Daniil Yevgenyevich "Danny" Markov is a professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 player and current captain for Vityaz Chekhov

Vityaz Chekhov

Hockey Club Vityaz is a professional ice hockey team based in Chekhov, Moscow, Russia. They are members of the Tarasov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League and are currently coached by former National Hockey League enforcer Andrei Nazarov...

 of the Kontinental Hockey League

Kontinental Hockey League

The Kontinental Hockey League is an international professional ice hockey league in Eurasia founded in 2008. As of 2009, it is ranked as the strongest hockey league in Europe....

.
Danny Markov began his career in 1993, playing for HC Spartak Moscow

HC Spartak Moscow

HC Spartak is a professional ice hockey team based in Moscow, Russia. They are members of the Bobrov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League .-History:One of the sections of the Spartak Moscow sports club, HC Spartak Moscow was established in 1946...

 in Russia. The Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

 of the NHL drafted him in the 9th round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft

1995 NHL Entry Draft

The 1995 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta. The drafting order was now set partially by a lottery system whereby teams would not be guaranteed first pick if they finished last. Instead, a draft lottery was instituted in which the winner of the lottery could move...

. However, partway through the 1996–97 season, he left Moscow and began playing for the Maple Leafs' farm team, the St. John's Maple Leafs

St. John's Maple Leafs

The St. John's Maple Leafs were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada at Memorial Stadium from 1991–2001, and at Mile One Stadium from 2001–2005.-History:...

. He made the jump to the NHL at the end of the 1997–98 season.