Kirill Tankov

June 2025 – The Pittsburgh Penguins’ seventh-round pick (218th overall) in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft is now two years removed from suffering a significant neck injury. He went head-first into the boards and fractured vertebrae in his neck, limiting him to one game during the 2022-23 season. The now 23-year-old will play in the Kontinental Hockey League during the 2025-26 campaign with Severstal Cherepovets. While the Penguins organization has had some success recently in getting Russian-born prospects to sign and make the transition to North America, Tankov, for now, appears to be staying in Russia. Tankov played in seven KHL games in 2024-25 with SKA St. Petersburg (two games) and Avangard Omsk (five games). Tankov has demonstrated some offensive skills while playing in the VHL, but they have yet to translate to the KHL. The unknown of Tankov ever coming to North America makes him not worth rostering. Should he leave Russia, then add him to your watch list and see how things pan out in Pittsburgh, but do not set your expectations too high. Mark Henry