Sidney Crosby

Pittsburgh Penguins sign 23-year-old forward Ville Koivunen to an eight-year deal

Aug 6, 2026

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins made a significant investment in their future on Thursday, signing forward Ville Koivunen to an eight-year contract worth $4 million annually.

Koivunen, 23, was a restricted free agent. The deal signals Koivunen is an important part of the franchise as it navigates the twilight of the careers of icons Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.

The Finnish-born Koivunen, acquired in a March 2024 trade with Carolina that sent Jake Guentzel to the Hurricanes, had two goals and five assists in 39 games with Pittsburgh during the 2025-26 season.

Koivunen excelled in the playoffs for Wilkes-Barre, Pittsburgh's American Hockey League affiliate, collecting four goals and five assists in nine games to help the club to the conference finals.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

Players Mentioned

Sidney Crosby

Jake Guentzel

Kris Letang

Evgeni Malkin

Ville Koivunen

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NHL 2025-26 Leaders

Goals Leaders

53

MacKinnon

Nathan MacKinnon

51

Caufield

Cole Caufield

48

McDavid

Connor McDavid
Assists Leaders

90

McDavid

Connor McDavid

86

Kucherov

Nikita Kucherov

74

Bouchard

Evan Bouchard
Points Leaders

138

McDavid

Connor McDavid

130

Kucherov

Nikita Kucherov

127

MacKinnon

Nathan MacKinnon
Hits Leaders

413

Trenin

Yakov Trenin

339

Sherwood

Kiefer Sherwood

302

Cuylle

Will Cuylle
Blocks Leaders

190

McCabe

Jake McCabe

188

Dobson

Noah Dobson

185

Clarke

Brandt Clarke
Wins Leaders

39

Vasilevskiy

Andrei Vasilevskiy

38

Vejmelka

Karel Vejmelka

35

Oettinger

Jake Oettinger
Goals Against Leaders

2.02

Wedgewood

Scott Wedgewood

2.31

Vasilevskiy

Andrei Vasilevskiy

2.42

Vladar

Dan Vladar
Save Percentage Leaders

.921

Wedgewood

Scott Wedgewood

.915

Wallstedt

Jesper Wallstedt

.912

Thompson

Logan Thompson

NHL 2025-26 Rankings

Goals Rankings
Avalanche

3.63

Hurricanes

3.55

Penguins

3.54
Goals Against Rankings
Avalanche

2.40

Stars

2.71

Lightning

2.79
Power Play Rankings
Oilers

30.6

Stars

28.6

Wild

25.2
Penalty Kill Rankings
Avalanche

84.6

Blackhawks

83.7

Lightning

82.6

NHL 2025-26 Betting

Best Record ATS
Bruins

57-31

Flyers

58-34

Blues

49-33

Kraken

48-34

Blackhawks

48-34

Canadiens

59-42
Worst Record ATS
Panthers

30-52

Kings

32-54

Stars

34-54

Devils

32-50

Maple Leafs

34-48

Hurricanes

43-58

NHL 2025-26 Standings

Central DivisionWLOTLPTSDIFF
Avalanche Avalanche - p
55
16
11
121
99
Stars Stars - x
50
20
12
112
53
Wild Wild - x
46
24
12
104
32
Mammoth Mammoth - x
43
33
6
92
28
Blues Blues - e
37
33
12
86
-27
Predators Predators - e
38
34
10
86
-22
Jets Jets - e
35
35
12
82
-29
Blackhawks Blackhawks - e
29
39
14
72
-62
Pacific DivisionWLOTLPTSDIFF
Golden Knights Golden Knights - y
39
26
17
95
15
Oilers Oilers - x
41
30
11
93
13
Ducks Ducks - x
43
33
6
92
-15
Kings Kings - x
35
27
20
90
-22
Sharks Sharks - e
39
35
8
86
-41
Kraken Kraken - e
34
37
11
79
-37
Flames Flames - e
34
39
9
77
-47
Canucks Canucks - e
25
49
8
58
-100
Atlantic DivisionWLOTLPTSDIFF
Sabres Sabres - y
50
23
9
109
47
Lightning Lightning - x
50
26
6
106
59
Canadiens Canadiens - x
48
24
10
106
27
Bruins Bruins - x
45
27
10
100
22
Senators Senators - x
44
27
11
99
32
Red Wings Red Wings - e
41
31
10
92
-17
Panthers Panthers - e
40
38
4
84
-25
Maple Leafs Maple Leafs - e
32
36
14
78
-46
Metropolitan DivisionWLOTLPTSDIFF
Hurricanes Hurricanes - z
53
22
7
113
56
Penguins Penguins - x
41
25
16
98
25
Flyers Flyers - x
43
27
12
98
7
Capitals Capitals - e
43
30
9
95
19
Blue Jackets Blue Jackets - e
40
30
12
92
0
Islanders Islanders - e
43
34
5
91
-8
Devils Devils - e
42
37
3
87
-24
Rangers Rangers - e
34
39
9
77
-12

NHL 2025-26 Scores & Schedule

Scores

DATEMATCHUPSCORE
Thu
4/2
BOS BOS
@
FLA FLA
1-2
Thu
4/2
DET DET
@
PHI PHI
4-2
Thu
4/2
WSH WSH
@
NJD NJD
3-7
Thu
4/2
VAN VAN
@
MIN MIN
2-5
Thu
4/2
WPG WPG
@
DAL DAL
0-3

Schedule

DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Tue
9/29
FLA FLA
@
CAR CAR
5:00 PM
Tue
9/29
MTL MTL
@
TOR TOR
7:00 PM
Tue
9/29
NYR NYR
@
BOS BOS
8:00 PM
Tue
9/29
VAN VAN
@
EDM EDM
10:00 PM
Tue
9/29
CHI CHI
@
VGK VGK
10:30 PM