Koivunen and the Pittsburgh Penguins agreed to an eight year deal with a $4 million AAV. The length of the term is certainly interesting given that the 23 year old has limited NHL experience and has yet to put together a body of work that would seem to justify the length of the commitment. What the term length does most likely is keep the salary ceiling down, allowing the Penguins to rest assured they have a useful bottom six player locked up long term at a cost that looks inexpensive today, and will look more affordable as the cap rises.

For fantasy purposes, so far in his NHL career (47 GP), Koivunen has seen sheltered usage with less than 15 minutes of icetime a night, spent mostly on the second and third line, with sparing use on the powerplay. He’s played at roughly a 25 point, 90 shot, 10 hit line across a full season, and the new financial commitment brings the expectation that his NHL role is solidified moving forward.

His underlying numbers scream for positive regression (sub 5% shooting and 5 on 5 team shooting percentage), and in the back quarter of the season, he saw a lift in powerplay usage. He started two thirds of his shifts in the offensive zone, and relative to Pittsburg’s forward corps owned one of the strongest relative Corsi percentages.

In cap leagues, that term is difficult to deploy on a performer with a shallow track record, but he could be an excellent young depth forward on a team looking for some cost certainty. Watch list him, and look for positive signs in training camp.

As is the case with every European player, the question was if Koivunen would be able to maintain his high point total and skilled play. He answered every question and then some. In 63 games, he registered 21 goals, 35 assists and 56 points in the AHL. Additionally, Koivunen saw eight games of NHL action and looked the part. He had seven assists and really injected some life into the late-season Penguins. In each game he played in, his ice time increased. Koivunen rocketed his way up the depth chart and surprisingly put himself into opening night consideration.