Penguins sign forward Ville Koivunen to 8-year, $4 million per season contract

The Penguins announced they have signed one of their last-remaining restricted free agents on Thursday. 

Forward Ville Koivunen and the team agreed to an eight-year contract, worth a total of $32 million, with an average annual value of $4 million per season. 

The 23-year-old forward spent the past season between the NHL and the AHL. During his time in the NHL, he played 39 games and scored two goals and five assists for seven points. 

In the AHL, he scored 13 goals and 28 assists in 34 games. His 28 assists were the most for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. During the Baby Penguins’ run through the Calder Cup playoffs, he recorded four goals and five assists in 15 games, helping the team reach the conference finals. 

Originally drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes 51st overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, he was acquired in the Jake Guentzel trade on March 7, 2024. 

The Penguins traded Guentzel to the Hurricanes, along with defenseman Ty Smith, in exchange for Michael Bunting, Vasily Ponomarev, Cruz Lucius, two conditional picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, and Koivunen. 

Since making his NHL debut in 2025, Koivunen has played a total of 47 games, scored two goals and 12 assists for a total of 14 career points. 

He did not appear in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where the Penguins fell to their rival, the Philadelphia Flyers, in six games.