The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced the re-signing of forward Joona Koppanen to a one-year contract. The agreement was confirmed by Kyle Dubas, President of Hockey Operations and General Manager for the team.
The contract is set to last through the 2025-26 season with an average annual value of $775,000 at the NHL level.
During the 2024-25 season, Koppanen played for both the Pittsburgh Penguins and their affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the American Hockey League (AHL). He appeared in 11 games with Pittsburgh, scoring one goal and averaging 13:23 minutes per game. In addition, he participated in 56 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, achieving eight goals and 15 assists for a total of 23 points.
Hailing from Tampere, Finland, Koppanen has recently completed his eighth year playing professional hockey in North America. His career includes time spent in both the NHL and AHL. To date, he has played 20 NHL games between Pittsburgh and Boston, accumulating two points. In the AHL, he has appeared in 359 games with Providence and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, recording a total of 137 points from 53 goals and 84 assists.
Internationally, Koppanen represented Finland at several tournaments including the World Junior Championship in 2018 where he was recognized as one of his team’s top three players. He also competed at both the World Under-18 (2016) and Under-17 (2015) Championships. Notably, he won a gold medal with Finland’s U18 team in 2016.
Koppanen was initially drafted by the Boston Bruins during the fifth round as the 135th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.
