When Kyle Dubas was with Toronto, they were highly touting Ville Koivunen heading into the 2021 NHL Draft. Koivunen ended up going to Carolina in the second round (51st pick).st Overall, Dubas was a great addition to the Finnish forward after he ended up with the Penguins.
Pittsburgh's president of hockey operations and general manager pushed for Koivunen to be included as part of Jake Guenzel's return in the spring, saying “he was one of the players we were targeting heavily,” and Penguins management is excited about the 21-year-old Koivunen's potential now that he's on the team.
“I think hockey sense is the No. 1 thing,” Penguins assistant GM Jason Spezza said after Koivunen's first day of development camp on Saturday, “he thinks about the game at a very high level. I think he can manipulate defenders with subtle moves and he's very dangerous downhill on the power play.”
“I think a big part of his development is just picking up the pace of his skating and (getting stronger) because now he's going to be playing against guys all the time. In the American League and the NHL, the rinks close a little earlier than they did in Finland. So we'll help him with that transition. But as far as his hockey IQ, I think that's the exciting part for us.”
Koivunen had a stellar season with Liiga's Karpat before briefly playing for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton where he learned about the North American culture and style of play. Koivunen ranks second in goals (22) and points (56) and leads in assists (34). His totals are up significantly from the previous year when Koivunen recorded 12 goals, 16 assists and 28 points.
“I'm a skilled player in the offensive zone, so I like making plays for my teammates and for myself,” Koivunen said. “Skating to my strength has really helped me. Of course, my linemates always help me out and we had a pretty good power play. We scored a lot of goals on the power play, so of course that helps too.”
