Pensburgh’s Top 25 Under 25 countdown continues with Ville Koivunen, who made his NHL debut late last season and could be gearing up to play a full rookie campaign with the Penguins this fall.
Catch up on the previous entries for this year:
Pensburgh Top 25 Under 25: Graduates and Departed players in 2025 Top 25 Under 25: The best of the rest No. 25: Quinn Beauchense No. 24: Cruz Lucius No. 23: Travis Hayes No. 22: Brady Peddle No. 21: Finn Harding No. 20: Sam Poulin No. 19: Joona Vaisanen No. 18:
Avery Hayes No. 17: Tanner Howe No. 16: Tristan Broz No. 15: Emil Pieniniemi No. 14: Mikhail Ilyin No. 13: Peyton Kettles No. 12: Melvin Fernström No. 11: Arturs Silovs No. 10: Sergei Murashov No. 9: Phillip Tomasino No. 8: Owen Pickering No. 7: Joel Blomqvist No. 6: Bill Zonnon No. 5: Will Horcoff No. 4: Ben Kindel No. 3: Harrison Brunicke
#2: Ville Koivunen, RW
2024 Ranking: No. 5
Age: 22 (June 13, 2003)
Acquired Via: Trade with Carolina
Hurricanes on March 7, 2024
Height/Weight: 6’0”, 172 pounds
“His game is one of pure, unrelenting skill, and an attacking mindset to match. Koivunen wants the puck on his stick, wants to be a game-breaker, wants to make something happen every shift. Koivunen keeps his top hand pushed out, handles the puck at his hip, and doesn’t mind engaging numbers.” —The Elite Prospects 2021 Draft Guide
Koivunen came to Pittsburgh as part of the package the Penguins received by trading Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes in March 2024.
Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas said last July that Koivunen was “one of their players we targeted very highly” when putting together the trade, per Penguins team reporter Michelle Crechiolo.
When asked to describe his game at the time, Koivunen said: “I’m a skillful guy in the offensive zone, so I like to make plays for my teammates and myself, too. Skating helped me a lot, using my strength.”
At the time, Koivunen had played two seasons in the Finnish Liiga but had just 12 games of AHL experience under his belt.
Penguins assistant GM Jason Spezza spoke about Koivunen’s transition to North American hockey at the time of the trade (h/t NHL.com’s Wes Crosby):
“I think he thinks the game at a very high level. I think he’s able to manipulate defenders with subtle movements. He’s very dangerous on the power play, coming downhill. … He’s able to make plays at a quick pace. I think the important part of development for him would be just getting the pace of his skating up, stronger.
“The rink closes on you a little quicker in the American League and the NHL. So we’ll help him with that transition. But with the hockey IQ, I think that’s the exciting part with us.”
That adjustment didn’t take long for Koivunen, who led the WBS Pens and ranked third among all rookies with 56 points (21-35—56) in 63 games of his first full AHL campaign.
Koivunen was celebrated as the AHL Rookie of the Month in January after posting 14 points with two hat tricks in 12 games, and he was later named to the 2024-25 AHL All-Rookie Team in April as the first member of the organization to receive the honor since Joel Blomqvist in 2024.
He was called up for his AHL debut during a March 30 game against the Ottawa Senators, during which he registered two shots on goal but no points in 17:28 on the ice.
Head coach Mike Sullivan said at the time about calling up Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty (h/t Crechiolo): “My intention with players of this caliber is that we’re trying to set them up for success, and we’re also trying to put them in roles where they have an opportunity to play to their strengths. They’re different in how they play, but both of these guys have high hockey IQs. They’re both real competitive guys. They both have an offensive dimension to their game.”
A few more quotes on Koivunen from the time of his NHL call-up, per Crechiolo:
“I think he’s really smart, has a great hockey sense and has done a great job using it.” — Spezza
“You guys see what he does numbers-wise. But you guys don’t see the behind the scenes. He’s one of the first guys in the rink, one of the last guys to leave. He attacks every day. He works super hard, and it’s super cool to see him get this opportunity.” — McGroarty
“I think one of his most underrated skills is he’s not the biggest guy or the thickest guy, but he rarely loses a puck battle. He’s really hockey strong, he gets his nose over the puck, he’s fearless. For someone who’s supposed to be a skill guy, he’s in the battle all the time.” — WBS head coach Kirk MacDonald
Koivunen was a regular on the scoreboard with seven assists in his next seven NHL games while getting playing time alongside both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in the Penguins’ top six.
Koivunen’s seven points in eight NHL games were the most by a Penguins rookie since Guentzel in 2016-17, according to Penguins PR.
After the season, Koivunen told Finnish media outlet Kaleva (translation h/t The Hockey News’ Valtteri Karjula) that playing alongside Crosby had been “a dream come true.”
“First thing Crosby said was to play to my strengths. He’s always been helpful whenever I’ve gone to ask something,” Koivunen told Kaleva, per Karjula.
Dubas indicated during his end-of-season press conference that McGroarty and Koivunen would get another shot on the Penguins’ top two lines during training camp.
“If those guys are able to maintain their performance— and they’re going to have ups and downs as young players, they still need to continue to improve on execution, habits, conditioning, strength, all those different items— but trying to stabilize that, I think, would only benefit the team,” Dubas said.
A strong training camp from Koivunen could earn him a regular roster spot, if not on Crosby’s line then in the Penguins’ middle six, as the Dubas prepares to give young players like Koivunen, McGroarty and Harrison Brunicke another look this fall.
