The KHL club SKA St. Petersburg on Friday traded Penguins forward prospect Kirill Tankov to Avangard Omsk for cash.
Tankov, 22, was the Penguins' seventh-round pick in 2021. He made his KHL debut this season and was scoreless in two games with SKA, but has otherwise been stuck with SKA's second-league affiliate in the VHL, where he has two goals and an assist in 13 games.
Tankov fared well in his first VHL season following his draft year, putting up 10 goals and 11 assists in 38 games. He was expected to compete for KHL time going into the 2022-23 season, but fractured a vertebrae in his neck in the VHL season opener and missed the entire season. He was ready to start the 2023-24 season and didn't seem to have missed a beat, racking up 11 goals and 13 assists in 42 games and eight goals and five assists in 11 playoff games, all at the VHL level.
SKA is deep at forward, with five other prospects whose rights are owned by NHL teams and former NHL forward Evgeni Kuznetsov in its ranks. There wasn't room for Tankov there, and in joining Omsk he has a better shot at pushing for KHL games.
Because the NHL and Russian ice hockey federation have no transfer agreement, Tankov's rights with the Penguins never expire.
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THE ASYLUM
Taylor Haase
2:52 am - 12.21.2024Newark, N.J.Prospect Tankov traded within KHL
The KHL club SKA St. Petersburg on Friday traded Penguins forward prospect Kirill Tankov to Avangard Omsk for cash.
Tankov, 22, was the Penguins' seventh-round pick in 2021. He made his KHL debut this season and was scoreless in two games with SKA, but has otherwise been stuck with SKA's second-league affiliate in the VHL, where he has two goals and an assist in 13 games.
Tankov fared well in his first VHL season following his draft year, putting up 10 goals and 11 assists in 38 games. He was expected to compete for KHL time going into the 2022-23 season, but fractured a vertebrae in his neck in the VHL season opener and missed the entire season. He was ready to start the 2023-24 season and didn't seem to have missed a beat, racking up 11 goals and 13 assists in 42 games and eight goals and five assists in 11 playoff games, all at the VHL level.
SKA is deep at forward, with five other prospects whose rights are owned by NHL teams and former NHL forward Evgeni Kuznetsov in its ranks. There wasn't room for Tankov there, and in joining Omsk he has a better shot at pushing for KHL games.
Because the NHL and Russian ice hockey federation have no transfer agreement, Tankov's rights with the Penguins never expire.
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