Daniil Tarasov leaves Sharks, signs two-year deal with Dynamo Moscow

Daniil Tarasov was tendered a qualifying offer by the San Jose Sharks, but has chosen to decline it and instead sign with the KHL’s Dynamo Moscow. Tarasov had spent the past three seasons in the San Jose system, but only cracked the NHL club for five games.

For the past three seasons, Daniil Tarasov has been trying to crack the San Jose Sharks roster. And after a 2014-15 campaign in which he got his first taste of NHL action, the Russian winger has decided to leave the league to sign a two-year deal with the KHL’s Dynamo Moscow.

Tarasov, 24, was signed by the Sharks in 2013 as an undrafted free agent after spending three seasons in the USHL. Before making it to the Sharks, though, Tarasov split a season between the ECHL’s San Francisco Bulls and AHL’s Worcester Sharks. With the Sharks’ AHL affiliate, Tarasov notched 14 goals and 28 points in 43 games, landing himself a two-year, entry-level deal with San Jose.

After signing the deal, Tarasov failed to get his shot with the NHL club, instead spending the entirety of the 2013-14 season in the AHL. With Worcester, Tarasov continued his consistent play, scoring 17 goals and 31 points in 47 contests. Ultimately, however, the goal was to make it to the NHL.

Tarasov got his first shot in early February, after being called up to San Jose in late January. After sitting out four games as a healthy scratch, Tarasov found his way into the lineup and, with little more than 10 minutes of ice time, managed to register an assist. In his second game, however, Tarasov went down with injury, which forced him to miss nearly three weeks of action.

All told, Tarasov got five NHL games in and averaged less than eight minutes of ice time.

As a restricted free agent whose rights were retained by the Sharks, Tarasov was given a qualifying offer from the club, but he chose not to accept and, instead, will be headed to Moscow on the two-year pact.

Tarasov has a history with Dynamo, playing his youth hockey in the system. He left Russia in 2009-10, however, to pursue a career in North America. Tarasov will join former NHLer Kaspars Daugavins on the Moscow roster.