Penguins A to Z: Joona Koppanen served his purpose

With the Pittsburgh Penguins entering the offseason for a third consecutive year without a playoff appearance, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 56 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until future seasons — with the organization.

Starting with Noel Acciari and going on through to Philip Tomasino (regrettably, there is no Z on the payroll), every player will be profiled in alphabetical order.

This series is scheduled to be published Mondays through Saturdays leading up until June 24, four days before the start of the NHL Draft. In the event of a transaction, that schedule will be altered as necessary.

(Note: All contract information courtesy of Puckpedia.)

Joona Koppanen

Position: Left winger

Shoots: Left

Age: 27

Height: 6-foot-5

Weight: 210 pounds

2024-25 NHL statistics: 11 games, one point (one goal, zero assists), 13:23 of average ice time per contest

2024-25 AHL regular season statistics: 56 games, 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists)

2024-25 AHL postseason statistics: Two games, zero points (zero goals, zero assists)

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

(The first year of this contract is a two-way deal while the second year is one way.)

Acquired: Unrestricted free agent signing, July 1, 2023

This season: Entering 2024-25, expectations were limited for Joona Koppnen, especially after he made minimal impact in four NHL contests during 2023-24, his first campaign with the Penguins.

Largely a career minor leaguer throughout his professional existence, Koppanen cleared waivers Oct. 5 and was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on the same day.

Opening the season as a bottom-six center with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Koppanen got off to a solid start, offensively speaking, by posting three points (one goal, two assists) in his first four games.

Koppy with a ripper! pic.twitter.com/v69Rarz8k3

— x - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) October 20, 2024

Koppanen was a steady presence in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s lineup for most of the first five months of the season. In the team’s first 58 games, Koppanen was in the lineup in 53 of those contests, even as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had to regular scratch established players due to the American Hockey League’s rules that limit the number of veterans a team can dress.

By March 18, Koppanen was recalled to the NHL roster under emergency conditions. That same night, he scored his first career goal while operating on the left wing of the fourth line during a 4-2 home loss to the New York Islanders.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Joona Koppanen with 15:20 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Vladislav Kolyachonok and Kris Letang.

Pittsburgh: 1
New York: 0#NYIvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Isles pic.twitter.com/DQVNhalayd

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 18, 2025

While he did offer some competent play as a bottom-six forward with the Pittsburgh Penguins as they tried to finish out another lost campaign, Koppanen wound up being shuffled between the NHL and AHL rosters five more times — not including clearing waivers again April 15 — before the NHL regular season came to an end.

Despite all that movement, Koppanen finished his AHL campaign on a strong note, posting four goals in his final four regular season games at that level.

A SHORTY FROM KOPPY

For every shorthanded goal we score, Borland and Borland will donate $250 to our Penguins GOALS Foundation pic.twitter.com/HH4K6RgiAu

— x - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) April 20, 2025

In Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s two postseason games, Koppanen was held without a point while skating as a third-line center.

The future: If you need a bottom-six penalty-killing center who works cheap, is capable of making meaningful contributions to your AHL affiliate and will likely only be an option for a recall when a lot of your NHL forwards are absent, Koppanen is your guy.

But just given his limitations as he approaches his 30s and the overall emphasis the organization is placing on developing prospects with legitimate NHL futures (and the arrival of some of those prospects, at least with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), it just seems logical for the interests of all parties that Koppanen should move on as a pending unrestricted free agent this upcoming season.

In his two seasons with the Penguins, Koppanen served his purpose.