Connect with us

San Jose Sharks

Making Sharks Out of Camp Special for Gushchin

Published

on

Credit: Dean Tait/Sport Shots

Danil Gushchin’s joy was palpable.



Never mind that he’s already played NHL games, six over parts of the last two seasons.

Never mind that he just dropped five assists to lead the San Jose Sharks to a last-second 6-5 preseason finale victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.

“Very nice building,” Gushchin deadpanned about T-Mobile Arena, where he scored a (preseason) hat trick in his only other game there in 2022. “I love playing there.”

But there is something special about breaking camp with the big club, a sense of accomplishment about a summer of hard work paying off, especially for younger players.

“I came here for my whole life. Work hard. Finally, I’m here,” Gushchin said on Monday, after the San Jose Sharks told him that he was making the team.

The 22-year-old came to the US from Russia when he was 16 to the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks, not knowing any English.

“Moving to America was a collective decision between me, dad, and my agent. My goal was to play in the NHL, so it made sense to try and go all the way up through junior and minor leagues here,” Danil Gushchin told Nikita Sokolov in Russian in an intimate San Jose Hockey Now profile last February.

It wasn’t an easy move though.

“At first, I really missed home,” Gushchin said. “Would call home almost crying. I first stayed with our head coach at Muskegon. He would even cook for me.”

But finally, the 5-foot-8 Russian winger is going to be part of the San Jose Sharks’ opening night roster, after getting selected by the Sharks in the third round of the 2020 Draft.

The road here this preseason — nine points in four games to lead the NHL — may have looked easy, but it wasn’t.

From the Muskegon to the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs to the San Jose Barracuda over the last six years, the 2024 AHL All-Star has always produced. But winning NHL hockey is about more than that, and Gushchin has learned that.

“Always good when you have a point, right?” he said. “But you still have to be good in the D-zone, play hard and forecheck, play without the puck.”

San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky will be glad to hear it.

“The points are one thing. It’s what else he brings which is even more important,” Warsofsky said.

Gushchin rattled off Warsofsky’s checklist for him: “Play without the puck. Be strong in D-zone coverage. Play good on the wall.”

He also added a lesson from someone even more influential than his head coach.

“I know I need to shoot the puck more. That’s what my dad tells me,” he smiled.

Gushchin is ready for his opening night spotlight: “I’m so excited. Can’t wait to start the season.”

It looks like Gushchin will start the season on the fourth line with Ty Dellandrea, flanking Nico Sturm. He will also be on the second power play until with Will Smith, William Eklund, Alex Wennberg, and Henry Thrun.

“He’s earned it,” Warsofsky said. “He deserves to be here.”

Sheng’s Travel Fund

Help fund Sheng's travel! Every dollar goes to the cost of getting to and from Sharks road games.


Click here to contribute to Sheng's travel pool!

Get SJHN in your inbox!

Enter your email address to get all of our articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Hockey Shots

Extra Hour Hockey Training

Cathy’s Power Skating

Sharks Team & Cap Info