Prospect Report: Danny Zhilkin

If Danny Zhilkin’s September is any indication of what’s to come, then a breakthrough season isn’t out of the question.

The 21-year-old prospect has come out of the gates with purpose, starting with an eye-opening performance against the Montreal Canadiens prospects at the Bell Centre in front of 21 thousand fans at the 2025 Prospect Showcase.

Zhilkin’s game winner came moments after Ivan Demidov (an early favourite for the Calder Trophy) had tied the contest up on a breakaway. Zhilkin later was on the ice for a defensive zone faceoff with the Canadiens trying to tie the game up again, he then blocked a shot to preserve the win. This all happened in the same building where Zhilkin was drafted by the Jets in June of 2022.

“Full circle moment for sure,” said Zhilkin before the game.

“Being drafted here, it was a great feeling.”

The Moscow born forward then delivered again the following night helping a tired bunch of Jets sneak past the Ottawa Senators, Zhilkin tried to score on a wraparound in overtime and watched Fabian Wagner end the game on the rebound.

Zhilkin didn’t stop there as back in Winnipeg for the first preseason game against the Minnesota Wild, he helped the Jets out to a 2-0 first period lead with a rocket of a shot.

It looked like he was going to be involved in three straight game winners, but Minnesota tied the game late in the third and won in overtime.

Considering how Zhilkin finished off last season with a real big push to close out his American Hockey League campaign, this shouldn’t be a shock to anyone that has watched him on the Moose including Jets head coach Scott Arniel.

He’s had some conversations with people within our organization, not only (Moose head coach) Mark Morrison, but Chevy, Jimmy Roy, different people have talked to him. That’s got him thinking about what it takes to play at this level. I watched that game in Montreal and I saw the highlights of the second game, and he was one of our best players there. Again, he was good tonight,” said Arniel Sunday night.

“He plays a lot of different kinds of roles. I’m not sure if he’s a penalty killer or a power play guy. He’s got some offence to him. He’s done a better job on his face-offs, he’s responsible at his end of the rink. Another guy where we’re seeing growth. That’s what you want with your young guys. You want to see them mature. Sometimes it takes guys a couple of years to find it. Some guys get it quicker than others. It’s nice to see Danny. He really has opened up a lot of eyes for guys.”

Zhilkin wanted to make sure he built off of what he did during the spring for the Moose and took what the coaching staff had asked him to do seriously.

“Yeah, it’s been going pretty good. I had momentum on the back end of last season, just had a great summer and knew what I had to work on, knew that I had to come into camp in shape,” said Zhilkin.

“I think I did that, I think I feel pretty good out there and I’m hoping to continue this momentum.”

Part of development is understanding what makes each individual successful and Zhilkin has bought into that as well.

“Biggest thing was to play with the puck,” said Zhilkin.

“I possess a good skill, good speed and when I have the puck that’s when I play my best.”