With the OHL regular season coming to an end today, several players signed to entry-level contracts will soon be joining their AHL affiliates to get a taste of professional hockey. Because the Niagara IceDogs failed to qualify for the postseason, that exodus has begun with Danil Gushchin, assigned today to the San Jose Barracuda.
Gushchin, 20, was selected in the third round of the 2020 draft by the San Jose Sharks, picked out of the USHL where he was playing with the Muskegon Lumberjacks. The Russian-born forward moved to the OHL this season to play for Niagara, where he exploded onto the scene with 41 goals in just 51 games. That tied him for tenth in the entire league, despite the IceDogs having a brutal season overall. In fact, the next closest player to Gushchin in terms of goal scoring in Niagara was Liam Van Loon, who had just 19 tallies.
A Hlinka-Gretzky gold medal winner, a USHL All-Star, and now a standout in the OHL, Gushchin has never really shown any signs of slowing his development. He’ll now face the biggest test of his hockey career, transitioning to professional hockey. Unfortunately, the Barracuda only have a handful of games left themselves, as they will miss the playoffs after a tough season. He’ll have to wait until 2022-23 to really get a full slate of game action.
I would get away from the IceDogs as fast as possible as well if I was him