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 (142nd overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft.
