Not since Dominik Simon has there been a more polarizing figure in a Pittsburgh Penguins sweater than Ville Koivunen.
He’s always been an analytics MVP, and when he has been on the ice, good things have generally happened. It has just never really turned into individual results for him, and the eye-test has not always been passed.
While he has struggled to produce for himself at the NHL level, his AHL play has always been really, really solid, while he has always looked like a confident, engaged player.
Getting that to translate to the big leagues has been the problem.
Then the Penguins went and did something completely unexpected this offseason and signed him to an eight-year, $32 million contract that instantly shocked everybody. Given some of the other deals that were signed around the NHL this offseason with comparably unproven players, it became obvious that teams were willing to take bets on potential in the hopes that they get a long-term steal under the salary cap. They struck before the eight-year term limit went away, and they struck while there is a more reasonable buyout for players under the age of 25 in the event the gamble does not pay off.
I get it.
I see the logic.
It’s the type of move a lot of Major League Baseball teams make with unproven young talent.
There is also the reality that, given where the salary cap is going, Koivunen does not need to reach that high of a level for the contract to pay for itself and be a steal.
He still has to get there, and he still has to prove he can be an NHL player.
Over the past few games, you are really starting to see some signs that maybe, just maybe, he is figuring it out and everything that he was doing at the AHL is starting to translate over to the NHL.
The numbers are still painting a strong picture from a team perspective. When he is on the ice, good things are still happening for the Penguins. They are outscoring teams, out-chancing teams, and the play is generally in the correct end of the ice. He is getting some soft deployments and a lot of help in that regard, but they are still taking advantage of it.
He is also starting to be more noticeable in making contributions to that success.
With his overtime goal on Saturday, he is up to five points in 10 games this season, with three points in his past five games. While that may not seem like anything special, that’s still a 40-point pace, and it’s still useful production for a player on that cap hit, in this cap environment. Especially when combined with the positive underlying numbers.
He and Hendrix Lapierre have also seemed to develop a nice chemistry, and their numbers together have been outstanding in a very limited sampling. Outscoring teams 5-0 in 45 minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time, controlling over 80 percent of the expected goals share, and generally looking dangerous offensively. That goal against Florida on Thursday night was a thing of beauty. They were everywhere that night, and again on Saturday.
What really stands out about Koivunen so far is that he just looks like a more confident, engaged player.
He kept getting chances during the 2025-26 season, and when they would not go in he always seemed like he was on the verge of snapping a stick in half mid-shift. He had the world’s worst poker face and would obviously get down on himself. When he would get the puck in prime scoring areas, there always seemed to be a slight hesitation that would give defenders an opportunity to close on him and either take away the shot opportunity, or block it, or just get a stick on it to harmlessly deflect it away. There always seemed to be more thinking than reacting.
Right now? He simply looks more confident. He is more engaged with the action and not afraid to mix things up a little bit. He doe not look as consistently frustrated. Maybe finding the back of the net a couple of times early in the season is helping with that. He is also demonstrating the vision and playmaking that should be the focal point of his game.
The latter skill has always been there. Teammates always talk about how smart of a player he is and the way he can see the ice. We know he can play at a reasonably high level in the AHL, and they just needed him to figure out a way to make it work in the NHL. He might be taking steps toward doing that. It is still early, and there is still a lot of hockey to be played this season, but he had to start somewhere. Right now he is at least looking like a player that belongs in the NHL on his own merits and not just because the team made a reasonably large investment in him. There are a lot of positive signs. He needs to keep building on them.
