Penguins sign Mikhail Ilyin to entry level contract

Exciting promising forward signs up

There were some whispers that Russian forward Mikhail Ilyin had chose to re-sign in Russia instead of going with the Penguins at this time. Turns out that was incorrect, the Pens were able to sign Ilyin today.

There’s some talk that Pittsburgh could still be loaning Ilyin back to the KHL for this season, but getting him under contract and on board in the near future is a boon to the organization.

From the team:

The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forward Mikhail Ilyin to a three-year entry-level contract, it was announced today by President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas.

His contract will begin in the 2025-26 campaign and will run through the 2027-28 season.

Ilyin, 20, spent the majority of the 2024-25 season with the Severstal Cherepovets of the KHL, Russia’s top professional league. The 6-foot-3, 191-pound forward appeared in 64 regular-season games where he recorded seven goals, 23 assists, 30 points and was plus-9. Ilyin’s assist and point totals were new single-season career highs and ranked third overall on Severstal.

His 30 points during his 19-year-old season (turned 20 in February 2025) makes him one of just eight players in KHL history to accumulate 30-plus points in a single campaign as a teenager, and ties the Cherepovets team record set by 19-year-old Pavel Buchnevich in 2014-15.

The native of Cherepovets, Russia has spent the past three seasons in the KHL with his hometown club, where he made his professional debut as a 17-year-old. In 150 career regular-season games, Ilyin has tallied 19 goals, 42 assists, 61 points and is plus-22. He’s suited up for 10 career KHL playoff games, notching five assists.

Ilyin has also spent parts of the last four seasons with the Almaz Cherepovets of the MHL, Russia’s top junior league, where he picked up 40 points (8G-32A) in 55 regular-season games.

Ilyin was drafted by Pittsburgh in the fifth round (142^nd overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft.

Ilyin is a very exciting young prospect, he’s got some bonafide playmaking chops. Usually in Russia young players get very minimal ice time but Ilyin found a big role with Cherepovets. He repaid them with a lot of production.

Based on his age and impressive production in the KHL, some models really, really like Ilyin.

Signing a Russian player at age-20 is a coup for the Penguins. This signing is similar in surprise to getting Sergei Murashov last summer. Murashov at least came to prospects camp and had some comparison and familiarity to weigh in his decision between staying in the KHL a little longer or jumping over to the NHL. Ilyin is different in that he’s not yet had the opportunity to come to Pittsburgh or directly work with anyone with the Penguins outside of the calls and scouting outreach.

Ilyin ranked 11th last season on the Top 25 Under 25 within the Pens organization due to the immense talent and strong early career success he’s found in Russia.

It’ll be interesting to see how Ilyin’s game translates as he starts the North American portion of his career. He’s demonstrated real skill and ability to produce offense in the KHL, and the Penguins aren’t exactly stocked with a ton of NHL ready young forwards (outside of Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen, anyways). As with any prospect, it will come down to how Ilyin looks in camp and measures up to the rest to see where he belongs. That might include starting out in the minor leagues, but based on his talent and results in a pro league so far, it might not be too long before Ilyin proves ready to make an impact in the NHL.