Last week, the Pittsburgh Penguins made some big headlines in the National Hockey League when they announced a new contract for forward Ville Koivunen.
Koivunen was a restricted free agent, and one of the last pieces of unfinished business for general manager Kyle Dubas before training camp opens in September. But the deal is gaining major traction for how unusual it is. The 23-year-old inked an eight-year, $32 million deal with the Penguins.
On the surface, it’s an exorbitant amount of money for a player with such little time spent in the NHL. Koivunen has just 47 games played in the National Hockey League, and has averaged just 13:39 a night during those games.
Of course, signing young players to long-term deals before their talent tacks on several more millions is far from an unheard of concept in the NHL. Usually, however, those deals are made with players who came into the show with way more hype, way more draft pedigree, and way more production to their name. Koivunen doesn’t have that kind of production yet to warrant such a deal.
The Finnish forward has just two career goals in the NHL, and is coming off a season where he registered just seven points in 39 games. And yet, this new deal the Penguins signed him to puts him in rare company in team history.
At eight years long, Koivunen’s contract puts him ahead of franchise legends Mario Lemieux and Marc-Andre Fleury, and ties him with Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. Only Sidney Crosby has signed a longer deal, and once the new seven-year cap on contracts comes into effect next month, Koivunen will forever be enshrined in that top four.
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