2009-10: Daniil Zharkov spent his third season in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl program after leaving his native St. Petersburg. In 19 games with Lokomotiv’s U17 squad (including the Russian championships) he scored 12 goals with 7 assists and was plus-15 with 16 penalty minutes.
2010-11: Zharkov began the season with St. Petersburg in Russia’s MHL before joining the USHL’s Tri-City Storm after playing for Russia in the 2010 U17 Four Nations Cup. In 12 games with St. Petersburg he scored 1 goal with 2 assists and was an even plus-minus with 16 penalty minutes. At the Four Nations Cup he scored 3 goals with 1 assist and had 12 penalty minutes. Zharkov played 36 games for Tri-City, which finished with the USHL’s seond-worst record. He scored 8 goals with 3 assists and was minus-13 with 27 penalty minutes. Zharkov was drafted by the Belleville Bulls in the first round (13th overall) of the 2011 CHL Import Draft.
2011-12: Zharkov skated in the OHL with Belleville and played for Russia in the 2012 U18 World Junior Championship. Limited to 50 games after suffering a collar bone injury early in the season, he scored 23 goals with 13 assists and was minus-five with 25 penalty minutes. In the Bulls’ six-game first-round playoff series with Ottawa he scored 1 goal with 2 assists and was minus-three with 2 penalty minutes. Zharkov scored 1 goal with 4 assists and was plus-three with 8 penalty minutes playing for Russia at the U18 WJC. Russia finished fifth. He was ranked 32nd amongst North American skaters in Central Scouting’s final rankings prior to the 2012 NHL Draft.
2012-13: Zharkov was the second-leading goal scorer for Belleville in his second OHL season with the Bulls and played for Russia in the 2013 World Junior Championship. He scored 25 goals with 18 assists and was +18 with 24 penalty minutes in 59 regular season games. The Bulls finished first in the East Division and reached the Eastern Conference finals against Barrie. Zharkov scored 4 goals with 8 assists and was +8 with 21 penalty minutes in 17 playoff games. He had 1 goal and was -1 with 6 penalty minutes as Russia won the bronze medal at the WJC in Ufa, Russia; defeating Canada 6-5 in overtime in the bronze medal game. Zharkov signed a two-year contract with Nizhny Novgorod in Russia’s KHL in May, 2013.
2013-14: Zharkov skated in 49 of 54 regular season games for Nizhny Novgorod in his first KHL season and played six games with the club’s VHL affiliate HK Sarov. He scored 2 goals with 3 assists and was +2 with 35 penalty minutes for Novgorod, averaging 6:44 minutes of ice time. Coached by former NHL goalie Peter Skudra, Nizhny finished third in the Kharlamov Division and was defeated in a first round playoff series. Zharkov did not dress for any playoff games. He scored 1 goal with 1 assist and was -4 with 2 penalty minutes in six games for HK Sarov.
2014-15: Zharkov appeared in nine KHL games with Nizhny Novgorod in the second year of his contract with the club, spending most of the season in the VHL with HK Sarov. He was -1 with no points and 4 penalty minutes, averaging less than six minutes of ice time per game with Nizhny. Zharkov scored 4 goals with 5 assists and was -11 with 22 penalty minutes in 39 VHL games.
Zharkov possesses a mix of size and offensive ability that is intriguing but not yet well-formed. He skates well for a player of his size, but he does not always make use of that size. Zharkov has shown himself to be a streaky offensive player who needs to find more consistency in his effort. His defensive game also needs work.
Zharkov has yet to sign a contract with the Oilers but was at training camp with new Edmonton AHL affiliate Bakersfield on a tryout basis prior to the 2015-16 season. He has yet to play a game this season due to injury.
The Edmonton Oilers currently have an interesting mix of collegiate and European prospects in their development pipeline, ranging from college superstars like defenseman Joey LaLeggia to a pair of fringe players across the pond that appear to be one foot out of the door in Antti Tyrvainen and Daniil Zharkov. Other prospects of note include John McCarron, who is wrapping up his four years at Cornell University, as well as Tyler Vesel, who made a splash in his freshman season with University of Nebraska-Omaha.
The 2013-14 season was another disappointing finish for the Edmonton Oilers, who ended up 28th in the league, but at the prospect level, an increasingly large crop of young talent has shown promising development.