The Penguins are getting their first look at their new crop of promising young players this week at practice in Cranberry, and one of the most intriguing is forward Ville Koivunen. The 21-year-old Koivunen was a 2021 second-round draft pick out of Carolina before being acquired in the trade for Jake Guenzel.
Kyle Dubas pushed for Ville Koivunen to be added to the team in exchange for Guentzel in the spring, and Penguins management is excited about the 21-year-old's potential now that he's on the team.
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Koivunen is the key young player in this deal for Pittsburgh, whose reputation has skyrocketed since scoring 56 points in 59 Finnish Liiga games with Karpat in the 2023-24 season.
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Koivunen attributes his progress to improved skating ability.
“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.”
The Penguins like Koivunen's hockey sense, and in many ways, the following quote could apply more to the player Koivunen was traded for: Guenzel.
“I think hockey sense is the biggest thing,” Penguins assistant general manager Jason Spezza said. “He thinks the game at a very high level. He can manipulate defenders with subtle moves. He's very dangerous on the downhill power play. It's unfortunate he only got to play a few games (with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton). I think more (AHL) games would have helped him more. But it is what it is and I thought he played well in those games. He can play at a fast pace.”
“A big part of his development is just picking up the pace of his skating and getting stronger. Now he's going to be playing against guys all the time. That was the case in Finland, but in the AHL and NHL the rinks close a little earlier. We'll help him with that transition. But as far as his hockey IQ, that's the exciting part for us.”
2024-25 will be an exciting year for Penguins prospects. The pipeline is starting to bring some players into the system with Koivunen, Tristan Broz and Owen Pickering all starting full-time AHL work next season. Vasily Ponomarev, also acquired in the Guenzel trade and projected to be a bottom-six player, will also be a bit further along in knocking on the door to the NHL. Add in Joel Blomqvist (and maybe Sergei Murashov) and you have as much young talent (many of whom were drafted in the first or second round) that has been in the Penguins organization for a long time.
