Pittsburgh Penguins Prospect Leaves Team to Play Overseas

The Pittsburgh Penguins may not have elite level talent coming through their prospect pool at the moment, but what they do have is plenty of overlooked names that could become intriguing NHLers of the future one day.

In 2024/25, we saw the arrival of Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen, and with the 2025 NHL Draft helping them land some top tier talent, this is a prospect pool that becomes more and more interesting by the year.

One of the names to keep a close eye on is Mikhail Ilyin, who was a fifth-round pick of the team back in 2023, who has played two full seasons in the KHL since 2023.

While some were hoping that he'd relocate to North America in the very near future, the 20-year olds future has now officially been revealed, and according to Jason Spezza, it's going to be some time until we see that happen.

In his latest comments, Spezza noted that Ilyin will be headed back to the KHL next season, with hopes that he's ready to come to North America full-time for the 2026/27 campaign.

That would make Ilyin 21 by the time he's ready to make the leap, and with Pittsburgh needing some wingers to come through the organization, it would be a fantastic time to make that happen.

In his two KHL seasons, Ilyin has tallied 19 goals and 59 points, and at his age, that is fantastic production, so while he's yet to become a top prospect for the organization, with good numbers behind him and great size at 6-foot-0, this is definitely a name to keep an eye on moving forward.