just needs to bring it all together.
Read the full article here
