Rickard Rakell Out 6-8 Weeks, Ville Koivunen Recalled

After blocking a shot early in the third period of Saturday’s shootout loss to Columbus, Rickard Rakell went to the locker room and did not return. The forward ended up having successful surgery on his left hand Sunday.

The expected recovery time is 6-8 weeks, and it’s a big loss for the Penguins. Rakell had three goals and eight points in the first nine games of the season after a career year. He led the Penguins with 35 goals and ranked second with 70 points in the 2024-25 campaign.

But it’s also particularly upsetting on a personal level, as the Penguins are scheduled to fly to Sweden for the Global Series with Nashville in a couple of weeks, and Rakell won’t be able to play in front of his family and friends back home.

“He’s not only a big part of our team, but we got Sweden coming up, and it’s obviously something that both me and him, and Filip (Hallander) as well now, are very excited for,” Erik Karlsson said. “It’s unfortunate timing on that part.”

Penguins Head Coach Dan Muse also used the word ‘unfortunate’ to describe the situation.

“You hate to see it. But I think with Raks, he's going to be in good hands here,” Muse said. “We got a great staff here that's going to be working hard to help him get back as soon as he can. We have a lot of belief in the staff to be able to help him, just in terms of making sure when he does come back, that he's going to be ready to play. So, that's all you can do.”

“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.”

One of those players is Ville Koivunen. He started last year with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and was named to the AHL’s All-Rookie Team. He earned a call-up to Pittsburgh in March, picked up seven assists in his first eight NHL games, and, along with Rutger McGroarty, injected a nice dose of optimism into the organization.

But after making Pittsburgh’s opening-night roster, Koivunen didn’t have the start he wanted, and was re-assigned to WBS.

“Wasn’t good enough,” he said of the message from management. “I’ve got to be better. I agree.”

So, Koivunen went to northeastern Pennsylvania and absolutely dominated. Just last night in Charlotte, he scored the overtime game-winner to improve WBS’ record out of the gate to 7-0. He ranks second in the AHL in points with 11 (4G-7A).

“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. It’s pretty good,” Koivunen said. “It’s, of course, a great team down there. We’re a pretty tight group there. That helps a lot. Of course, we’ve played pretty well.”

Koivunen had an early morning after flying here from Charlotte, but he’ll take it.

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

He skated on a line with 18-year-old rookie Ben Kindel. The two of them had some good moments playing together in training camp.

“So obviously, you have that in your mind there, just from seeing things in the past,” Muse said. “But also, I think just offensively, (they’re) able to read off each other, play off of each other, complement each other. That's the thought there.”

Meanwhile, Hallander slotted into Rakell’s spot on a line with Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust. When asked how he looked at the opportunity, Hallander quipped, “It’s hard to get a better one.”

Since making his season debut in the second game of the year, Hallander has been a fixture on the third line with Tommy Novak for all but one game. They’ve mostly had Kindel as their center, with Novak sliding over when Phil Tomasino is in.

Hallander has been working to gain trust from the coaching staff with strong defense, and is looking forward to playing up the lineup and hopefully, get more chances.

“Our third line has been kind of that in between checking line and playing some offense. And obviously, when you come in like I've been doing, you don't want to screw up. At the same time, you want to produce offense,” said Hallander, who scored his first NHL goal in Los Angeles after getting 26 in the SHL last year.

“So, it's kind of that fine line of playing safe, but at the same time, you still want to make something happen. So, I think as you say, it's a great opportunity to play with those guys now and just go out there and have fun and see what happens.”

Here are the lines and D-pairs Pittsburgh used at Sunday’s practice in Cranberry ahead of hosting St. Louis on Monday...

Hallander-Crosby-Rust

Mantha-Malkin-Brazeau

Novak-Kindel-Koivunen

Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari

(Tomasino)

Wotherspoon-Karlsson

Shea-Letang

Dumba-Brunicke-Clifton

Kindel practiced on the top power-play unit with Karlsso, Rust, Crosby and Malkin. “It’s really special to be on the power play with them,” Kindel said. “It’s an unbelievable opportunity. I’m just going to go out there and just try to play my game.”