Daniil Vladimirovich Tarasov (; born June 20, 1991) is a Russian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player. He is currently an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

who most recently played with HC Kunlun Red Star of the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

(KHL).

Playing career

Undrafted, on June 1, 2012, the

Worcester Sharks The Worcester Sharks were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2006 to 2015. Affiliated with the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks and located in Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachu ...

signed Tarasov to a standard

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

contract for the 2012–13 season to become the first ever Russian-born player to skate for the Worcester Sharks. During his rookie AHL campaign Tarasov scored 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points in 43 AHL games played, and he also skated in 17 games with the

San Francisco Bulls The San Francisco Bulls were a professional minor ice hockey team of the ECHL located in Daly City, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area market. They were an affiliate to the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League and the Worcest ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

. On April 2, 2013, Tarasov was rewarded for his strong play when the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

signed Tarasov to a two-year contract. As a restricted free agent with his NHL rights still owned by the Sharks, Tarasov opted to leave North America and sign a lucrative two-year contract to return home with Russian club, HC Dynamo Moscow of the KHL on July 17, 2015. After his sixth season with Dynamo Moscow, Tarasov left as a free agent and signed a two-year contract with Ak Bars Kazan on 28 July 2021.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarasov, Daniil 1991 births Living people Ak Bars Kazan players Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg players 21st-century Russian sportsmen HC Dynamo Moscow players Indiana Ice players Russian expatriate ice hockey people Russian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Russian ice hockey right wingers San Francisco Bulls players San Jose Sharks players Ice hockey people from Moscow Undrafted National Hockey League players Waterloo Black Hawks players Worcester Sharks players