Penguins’ Ville Koivunen Contract Extension Gets Immediate Return
· Yahoo Sports
One of the best ways to know how a team feels about a player is to watch what they do as far as contract plans.
The Pittsburgh Penguins recently signed Ville Koivunen to an unexpectedly big new deal. The NHL world wasn’t sure what to make of it.
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But if you’re trying to assess it, it’s worth considering why the Penguins would give Koivunen such a deal. Clearly, they believe in him.
And when the Penguins opened the season on Wednesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers, Koivunen quickly showed why he has all this hype starting to build around him.
Ville Koivunen Goal
The Penguins already led 1-0 in the first period of their season opener when Koivunen received a line-splitting pass that sent him in on goal all by himself.
The youngster quickly started showing off his stick skills, making it uncertain for goalie Ilya Sorokin to decide whether to defend the backhand or forehand for the lefty.
In the end, Koivunen feinted both ways before sliding a puck right between Sorokin’s legs.
It was quite the goal and had to feel good for everyone involved in this with Pittsburgh.
FRESH OFF AN UNEXPECTED 8 YR $4M AAV DEAL, VILLE KOIVUNEN SCORES HIS HIS 3RD CAREER NHL GOAL!!!! 🔥🚨
CONTRACT LOOKS GOOD EARLY! pic.twitter.com/44XWVqCg8w
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 1, 2026
Ville Koivunen Contract
The Penguins signed Koivunen to an extension in early August.
The deal is for the maximum-allowed eight years. He’ll make $32 million over the length of the deal.
That works out to $4 million per year, which could be quite the bargain if Koivunen develops into a star.
There’s a long way to go, of course, but the 23-year old is definitely on the rise.
He was originally a second-round pick by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2021 NHL Draft at No. 51 overall.
Koivunen never actually got into a game with the Hurricanes, though. He went to the Penguins in the Jake Guentzel tradde in March 2024, and now Pittsburgh is trying to let him spread his wings.
He played eight games in 2024-25 and had seven assists for the Penguins.
Koivunen didn’t find the same success last season, but he did get 39 games, and he scored two goals with five assists.
This season, the hope is that Koivunen can take a leap forward and prove that he belongs in the middle six for Pittsburgh.
The Penguins clearly have an aging roster, and they’ll need the next generation to grow into leaders in the next few years.
For now, guys like Koivunen can still learn from those around him, and that’s what he’s trying to do.
And now he’s got a goal in game one, in the first period no less. It’d be hard to start better.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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