Penguins A to Z: Joona Koppanen's impact will remain minimal

With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2023-24 season coming to an end without any postseason action, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 52 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until next season — with the organization, from fourth-line center Noel Acciari to reserve winger Radim Zohorna.

This series is scheduled to be published every weekday leading into the second day of the NHL Draft on June 29.

(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)

Joona Koppanen

Position: Left winger

Shoots: Left

Age: 26

Height: 6-foot-5

Weight: 216 pounds

2023-24 NHL statistics: Four games, zero points (zero goals, zero assists), 7:48 of average ice time per game

2023-24 AHL statistics: 58 games, 21 points (six goals, 15 assists)

Contract: In the first year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $775,000. Pending unrestricted free agent in 2025

(Note: The first year of Koppanen’s contract is two-way while the second year is one-way.)

Acquired: Unrestricted free agent signing, July 1, 2023

This season: The opening of the 2023 free agent signing period was busy for Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas as he spent a few million dollars on contracts for forwards Noel Acciari, Lars Eller and Matt Nieto; goaltenders Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic; and defenseman Ryan Graves.

Much further down the list was forward Joona Koppanen.

Dubas didn’t exactly break the bank on Koppanen, but he did make the curious decision to sign the reserve forward to a two-year contract that will become a one-way deal in the second year.

If there was any kind of significant demand elsewhere in the NHL for Koppanen that prompted Dubas to extend such an offer, that is anyone’s guess but clearly, Penguins management appeared to value him to some degree.

After a quiet preseason in which he played in three games with no points, Koppanen cleared waivers and was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Oct. 6.

After being scratched for the season opener, Koppanen was in the lineup for the next 18 consecutive games and was deployed at center on all four lines while also working on the penalty kill. Over that span, he posted six points (three goals, three assists), including a game-winning goal during a 4-1 road win against the Charlotte Checkers on Nov. 25.

The screen ???? The shot ???? pic.twitter.com/c4n4iWqVqM

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) November 25, 2023

By Dec. 2, Koppanen was recalled to Pittsburgh under emergency roster conditions and served as the NHL Penguins’ fourth-line center for three consecutive games. He was largely inert in that capacity as he averaged 7:25 of ice time per contest and had only two shots.

Koppanen’s cup of coffee on the NHL roster came to an end less than a week later when he was sent back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Dec. 8. Aside from a handful of healthy scratches due to the AHL’s rules on the number of veterans permitted in a lineup, Koppanen largely inhabited a middle-six center role with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton over the next three months.

Recalled on March 5, Koppanen appeared in one NHL game that same day and then was returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton three days later.

An undisclosed injury suffered during a practice session in early April ended Koppanen’s season as he wound up missing the final eight games of the regular season and each of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s two postseason contests.

The future: Not much is really going to change for Koppanen going into his second season with the Penguins in terms of how he may be used.

That’s to say the bulk of his ice time will come as a bottom-six center with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and he’ll likely be a candidate for the occasional recall in the event numerous injuries impact the NHL roster.

Essentially, he’s a “break glass in case of emergency” type of player who gets NHL ice time when there are a ton of absences among the incumbents in the NHL lineup.

The only thing that might be different for Koppanen will be the competition for playing time with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton given that prospects such as Tristan Broz, Ville Koivunen and Vasily Ponomarev will most likely be given every chance to nail down prominent roles.

Regardless, Koppanen’s impact will remain minimal.

Follow the Penguins all season long.