Sunrise, Fla. – Birchit, president and general manager of Florida Panthers Hockey Operations, announced today that the club has acquired goaltender Danil Tarasov from the Columbus Blue Jacket in exchange for Florida’s own fifth selection (160th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft.
The 26-year-old Tarasov appeared in 20 games with the Blue Jacket in 2024-25, scoring a 7-10-2 record, .881 save percentage and 3.54 goals against the average. He posted his first NHL shutout with the New York Rangers on January 18th, putting aside all 26 shots he faced with regulations and overtime. Additionally, he scored a 1-1-0 record, .908 save percentage and 2.96 goals against the average in two appearances for Columbus’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Cleveland Monster.
The 6-foot-5, 203-pound Novokuznetsk native from Russia played in 65 career NHL games. All accumulating 19-34-6 records, .898 save percentage and 3.44 goals against the average in Columbus from 2021-22 to 2024-25. He also appeared in 34 AHL games with Monsters from 2020-21 to 2024-25, recording a 17-12-3 record, .894 save percentage and 3.25 goals against the average.
Prior to his North American career, Tarasov competed in the Sarabat Yulaev UFA and 18 Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) games on 2018-19 and 21st of 2020, producing an 11-4-3 record, .924 save percentage and 2.13 goals against the average.
On the international stage, Tarasov won the bronze medal that represents his home country at the 2019 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship, registering a 2-0-0 record in the tournament. He also competed for Russia in the 2016 IIHF U18 World Junior Champion, scoring a 2-1-0 record, .921 save percentage and 2.11 goals against the average.
Tarasov was originally selected by the Blue Jackets in the third round of the 2017 NHL Draft (86th overall).
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