| Ville Koivunen | |
| Birth Date: | 13 June 2003 |
| Birth Place: | Oulu, Finland |
| Height Ft: | 5 |
| Height In: | 11 |
| Weight Lbs: | 161 |
| Position: | Forward |
| Shoots: | Left |
| League: | NHL |
| Team: | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Prospect Team: | WBS Penguins |
| Prospect League: | AHL |
| Former Teams: | Oulun Kärpät |
| Draft: | 51st overall |
| Draft Year: | 2021 |
| Draft Team: | Carolina Hurricanes |
| Career Start: | 2021 |
Ville Koivunen (born 13 June 2003) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL).
During the 2020–21 season, he served as an alternate captain and recorded 23 goals and 26 assists in 38 games with Oulun Kärpät's junior team in Finland's top junior league, U20 SM-sarja. He was subsequently named the league's Rookie of the Year and selected to the Second All-Star Team after he ranked third in the league in goals and points.[1] He made his professional debut for Kärpät during the 2021–22 season.
Koivunen was drafted in the second round, 51st overall, by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.[2] On 15 August 2021, the Hurricanes signed Koivunen to a three-year, entry-level contract.[3]
On 7 March 2024, Koivunen was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with Michael Bunting, prospect Cruz Lucius, Vasili Ponomaryov and two conditional 2024 draft picks, in exchange for Jake Guentzel and Ty Smith.[4]
Koivunen represented Finland under-18 team at the 2021 IIHF World U18 Championships where he recorded four goals and six assists in seven games.[5] He represented Finland junior team at the 2022 World Junior Championships and won a silver medal.[6]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |||||
| 2020–21 | Oulun Kärpät | U20 | 38 | 23 | 26 | 49 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | Oulun Kärpät | Liiga | 53 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 20 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23 | Oulun Kärpät | Liiga | 52 | 12 | 16 | 28 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2023–24 | Oulun Kärpät | Liiga | 59 | 22 | 34 | 56 | 26 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 14 | ||
| 2023–24 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Liiga totals | 164 | 45 | 68 | 113 | 72 | 21 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 14 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Finland | U17 | 7th | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2021 | Finland | U18 | 4th | 7 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2022 | Finland | WJC | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | Finland | WJC | 5th | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 23 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 2 | ||||