Pens' Prospect Kirill Tankov Undergoes Neck Surgery, Remains in High Spirits
After succumbing a brutal injury sustained from a frightening hit earlier this week, SKA Neva's Kirill Tankov underwent successful neck surgery and is in good spirits.
Tankov was selected by Pittsburgh in the 7th round in 2021, and frankly he was always a long shot for the NHL. His playing career remains undecided, but for now the main focal point is on is health and wellness.
The 20-year old scored 21 points in 38 games for Neva -- SKA St. Petersburg's junior club -- of the VHL last season, and he has never played on the international stage. Therefore, the data set on Tankov is relatively small, so it is difficult to make any sort of holistic assessment of the player.
The hit that led to Tankov's injury:
The perpetrator -- Artyom Maltsev -- was ultimately suspended for 10 games by the FRH, Russia's Hockey Federation. The federation has taken a stern approach in mitigating foul play, even going so far as long-term disqualifications for repeated violations in which opponents are injured.
All in all, catastrophe was averted, and fortunately Tankov has all his usual functions and avoided life-altering injury.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Patrick Maroon | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Lukas Reichel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marco Rossi | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Boldy | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Travis Konecny | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Anze Kopitar | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Aleksander Barkov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Quinton Byfield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Noah Cates | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sean Couturier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jonathan Drouin | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brock Faber | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Marcus Johansson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Adrian Kempe | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Matvei Michkov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brandon Montour | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Martin Pospisil | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kevin Rooney | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Igor Sharangovich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Carter Verhaeghe | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||