[1] He was the first National Hockey League (NHL) draftee to defect from the Soviet Union in order to play in North America.

During his NHL career, Mogilny played for the Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils.

He tied for the NHL lead in goals in the 1992–93 season with 76, and became a member of the Triple Gold Club by winning the Stanley Cup in 2000 with New Jersey.

Growing up in the Soviet Union, Mogilny was recruited at a young age to join CSKA Moscow, commonly referred to as the "Red Army Team".

Still, team officials anticipated that the duo, along with the looming arrival of Pavel Bure, would succeed the top line of Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov.

Mogilny's first major appearance for the Soviet Union on the international stage was at the 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

The penalty was eventually reduced to six months, which allowed Mogilny to compete in the 1988 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Lafontaine developed an instant chemistry playing with Mogilny and two players elevated their games to new heights by maximizing their speed and skill.

[9] Vancouver Canucks President Pat Quinn acquired Mogilny with the sole intention of winning the franchise's first Stanley Cup.

The team had just been swept in round 2 of the 1995 playoffs by the Chicago Blackhawks, and Quinn gave up three important pieces to acquire one of the league's best talents.

The motive was to pair Mogilny with Pavel Bure and form a dominant scoring line, as the two had played together at CSKA Moscow and had a well-established chemistry off the ice.

Bure, however, would miss almost their entire first season together with a torn ACL, so Mogilny played primarily with Cliff Ronning and Martin Gélinas.

Mogilny followed that with 9 points in 6 games in his first playoff series for Vancouver but it was to no avail as the Canucks were ousted in the first round by the Stanley Cup champions that year, the Colorado Avalanche, who were led by Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Patrick Roy.

Mogilny did not produce at the level that was expected, but nonetheless, the Devils won the Stanley Cup that year after beating the Dallas Stars in the finals.

The Devils went back to the Stanley Cup Finals for a second consecutive season, but could not repeat and lost to the Colorado Avalanche in 7 games.

During the free agency period of 2001, multiple teams expressed interest in Mogilny as the Devils could not meet his market price.

He was awarded the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct at season's end, the first Leaf to win it since Dave Keon in 1963.

Despite high expectations for the team that year for a Stanley Cup with many future Hockey Hall of Famers on the roster, they would not have much success in the playoffs.

[14] Recovering over the lockout cancelled 2004–05 season, on 16 August 2005, Mogilny returned to New Jersey Devils after agreeing to a two-year, US$7 million contract.

He agreed to play for the Albany River Rats, the Devils' then-American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, midway through the 2005–06 season for salary cap reasons.

Mogilny finished the year after playing 19 games for the River Rats, but could not gain medical clearance to return to the NHL for the 2006–07 season.

[17] Despite being widely recognized as one of the best goal-scorers in history, having comparable statistics to recent inductees such as Daniel Alfredsson and Paul Kariya, and being a trailblazer for Russian participation in the NHL, Mogilny has been denied entry into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

In the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, Russia had played five preliminary games in order to set the groupings for the main tournament stage.

Russia was the only team that went undefeated (winning against Finland (Moscow), Germany (Landshut), Sweden (Stockholm), the United States (Detroit) and tied against Canada (Calgary).

[26] Mogilny and Fedorov played on the same line and both led the team in scoring, but they lost in the semi-finals against the United States after defeating Finland 5–0 in the quarter-finals.

He has the most agility, the quickest release and the best shot...the leader of our line Former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin once called Mogilny the "best player [he's] ever played with".

Igor Larionov, who played with him briefly when Mogilny was a rookie with the Central Army team, was quickly impressed by the young Russian from Khabarovsk.

"[34] Former long-time New Jersey Devils president Lou Lamoriello once said of Mogilny, "If there was any one player capable of breaking a game open at any given time, he certainly is that.