Ville Koivunen News: Sent down to minors

Koivunen was reassigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Thursday.

Koivunen found the back of the net against the Blue Jackets on Sunday, but that was his first goal since Dec. 4 against the Lightning, a stretch of 10 games without a goal. With the addition of Yegor Chinakhov, the 22-year-old Koivunen would have had a hard time breaking into the lineup now that Evgeni Malkin (upper body) is back, so the decision to move him to the Baby Pens, where he can fill a top-six role, certainly makes sense for his long-term development.