Pittsburgh Penguins provide unfortunate injury details on young forward
Photo credit: Edit from Pittsburgh Hockey Now
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced early this morning that young forward Ville Koivunen has suffered an injury and will be out day-to-day.
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced early on Sunday that rookie winger Ville Koivunen is out day-to-day with what is being labelled as a lower-body injury.
He will be out of the lineup when Pittsburgh takes on the Nashville Predators in the second game of the NHL Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden.
What was the first indication that Ville Koivunen was injured
Koivunen left the Penguins' Saturday practice early, with no indication as to why, until this injury announcement today.
Koivunen has recorded one assist and six shots on net through his last four games. Those marks bring him up to two assists and 14 shots on goal in 11 games so far this season.
He has operated out of a fourth-line role, which will make his absence easier to address by using depth players to fill in. Danton Heinen is expected to draw back into the lineup for the fourth time this year.
Heinen has no points, is a minus-one, and has one penalty in those appearances.
Why Ville Koivunen's absence will be a tough pill to swallow
Koivunen may still be looking to find his stride in the NHL, but he remains the leader in points-per-game in the AHL, with 11 points in six games, truly showing his potential.
He posted a similar season last year, scoring 21 goals and 56 points in 63 games with the AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, to go along with seven points in eight NHL games once he was called up.
Koivunen was also a star in Finland's Liiga, where he posted 113 points in 164 games during his three seasons. He likes to shoot the puck and drives the play down the ice.
Once he's back in the lineup and healthy, it seems a question of when, not if, he'll find his scoring touch this season.
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