Pensburgh Top 25 Under 25: 24 - Kirill Tankov

OverUnder for the Pittsburgh Penguins new guys in 2024

The pipeline was neglected for years at this point as the team burned off futures for immediate results in the years.

The 2024 version of our Pensburgh Top 25 Under 25 countdown list begins with a checking line forward. Last time we looked at Ty Glover in the 2022 Top 25 Under 25 series, he was an undrafted forward out of Western Michigan, and now, two seasons later, he is a checking line forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

If you ask me, the low point in the Penguins' amount and quality of young players was 2022. They had a number of aging veterans, and very few young players looking like they would be good, NHL players. Kirill Tankov, the Penguins' third-round pick in 2022, was not playing major minutes in the KHL at that point, though now he has joined Ty Glover in the Penguins' lineup.

Tankov did make the KHL All-Star game for Team Tarasov this season. He is the first KHL All-Star from the Penguins organization since Evgeni Malkin in 2021, albeit in a weaker format.

Tankov has shown a good deal of offensive ability to go along with his physical play, but can he translate that into goals in the NHL on a regular basis?

Projection: 10-15 goals, 15-20 assists