Watch Carolina Hurricanes Stanley Cup parade celebration
The Carolina Hurricanes brought their Stanley Cup celebration to downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, as fans cheered them on from sidewalks.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have handed out an unusually lucrative and lengthy contract extension to a young forward who has had limited NHL production so far in his career.
The team announced on Thursday, Aug. 6 that it had reached an eight-year contract with Ville Koivunen worth an average of $4 million per season. Koivunen was a restricted free agent.
The 23-year-old was drafted 51st overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2021 and was acquired by the Penguins in the deal that sent Jake Guentzel to Raleigh in 2024. He had seven assists in eight games after the trade.
Last season, Koivunen scored two goals and tallied five assists for the Penguins at the NHL level and had 13 goals and 28 assists in 34 games for their Wilkes-Barre/Scranton American Hockey League affiliate. He helped the AHL Penguins reach the conference finals with four goals and five assists in 15 playoff games.
It appears that late-season surge was enough to give general manager Kyle Dubas the confidence that Koivunen could be a significant contributor at an affordable rate for the foreseeable future. Koivunen, however, did not appear in any of the Penguins’ first-round Stanley Cup playoff games against the rival Philadelphia Flyers or score in any of his last nine NHL appearances.
Widening the lens, Koivunen’s total minor league resume does show some promise with 35 goals and 63 assists for a total of 98 points in 109 games between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.
Still, the urgency to make such a commitment is a bit of a head scratcher for a team that has no other players signed past 2029-30 as franchise legends Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin wind down their careers.
While Dubas has repeatedly signaled a focus beyond their immediate window to win one more championship, he will face questions about whether Koivunen has earned this bet to be a big part of both the team’s present and distant future.
Philadelphia Flyers re-sign Nikita Grebenkin
The Flyers re-signed forward Nikita Grebenkin to a two-year contract with a $1.1 million average. The 23-year-old had 14 points in 55 games during his first full NHL season in 2025-26.
