Easton Cowan’s next contract has an early benchmark, and it comes from a player who hasn’t quite broken out yet.
On Thursday, Pittsburgh signed Ville Koivunen to an eight-year, $32-million deal worth $4 million per season, a contract that runs through the 2033-34 season. It’s one of the last eight-year agreements that can be handed out before the new CBA arrives on Sept. 16 and shortens the maximum term players can sign.
Koivunen, 23, has only 14 points in 47 career NHL games, so the Penguins are clearly paying for what they think is coming rather than what he has already delivered. He played 39 games for Pittsburgh last season and finished with seven points after arriving in the trade that sent Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes. He also made his NHL debut in 2024-25.
His best work came in the AHL, where he posted 13 goals and 41 points in 34 games with Wilkes-Barre. He added nine points in 15 playoff games before the Penguins were knocked out by the Toronto Marlies in the Eastern Conference Finals.
For Toronto, that number is worth keeping in the back pocket. Kyle Dubas is betting on Koivunen’s development in Pittsburgh, and the $4 million AAV could become a reference point when the Maple Leafs eventually sit down with Cowan’s camp. Under the new CBA, the max term drops to seven years, so price may matter more than length in those talks.
Cowan already has a stronger case at this stage. The 21-year-old put up 29 points in 66 games for the Maple Leafs in his rookie season, with 11 goals and 18 assists. He also chipped in three points in four regular-season games with the Marlies and then added 18 points in 22 playoff games as the club won the Calder Cup.
Toronto’s own evaluation of Cowan will keep evolving, but his first year gave the team enough to know he belongs. His junior production was louder, sure, yet he was a rookie on a struggling team and spent a month out of the lineup. With a cleaner run, the numbers might have looked even better.
That’s where Koivunen’s deal starts to matter. Cowan’s camp can point to it if he keeps building on his debut season, and the Leafs can use the next year or two to get more comfortable with exactly what they have. If Cowan keeps trending toward star territory, the price will only go up.
Toronto can either buy more years now and bet on the offensive ceiling he showed in junior, or wait and negotiate off a fuller NHL sample. Either way, Koivunen’s $32-million pact is a useful marker before Cowan’s own number comes into focus.
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