Penguins Prospect Koivunen Chasing Franchise History In AHL

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins rookie Ville Koivunen is having a memorable rookie campaign in the AHL with 54 points in 64 games.

The 21-year-old from Oulu, Finland, is the Penguins' leading scorer by six points thanks to 20 goals and 34 points, which rank third and first among his teammates.  

After Sunday's contest against the Bridgeport Islanders, where Koivunen earned an assist on Valtteri Puustinen's game-winner, he surpassed Rob Schremp (53 points) for fifth place for most points by a rookie player in WBS history.

With 11 games left in the Penguins' regular season, Koivunen has a chance to catch Matt Murley (2006-07) and Tom Kostopoulos (1999-00), who each had 58 points as rookies. 

Despite averaging .88 points per game this season, Koivunen is a long shot to match Daniel Sprong's 65 points from 2017-18 or tie the franchise record (67) held by Toby Petersen from 2000-01. 

Initially drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round, 51st overall, at the 2021 Draft, Koivunen came to the Penguins in the Jake Guentzel trade in March 2024. Before this season, he played a single game for the Chicago Wolves in 2022-23, scoring his first AHL goal. 

Leading up to this draft year, Koivunen played in Liiga, Finland's top professional league, where he had 45 goals and 113 points in 164 games over three seasons. He's close to surpassing his totals from last year, which included 22 goals and 56 points with Kärpät.