The Edmonton Oilers selected Zharkov with the last pick of the third round (91st overall) in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
Zharkov began his 2010-11 season in the Russian Minor Hockey League with Serebryanie LVI St. Petersburg where he scored 3 points in 12 games.
He then came to North America to finish the season with the Tri-City Storm of the USHL where he tallied 8 goals and 3 assists in 36 games.
His 2011-12 highlights included being selected and playing in the 2012 MasterCard Top Prospects game in Kelowna, British Columbia.
[1] Zharkov made his Kontinental Hockey League debut playing with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod during the 2013–14 KHL season.