By Pierre LeBrun, Aaron Portzline and Josh Yohe<\/p>\n
The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired forward Yegor Chinakhov from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday for two draft picks and forward Danton Heinen. The picks going to Columbus are a second-round pick in 2026, originally owned by St. Louis, and a third-round pick in 2027, originally owned by Washington.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udea8 TRADE ALERT \ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n
We’ve received a 2026 2nd-RD pick, a 2027 3rd-RD pick and F Danton Heinen from the @penguins<\/a> in exchange for F Yegor Chinakhov.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcdd https:\/\/t.co\/H7AI7HoUZ5<\/a><\/p>\n CBJ x @OHHeartofitAll<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Hw3R5WN8za<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) December 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Chinakhov being traded was long anticipated, as he had requested a trade from Columbus in the offseason<\/a>. The 24-year-old was the Blue Jackets\u2019 first-round pick at No. 21 in 2020, but despite several flashes \u2014 five-to-10 game stretches where he looked like a productive top-six winger \u2014 he could never sustain the success, perhaps because of injuries.<\/p>\n Chinakhov has six points in 29 games this season as the Blue Jackets played him on every line. He started the season as a healthy scratch, then played out of place on the fourth line for a long stretch at the start of the season. When the Blue Jackets lost captain Boone Jenner to injury, Chinakhov got a shot on the second line. When Kirill Marchenko went down, he got a look on the first line. But he could never quite play well enough this season to grab hold of a top job.<\/p>\n Chinakhov\u2019s best season was 2023-24, when he scored 16-13-29 in 53 games. But there were times, certainly at the start of last season, when he looked like the Blue Jackets\u2019 most dangerous forward, combining his speed to open ice and an elite-level shot.<\/p>\n He drew the ire of the Blue Jackets last season, which was plagued by a back injury that Chinakhov could not get treated to his satisfaction. During the 4 Nations Face-Off, he returned to Russia to have a procedure done on his back that the Blue Jackets\u2019 team doctors would not approve.<\/p>\n When he returned later that season, the Blue Jackets were in a playoff hunt \u2014 they missed by two points \u2014 and Chinakhov was having trouble keeping pace. He was a healthy scratch for several games down the stretch.<\/p>\n Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell has been willing to trade him all season, but his demand in return was a roster player who could help the Blue Jackets. That\u2019s obviously changed, perhaps because the Blue Jackets added an NHL player, Mason Marchment, last week in a trade<\/a> with the Seattle Kraken.<\/p>\n It was no surprise that Waddell would trade Chinakhov. The only surprise is that he traded him to a division rival.<\/p>\n Why Pittsburgh is taking a chance on Chinakhov<\/p>\n On the surface, I like Kyle Dubas\u2019 decision to trade for Chinakhov.<\/p>\n For whatever reason, Chinakhov\u2019s considerable potential hasn\u2019t been reached in Columbus. But the fact remains that this is a big, talented, young player. Those are pretty nice attributes to possess, and while Dubas recently stated that he believes his Penguins can compete for a playoff spot this spring, his ultimate focus remains on the future. Also, the fact of the matter is, one of the most disappointing Penguins players this season has been Ville Koivunen, the 22-year-old forward who has managed only one goal this season. It wouldn\u2019t shock me if Chinakhov were to replace Koivunen in the lineup for the time being.<\/p>\n The Penguins\u2019 recent slide \u2014 they\u2019ve lost nine of their past 11 games \u2014 could conclude with Dubas going into sell mode when the NHL trade deadline rolls around. If that happens, players like Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust are going to be the object of affection for contending teams. Should Dubas opt to deal one or both of them, he would at least, in theory, have a player on his roster who has the talent to participate in a top-six role moving forward.<\/p>\n Dubas has taken numerous chances on talented players who have fallen out of favor with their NHL teams. Tommy Novak has worked out reasonably well, and Phil Tomasino has not. But Dubas likes taking chances on players with pedigree, and given the enormous amount of draft picks at his disposal, giving up a couple hardly prevents the Penguins from continuing to add to their future talent pool.<\/p>\n In Chinakhov, they\u2019ve added considerable talent to their present talent pool. He\u2019s only 24, so it seems a wise risk for the Penguins to take. \u2014 Josh Yohe, Penguins beat writer<\/p>\n
Thus, it behooves Dubas to bring young talent to Pittsburgh whenever the opportunity presents itself.<\/p>\n