Penguins sign Mikhail Ilyin to entry-level contract

The Pittsburgh Penguins inked one of their top prospects on Saturday, signing left winger Mikhail Ilyin to a three-year entry-level contract that will run through the end of the 2027-28 season.

Now 20 years old, Ilyin played 64 regular-season games with the KHL’s Severstal Cherepovets in 2024-25, scoring seven goals and 23 assists for 30 points. That output set a new single-season career-high for himself, and he finished in the top three in scoring on his team. 

At the same time, his point tally during his 19-year-old season made him one of just eight players to hit the 30-point mark as teenagers in the KHL. Previously, the Cherepovets record was set by Pavel Buchnevich in the 2014-15 season. 

Initially selected in the fifth round, 142nd overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, the 6-foot-3, 191-pound forward made his professional debut at 17 years old and has gone on to amass 19 goals and 61 points in 150 career regular-season contests for his hometown team.

Additionally, he has put up five assists in 10 KHL Gagarin Cup Playoff games and also spent time over the last four seasons with Almaz Cherepovets of the MHL, Russia’s top junior league, where he scored eight goals and 40 points in 55 regular-season games.

While there was some uncertainty surrounding Ilyin’s future and potential arrival in North America and rumors of a KHL extension, he will likely suit up for the AHL Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins in 2025-26, as he acclimates to the North American game. 

Through his time in Russia, he bucked the trend of young players not getting significant ice time, carving out a leading role with his team and holding onto it with his production. 

Now, he joins a Penguins organization that is looking to get younger and return to Stanley Cup Playoff contention, after the 2024-25 season saw them finish seventh in the Metropolitan Division with 80 points.