Winger Ville Koivunen had two goals in 39 NHL games last season.
He seemed a longshot to make the Penguins in 2026-27, not least because they already had 13 NHL forwards under one-way contract.
At 23, he looked a “Four-A” player: Effective at the highest level of minor-league hockey but not good enough to contribute in the NHL.
Koivunen is listed at 6-foot, 184 pounds. Those figures are lies. He’s small and plays smaller. He has a rat-like agitator quality that surfaces in the American Hockey League but not the NHL.
But a different dynamic entered Koivunen’s picture on Thursday.
He got signed to an eight-year, $32 million contract.
“Is this for real?”
I got several texts to that effect from Pittsburgh hockey insiders who undoubtedly knew it was for real. They just couldn’t believe it.
Me, neither.
Koivunen had zero leverage, and the Penguins gave him an eight-year deal.
But there’s not a lot of risk involved.
Koivunen is under 26. If he stiffs, the buyout terms as per the NHL CBA are reasonable.
If Koivunen gets bought out after two seasons, the Penguins are responsible for one-third of the contract. The salary cap hit spreads out through 2040 but never goes above $750,000 per year.
Four million per is big money for a player of Koivunen’s non-existent accomplishment. But the NHL’s cap has gone up $16 million since the 2024-25 season. It’s at $104 million and will keep rising.
If Koivunen plays to the level hoped for, this deal could be a bargain.
That’s obviously a big “if.”
I like Koivunen’s skill set. He has 97 points in 97 career AHL games.
But for that to have a chance at translating to the Penguins, Koivunen has to get opportunity beyond his contract.
He’s got to play in the top six.
This contract makes zero sense if Koivunen doesn’t play in the top six. It’s low risk, but Koivunen can’t reap high reward as a third-liner.
The Penguins have Egor Chinakhov, Evgeni Malkin, Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust as top-six wingers.
Who drops down the depth chart to make room for Koivunen?
Malkin won’t move back to center, and shouldn’t. Management is dead set against that.
Given the Penguins’ veteran culture, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Koivunen and 19-year-old Ben Kindel on a third line. An attempt to build three so-called “scoring” lines.
Except some crummy reject would complete that line, and it wouldn’t score.
To give Koivunen a legit chance to succeed, president of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas needs to trade Rakell or Rust. (It’s too late to not bring back Malkin.)
Trading Rakell or Rust would not resonate favorably in the dressing room.
Koivunen might fail. But now he’s signed to a contract that will probably outlive me.
So, you’ve got to find out. He’s got to be used as his talents theoretically merit. Koivunen was almost exclusively bottom-six in his NHL games last season, and his production was a mere trickle.
It’s not a stupid contract.
Until Koivunen plays in the bottom six. Then it’s a stupid contract. Because you’ve betrayed the belief in Koivunen that contract indicates.
Prediction: Koivunen spends most of the season in the bottom six. Rakell or Rust gets sent packing at the March 1 trade deadline when the Penguins are out of the playoff picture.
This was supposed to be a big offseason for the Penguins.
It hasn’t been.
