Joona Koppanen

The Boston Bruins have reached an agreement with one of their young forwards, signing Joona Koppanen to a one-year, two-way extension for the 2022-23 season. The deal will carry an NHL salary of $750K, and allows Koppanen to avoid restricted free agency for at least one more year.

Koppanen, 24, was a fifth-round pick of the Bruins in 2016 and has been slowly developed through their system for the last several years. The 6’5″ project is now coming off his best season as a pro, with 11 goals and 30 points in 62 games. The fact that the team already handed him a one-year extension shows just how invested they are in his development, and points to a potential debut with the NHL club at some point down the road.

When you’re as big as Koppanen, you don’t always need to bring elite offensive play to the table every night to be able to make an impact. While he’s certainly not your prototypical bruiser–in fact he sometimes could stand to be more physical–he has still come a long way in his overall game and was getting closer to an NHL call-up even this season.

With the Bruins needing depth more than ever, given the free agency of Patrice Bergeron and the absence of Brad Marchand to start the year, perhaps Koppanen can grab a fourth-line spot to start the year.