Danil Gushchin

As a junior he moved from Iekaterinburg to Moscow youth programs before crossing the Atlantic, spending his early development with Spartakovets Iekaterinburg and then with the Dynamo and CSKA Moscow junior systems. In 2018 he left for North America and joined the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL, a step that familiarized him with the smaller ice and different style of play.

Following two seasons in Muskegon, Gushchin was taken in the third round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. He agreed to a three-year entry-level deal with San Jose on 21 May 2021. Rather than remaining immediately in the professional ranks, he continued in junior hockey with the Niagara IceDogs after being selected 4th overall in the 2020 CHL Import Draft, spending 2021–22 in the OHL before turning pro.

In 2022–23 he began with San Jose's AHL affiliate, the Barracuda, and posted 22 goals and 45 points in 67 regular-season games. That production earned him a recall and his NHL debut on 1 April 2023, when he scored in a 7–2 win over the Arizona Coyotes. He split time between the NHL and AHL the following seasons: Gushchin made San Jose's opening-night roster in 2024–25 and appeared 12 times with one assist before returning to the Barracuda, where he recorded a career-high 28 goals and 51 points in 56 games and added one goal in four playoff contests.

On 25 July 2025 San Jose traded him to the Colorado Avalanche for Oskar Olausson. Signed to a one-year, two-way contract with Colorado, he began the season with the AHL's Colorado Eagles, leading the club in goals through December and earning a pair of recalls to the NHL, though he was a healthy scratch on both occasions. Injuries interrupted his momentum and he finished the year with 18 goals and 32 points in 49 regular-season games, going scoreless in three postseason appearances. Not tendered a qualifying offer by Colorado, he returned to Russia and signed a two-year deal with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg on 8 July 2026.

A right winger by position, Gushchin's résumé is built on goal scoring and offensive instincts. His AHL totals and his goal on NHL debut underline a forward who finds the net and can drive offence at multiple levels; those traits have shaped his transitions between junior hockey, the AHL, the NHL and the KHL. He has also represented Russia at junior international tournaments.