Penguins forward prospect Kirill Tankov is staying in Russia for at least the next two years.
KHL club Avangard Omsk announced this week that they signed Tankov to a two-year contract and will be loaning him to another KHL club, the Severstal Cherepovets, for the 2025-26 season.
"Kirill is a talented, promising forward who needs consistent game practice to develop," Omsk general manager Alexey Sopin said in a press release. "In Cherepovets, he will have the opportunity to prove himself and understand the demands placed on a player at the KHL level. We wish Kirill good luck and look forward to his return!
Tankov, 23, was the Penguins' 2021 seventh-round pick. He showed real promise in the 2021-22 season with 10 goals and 11 assists in 38 games with SKA-Neva in the Russian junior league, and was expected to push for KHL time in 2022-23, but broke his neck in the season opener and missed the entire season. He returned in 2023-24 and was back in the junior league, where he scored 11 goal and 13 assists in 42 games.
Tankov bounced around last season, playing 13 games with SKA-Neva at the junior level and recording two goals and an assist, and made his KHL debut with SKA, going scoreless in two games in the top league. He was traded to Omsk midseason and played 12 games at the junior level, recording five goals and three assists, and went scoreless in seven games at the KHL level.
Because Tankov was drafted out of Russia, and the NHL and Russian hockey federation have no transfer agreement, his signing rights with the Penguins will never expire. If he comes to North America in the future, the Penguins would have first dibs at signing him.
Tankov will be 25 when his deal with Omsk expires -- still relatively young. But it's seeming increasingly unlikely he ever makes it to Pittsburgh.
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THE ASYLUM
Taylor Haase
4:07 pm - 06.04.2025DowntownTankov staying in Russia
Penguins forward prospect Kirill Tankov is staying in Russia for at least the next two years.
KHL club Avangard Omsk announced this week that they signed Tankov to a two-year contract and will be loaning him to another KHL club, the Severstal Cherepovets, for the 2025-26 season.
"Kirill is a talented, promising forward who needs consistent game practice to develop," Omsk general manager Alexey Sopin said in a press release. "In Cherepovets, he will have the opportunity to prove himself and understand the demands placed on a player at the KHL level. We wish Kirill good luck and look forward to his return!
Tankov, 23, was the Penguins' 2021 seventh-round pick. He showed real promise in the 2021-22 season with 10 goals and 11 assists in 38 games with SKA-Neva in the Russian junior league, and was expected to push for KHL time in 2022-23, but broke his neck in the season opener and missed the entire season. He returned in 2023-24 and was back in the junior league, where he scored 11 goal and 13 assists in 42 games.
Tankov bounced around last season, playing 13 games with SKA-Neva at the junior level and recording two goals and an assist, and made his KHL debut with SKA, going scoreless in two games in the top league. He was traded to Omsk midseason and played 12 games at the junior level, recording five goals and three assists, and went scoreless in seven games at the KHL level.
Because Tankov was drafted out of Russia, and the NHL and Russian hockey federation have no transfer agreement, his signing rights with the Penguins will never expire. If he comes to North America in the future, the Penguins would have first dibs at signing him.
Tankov will be 25 when his deal with Omsk expires -- still relatively young. But it's seeming increasingly unlikely he ever makes it to Pittsburgh.
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