Prospects Of The Week
Krill Tankov Finds The Scoresheet Again After Hot Start Interrupted By Injury In The KHL
Krill Tankov started the 2025-26 KHL season with six points in 10 games for Severstal Cherepovets before missing six weeks due to injury injury. The 2021 seventh round pick went nine games without a point after returning to the lineup in late November but recorded two points–including the primary assist on the game winning goal–in a 4-3 overtime win for Severstal over HC Sochi on Christmas Day. Tankov currently ranks 17th on the team with eight points in 22 games.
Tankov recorded 21 points in 38 games in the VHL–the second tier of professional hockey in Russia–the year after being drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the first game of the 2022-23 season, Tankov suffered a broken neck and missed the entire season. The 6’2” forward rebounded with 24 points in 42 VHL games in 2023-24 but bounced around two leagues and four teams last season before finding a spot with Severstal for the 2025-26 season. At 23 years old, expect Tankov to remain in Russia barring a significant breakout season in the next two or three years.
AHL-Contract Forward Gabe Klassen Breaks Scoring Drought With Two-Goal Night
After going seven games without a goal for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Gabe Klassen scored twice in a 5-1 win over the Hershey Bears on Saturday night. The undrafted forward added a secondary assist on the opening goal of a 4-3 shootout loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms the next afternoon.
Klassen signed with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season but spent most of the year with the Wheeling Nailers, finishing fourth on the team with 43 points in 65 games. Prior to turning professional, Klassen recorded 265 points in 248 WHL games over parts of five seasons with the Portland Winterhawks, captaining the team for two seasons and finishing seventh in the entire league with 106 points and third with a +50 plus/minus rating in the 2023-24 season. Klassen currently ranks 13th on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with nine points in 24 games, but seems to be finding some offensive consistency and settling into elevated roles while the organization deals with frequent roster movement.
Vasily Ponomarev Scores Christmas Eve Overtime Winner In KHL
Vasily Ponomarev delivered a strong Christmas Eve performance iwth two goals, including the winner, in a 4-3 win for Avangard Omsk over Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik. Ponomarev tied the game 2-2 early in the third period and scored 3:39 into overtime to help Avangard maintain the second spot in the Eastern Conference in the KHL.
Despite missing nearly half the season due to injury, Ponomarev ranks eighth on the team with 17 points in 25 games. Last season, the 2020 second round pick acquired as part of the Jake Guentzel trade finished sixth on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with 41 points in 55 games but went without a point in seven appearances with the Pittsburgh Penguins. With a spot on the NHL roster not guaranteed heading into the 2025-26 season, Ponomarev decided to return to the KHL. Perhaps a strong finish to the season opens the door for another NHL opportunity in the future, similar to Filip Hallander.
Down On The Farm
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Get Three Of Four Points In Two-Game, Post-Holiday Weekend
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first period of a 5-2 win over the Hershey Bears on Saturday night. Gabe Klassen scored twice. Raivis Ansons scored and added a helper, and Nolan Renwick and Phil Tomasino scored the other Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goals. Phil Kemp, Boko Imama, Atley Calvert, Joona Koppanen, Chase Pietila, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Daniel Laatsch, Tristan Broz, and Valtteri Puustinen all finished with one assist. Sergei Murashov turned away 19 of 21 shots in the win.
The Penguins took a 2-0 lead off a pair of goals by Rafael Harvey-Pinard against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Sunday afternoon, but the Phantoms responded with three goals. David Breazeale scored for the first time in the AHL to tie the game in the third period, but Wilkes-Barre/Scranton fell in the shootout. Puustinen, Klassen, Pietila, and Harvey-Pinard all recorded assists. Joel Blomqvist recorded a helper on the second Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goal and stopped 36 of 39 shots in regulation and overtime before going 0-for-2 in the shootout.
Wheeling Nailers Games Postponed Amid PHPA Strike
The Wheeling Nailers postponed three games last week due to a strike by the PHPA. The league announced a tentative deal with the union late Saturday night on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement and hopes to resume play in time for a big slate of games scheduled across the league on New Year’s Eve.