The Penguins will try to replace Rickard Rakell with a committee of rookies

Ville Koivunen had quite a weekend.

On Saturday evening, the skilled winger scored the winning goal for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 3-2 overtime road win against the Charlotte Checkers at the vividly monikered Bojangles Coliseum.

The @WBSPenguins are off to a 7-0-0-0 start and are first in the AHL standings.

Danton Heinen - 1st in AHL in points (4G-8A)
Ville Koivunen - 2nd in AHL in points (4G-7A)

They’ve outscored opponents 28-10 and are rolling ????pic.twitter.com/q80fR3ZC9t

— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) October 26, 2025

Roughly 13 hours later, he boarded a flight out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport before touching down at Pittsburgh International Airport and zipping up Interstate 79 to participate in practice with the Pittsburgh Penguins at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.

“Always fun to win,” Koivunen said. “Even better when you get a call back up here. Also pretty tired. Woke up at like 5:40 (a.m.) or something like that. An early morning.”

Koivunen’s morning went much better than that of Penguins forward Rickard Rakell, who underwent surgery on his left hand early in the day.

He will require six to eight weeks of recovery. During a 5-4 home shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, Rakell was struck on the hand by a shot.

Typically deployed on the left wing of the top line and the bumper (slot) role of the first power-play unit, Rakell won’t be easy to replace. But the Penguins have several options — all rookies — to fill the various voids his convalescence creates.

Koivunen was recalled to occupy Rakell’s place on the roster, but it doesn’t appear he will return to the top line, a domain he operated at to open the season. During Sunday’s practice session, he skated on the right wing of the third line.

After skating in the NHL club’s first two games and failing to record a point, Koivunen was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (as veteran forward Bryan Rust was activated from injured reserve).

Management was blunt in what it told Koivunen upon being sent to Northeast Pennsylvania.

“Wasn’t good enough,” Koivunen said. “I’ve got to be better. I agree.”

The 22-year-old rookie’s play was highly agreeable with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. At the time of his recall Sunday, he was the AHL’s second-leading scorer with 11 points (four goals, seven assists) and aided that team’s white-hot 7-0-0-0 start to the season.

(Linemate Danton Heinen was the AHL’s top producer with four goals and eight assists in seven games through Saturday.)

“Of course, it gives (confidence) when you score a couple of goals, score a couple of points, and of course, when you win a couple of games,” Koivunen said. “It’s pretty good.”

Fellow rookie forward Filip Hallander is getting a good opportunity as Rakell’s presumed replacement on the top line. During Sunday’s practice session, he skated with Sidney Crosby at center and Bryan Rust on the right wing.

After Rakell was injured Saturday, Hallander was bumped up from the third to the first line.

“(Crosby) wants to give and go,” Hallander said. “For me, it’s just open up space. I think (Rust), too, is a player who should have the puck a lot. So, I think my role in that line, (if) that’s going to be, is to win pucks back and be strong on the forecheck.”

Hallander has some competent offensive credentials himself, albeit at a lesser level. Last season, he set a franchise record for Timra of the Swedish Hockey League by scoring 53 points (26 goals, 27 assists) in 51 games.

This season, from his station on the third line with limited power-play ice time, Hallander has two points (one goal, one assist) in eight games.

“He’s been playing well in terms of getting on pucks, sending plays, both play with the puck and away from the puck,” coach Dan Muse said. “We gave it a couple of shifts there because there was a need, and we decided today in practice we want to see it some more. So, we’ll see what that goes from there.”

As for the top power-play unit, it appears another rookie, 18-year-old Ben Kindel, will go there in place of Rakell. On Sunday, he operated on that unit with Crosby, Rust, defenseman Erik Karlsson and forward Evgeni Malkin.

What’s the challenge of relying on a handful of luminaries to carry the freight on the power play but not deferring to them too often?

“You have to trust yourself,” Kindel said. “But you just have to play smart. When the play is there, make it. But if not, just keep the play going and keep pucks alive.”

Replacing Rakell won’t be simple. In fact, the Penguins probably won’t really be able to fully compensate for the player who led the team in goals last season with a career-best 35.

But they are ready to counter that deficit with a committee of rookies.

“It’s unfortunate,” Muse said. “And then when these things happen, it ends up being opportunities for other people, and the expectation is guys are going to come in here and work for those opportunities now.”

Notes:

• The Penguins’ lines and pairings during Sunday’s practice:

11 Filip Hallander – 87 Sidney Crosby - 17 Bryan Rust

39 Anthony Mantha – 71 Evgeni Malkin – 16 Justin Brazeau

18 Tommy Novak – 81 Ben Kindel – 41 Ville Koivunen

19 Connor Dewar – 46 Blake Lizotte – 55 Noel Acciari

28 Parker Wotherspoon – 65 Erik Karlsson

5 Ryan Shea – 58 Kris Letang

24 Matt Dumba – 45 Harrison Brunicke – 75 Connor Clifton

• Forward Philip Tomasino, a frequent healthy scratch this season, operated as a reserve.

• The second power-play unit included Brazeau, Koivunen, Letang, Mantha and Novak.