Egor Chinakhov may have only played in 43 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins last year, but he made all of them count.
The Penguins acquired Chinakhov from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 29 for a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 third-round pick, and forward Danton Heinen. At the time of the trade, Chinakhov was having a miserable season, compiling only three goals and six points in 29 games.
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All of that came after he requested a trade from the Blue Jackets during the 2025 offseason. Once the Penguins acquired him, he became a totally different player and gained his confidence, compiling 18 goals and 36 points in 43 games. He finished the season with 21 goals and 42 points in 72 games.
He scored his first goal with the Penguins in only his second game, and it was a beauty. He took a long pass from Benjamin Kindel and showcased his electric release, beating Detroit Red Wings goaltender John Gibson five-hole to make it a 2-0 game in the first period. The Penguins went on to win that game by a final score of 4-1.
From that point on, he couldn’t stop scoring. His finest performance as a Penguin last season came during their game against the Boston Bruins on Mar. 8. The Penguins were down 3-0 more than halfway through the game when Chinakhov got them back in it with a blistering wrist shot on the power play.
He was all over the ice in the rest of the game, including on Tommy Novak’s overtime winner. He did all of the dirty work and made a beautiful move to the net before Novak finished the play off. That goal gave the Penguins a massive extra point in the standings, helping them make the playoffs for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
His play earned himself a three-year contract with an average annual value of $6.25 million. He has the potential to earn an even bigger payday if he plays well during the deal.
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I fully expect Chinakhov to play on the second line with Novak and Evgeni Malkin this upcoming season after how well they played on that line last year. They played 222:55 at 5v5 last season and controlled 51.8% of the expected goals, 52.8% of the scoring chances, and 52.1% of the high-danger chances. There’s a potential for those numbers to improve with a full season together.
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Chinakhov has great chemistry with both players and can finish the chances that they set up for him. He reads them really well and does a great job finding the soft areas of the ice.
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Considering how great his production was after the trade, I think there’s a very real possibility that Chinakhov scores 25-30 goals this upcoming season and could even score more than 30 if everything goes perfectly. He has the talent to do it and is in an organization that plays to his strengths extremely well.
I’ve hinted at it in a couple of other pieces this offseason, but if I’m Dan Muse and Todd Nelson, I’m putting Chinakhov on the top power-play unit. He has the best release on the team and can be a threat from anywhere in the offensive zone. It would also allow him to play with Sidney Crosby more after they played together a little bit at 5v5 last season.
Chinakhov has a ton of potential entering this season and the trade has a chance of looking like even more of a slam dunk if he hits it.
(Data via Natural Stat Trick).
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