It is really easy to be a prisoner of the moment in sports and overreact to things, both positively and negatively. Not every win means you are a championship team. Not every defeat means your season is over. Hot streaks happen for below average players, cold streaks happen for great players. It is a long season, and over the course of it the full body of work means a lot more than small sample sizes throughout it.
That brings me to Pittsburgh Penguins forward Egor Chinakhov. As of Friday he has only
played 36 games with the Penguins, and that is by any reasonable definition a fairly small sample size of games. But it has been so impressive, and so impactful, that is really hard not to say that he looks like he has a chance to be a star going forward for this team.
In fact, he might already be one. Or at least on track to becoming one. He scored two more goals on Thursday night, bringing his total to 20 goals for the season and already 17 in 36 games with the Penguins. The overwhelming majority of those goals with the Penguins have come during 5-on-5 play, an area he has usually excelled when given an opportunity. Since the start of the 2023-24 season there have been 408 forwards to log at least 1,000 minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time. Chinakhov’s 1.26 goals per 60 minutes in this situations is seventh in the entire NHL (oddly enough, Anthony Mantha is one of the six players ahead of him) and there is little to suggest that it is unsustainable.
He does have a 17.9 percent all-situations shooting percentage, which is fairly high, but he also has one of the best shots in hockey. It is also not so high that it seems like an unsustainable number, especially when he has shot over 14.5 percent previously in his career and is over 12 percent overall. He is seeing a little bit of a boost, but it is not fraudulent. With his shot, it is not out of the question to think he can sustain something over 14 or 15 percent on a somewhat regular basis.
When the Penguins acquired Chinakhov from the Columbus Blue Jackets in late December it was always an intriguing move. They paid a steep price given what he had accomplished in his career and the way things were going with him in Columbus this season, but the talent was always there.
On Thursday night I stumbled upon this post from long-time Blue Jackets beat writer Aaron Portzline from the day of the trade
Seems accurate. Everybody knew the talent was there. The issues were always staying healthy and convincing the coaching staff and organization in Columbus that he was worthy of a real look and a bigger opportunity. He rarely got both. We are seeing the enormous potential. It also seems quite likely that the change of scenery has in fact set him free.
Chinakhov’s calling card has always been his shot and just how ridiculously hard and quick it is, and it has been consistently on display with the Penguins. Along with that, there are so many other elements of his game that stand out and are significantly better than advertised.
At the top of the list is his speed. He is lightning fast, and on so many occasions with the Penguins has simply blown by defenders to create his own chances or goals. He just seems to get on defenders so quick, catch them flat-footed, and power around them. He sort of did that on Thursday with his first goal, which then came on an incredible, perfectly placed backhand shot that beat Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy over his shoulder.
He is also a significantly better player away from the puck than we were led to believe.
I am not going to say he is going to win a Selke Trophy at any point in his career, but the way he hunts down pucks, creates turnovers, and uses that speed to overwhelm players is an extremely pleasant surprise and positive development. We saw that on display in the game against the Boston Bruins in early March when he forced a turnover in overtime that led to Tommy Novak’s game-winning goal.
He just looks like a player. A really good player. An important player. Give him some real power play time on the top unit and you might unlock even more goal-scoring potential.
As much as the Penguins prospect pool and young talent has improved over the past year-and-a-half (and it has, quite a bit) the one big knock has been the lack of a truly high-end player that can be a star. Maybe Ben Kindel has that sort of upside. Chinakhov might as well, and perhaps even more than that. The Penguins needed to find a guy like this, and they may have done it. The emergence and development of those two players has played a significant role in the Penguins push for a playoff spot. It is also a significant development for the long-term outlook of the team and organization. Whether it is good luck, good scouting, or a combination of the two it is very important and a great year for the Kyle Dubas front office.
