Penguins Lock Up Egor Chinakhov With Multi-Year Extension
Egor Chinakhov and the Penguins agree on a 3 year extension 🤝🐧 pic.twitter.com/oVcdmiG7xC
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) July 5, 2026
It's a three-year extension with a $6.25 million AAV for Chinakhov.
He came over in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets in late December. He was wallowing around on the fourth line in Columbus, with just three goals and six points in 29 games. But Chinakhov found new life after arriving in Pittsburgh, playing middle-six minutes and scoring 18 times in 43 games.
Overall, he set new career highs in games played with 72, goals with 21, assists (also 21) and points with 42.
The 25-year-old Russian right-winger was a restricted free agent, but did not file for arbitration as 15 others around the NHL did today, as this extension was close to being finalized when the 5pm ET deadline for filing arrived.
Chinakhov was the KHL's Rookie of the Year in 2020-21 before coming over to North America after being a first-round selection of the Blue Jackets in 2020 (21st overall). Aside from one 16-goal campaign in 2023-24, he struggled to really make an impact in Columbus. He had no such problems, however, in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins also announced another key RFA signing, with a $2.8M AAV deal with goaltender Arturs Silovs. It's a big raise from the $850K deal he played on in 2025-26.
The 25-year-old netminder posted a 19-12-8 record with the Penguins this past season, with an .887 save percentage and a 3.07 goals against average, along with two shutouts. He was strong in the playoffs with 2-1 mark, a .939 Sv% and a 1.52 GAA.
more to come...