Another day, another forward injury for the Pittsburgh Penguins. This time it is rookie forward Ville Koivunen going on IR with a lower-body injury that will keep him out of the lineup on a week-to-week
basis.
Getting the call in his place will be 2019 first-round pick Sam Poulin.
Now that he is 24 years old and shown no consistent play at the NHL level, Poulin has officially gone from a prospect to a suspect, and he might legitimately be looking at one of his last chances to carve out a career with the Penguins. In 13 NHL games he has zero goals and two assists, but he has been off to a very strong start with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the American Hockey League, scoring seven goals with eight assists (15 total points) in his first 16 games.
He is currently the team’s top scorer.
Koivunen’s injury is a bit of a disappointment and adds to the growing list of forward injuries that have no doubt played a big role in the team’s recent slump.
He joins an injured like that already includes forwards Rickard Rakell, Justin Brazeau and Noel Accairi, while Rutger McGroarty, one of the team’s top prospects and best young players, begins a rehab assignment in the American Hockey League. That is a lot to take out of a lineup that did not have a ton of depth to begin with.
Koivunen had just two assists in his first 11 NHL games this season, but I was not as down on his game as some others were. He just seemed like a guy that could not catch a break and just could not get a bounce on some prime chances. If one or two of them end up in the back of the net there is probably a different feel on his start. He was dominant in the AHL offensively before getting called back up to Pittsburgh. Now it will be a few weeks before he gets another chance.
In the meantime, this really does feel like a big opportunity for Poulin. If he does not make much of an impact in this call-up it will be time to start asking if it is ever going to happen for him here.
