No. 14 Daniil Gushchin: Young winger continues to rise to the challenge

Daniil Gushchin has been on a steady rise up our Top 25 Under 25 rankings ever since the Sharks selected him in the 2020 draft. In three years, he has moved up from 25th, to 16th, and now to 14th. Although this most recent jump is only marginally better, it feels to many that Gushchin’s stock really rose after his performance in the 2022-23 season between the Barracuda and the Sharks.

Position: Right Wing
Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 181 lbs.
Age: 21
Date of Birth: February 6, 2002
Draft Year: 2020, 76th overall by the San Jose Sharks
Shoots: Left
2023-24 Team: San Jose Barracuda (AHL)/San Jose Sharks (NHL)

In his first full season of professional hockey, Gushchin showed that he is for real. The skilled Russian winger scored 22 goals and 45 points in 67 games for the Barracuda in the AHL last season. His 45 points were good for second on the team in points, only behind Andrew Agozzino. Gushchin tied with Thomas Bordeleau for second on the team in goals, and to top it off, scored a goal and an assist in a two-game NHL debut with the Sharks. The young scorer saw his opportunity and left his mark. Now, he looks to further solidify his position as a promising scoring winger in the Sharks organization.

Gushchin is known for his quick skating and intensity, and perhaps it’s both of these traits that have propelled him up each year he’s been in the Sharks organization. He has made a statement everywhere he’s played. As a 5’10” forward, Gushchin had to build his career on proving people wrong. At 14 years old, he dominated the Russian U16 league with 27 points in 13 games for Dynamo Moskva in 2016-17.

He then bounced between CSKA Moskva’s U17 and U18 teams, putting up over a point per game for both teams. In between those prolific scoring seasons, Gushchin represented Team Russia in international play at the U17 and U16 Men’s World Junior Championships and played an important offensive role in both tournaments.

For the 2018-19 season, Gushchin moved to North America to play for the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL. As in Russia, the story repeated itself here. Gushchin started with 36 points in 51 games, then increased his scoring to 47 points in 42 games during his NHL draft year in 2019-20. Alongside this USHL competition, Gushchin continued to represent Russia in international play, this time earning a spot on the U18 Men’s World Juniors team.

Following the pandemic-shortened season, San Jose drafted Gushchin in the third round at 76th overall. This was, of course, still during the Doug Wilson era and at a time when it seemed the Sharks were favoring skilled, smaller, scoring wingers of a similar mold to Kevin Labanc. Gushchin certainly fit this categorization, but he didn’t stop impressing there. He elevated his scoring yet again in his first season after the draft, another pandemic-shortened season with Muskegon. Gushchin was the team’s assistant captain, leading goal scorer, and leading point scorer, amassing 64 points in 46 games.

For 2021-22, Guschin moved to Canada’s OHL to play for the Niagra IceDogs. For a team that struggled offensively, Gushchin led the way by far. He put up 71 points in 51 games; the next leading scorer had 44 points in 54 games. That strong output shows he can drive offense, not just benefit from a highly-skilled teammate.

Now, after yet another impressive offensive performance, Gushchin looks to add to his point total. Can he be a point-per-game player with the Barracuda in 2023-24? It will be important for him to show he can lead the team in scoring and be a consistent offensive catalyst.

What we like

There is no doubt that Gushchin can put the puck in the net, but don’t forget that he is just as capable of setting up his teammates. His 23 assists last season had him only behind Agozzino and known playmaker William Eklund. Gushchin’s tenacious style of play also helps him as a forechecker. His intense play combined with the confidence he should have following his first year of professional hockey should help him reach new heights this coming year.

We also can’t help but like that he continues to play at an upward trajectory. His game and striking ability has grown essentially every season since he was 14 years old. His performance down the stretch with the Sharks and Barracuda helped cement his role as a leading forward prospect with the organization to start the next year. The Sharks are a rebuilding team and will absolutely need talented scorers like Gushchin to fill out a balanced offensive attack when skaters like Eklund and Smith become NHL mainstays.

Areas of improvement

Gushchin was never known to be a defensive specialist, but he must develop that part of his game if he is to become an NHL regular. He does not have to become a Selke candidate to keep an NHL job, but he needs to at least show that he can commit to a defensive system and limit turnovers.

We believe the excellent skating and hard-working nature of his game can help offset and defensive limitations. Offensive creativity will come at the cost of defensive limitations, but Gushchin’s scoring should be able to make up for that consistently. In one season with the Barracuda, Gushchin has shown that his ice time is warranted by his scoring output, and whatever mistakes he can make in the defensive zone can usually be made up for by creating a new offensive chance.

Guschin is still developing his game. Keep in mind that he is only 21 years old and has one season of professional hockey on his resumé. With ample ice time in the AHL and likely some more stints with the big club next season, we can expect to see Gushchin continue to elevate his game. He has done it his entire hockey career, and it’s been done through a combination of focused tenacity and elite scoring instincts.

Highlight

This was a beautiful goal. In Daniil Gushchin’s first NHL game on April 1, 2023, the Russian sniper fired the puck high and hard over Arizona’s Prosvetov. The puck was in and out in a hurry and evidenced the mark of a true sniper. After an excellent set-up by, who else, Erik Karlsson, Gushchin used his quick shot with limited room to place the puck perfectly above Prosvetov’s shoulder.