Makarov is best known as the right wing on the Soviet Union's famed "KLM Line," with center Igor Larionov and left wing Vladimir Krutov, but the impact of his playing career was global.
The native of Chelyabinsk, Russia, emerged as a star early, helping the Soviet Union win the IIHF World Junior Championship in 1977 and 1978.
Makarov became a highly decorated member of the Soviet national team and his club team, Soviet Red Army, where he won the Izvestia Trophy as the top scorer in the Soviet league nine times. He played 13 seasons in the Soviet league, the last 11 with Red Army, finishing with 710 points (322 goals, 388 assists) in 519 games and was named the league's most valuable player three times.
Internationally, he helped the Soviet Union win the gold medal at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics and the 1988 Calgary Olympics, was a member of teams that defeated the NHL All-Stars at the Challenge Cup in 1979 and won the Canada Cup in 1981, and played on eight first-place teams at the IIHF World Championship (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990).
The Calgary Flames selected Makarov in the 12th round (No. 231) of the 1983 NHL Draft. It was more than six years later that he made his NHL debut with the Flames at the age of 31. In his first NHL game, against the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 5, 1989, Makarov scored one goal and assisted on two others. He began his NHL career with a seven-game point streak (two goals, 14 assists) from Oct. 5-17, 1989, finished his first season with 86 points (24 goals, 62 assists) in 80 games and was voted winner of the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. Makarov's victory led to a rule change that stipulated a player must be no older than 26 to be eligible for the trophy.
After four seasons with the Flames, Makarov was traded to the Hartford Whalers on June 20, 1993, and then to the San Jose Sharks on Aug. 5, 1993, where he reunited with Larionov.
Makarov had a productive first season in San Jose, leading the Sharks in scoring with 68 points (30 goals, 38 assists) in 80 games and helping the third-year team qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time. San Jose upset the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings in the first round and came within one game of reaching the Western Conference Final, losing its second-round series to the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games.
His output slipped in 1994-95, when he finished with 24 points (10 goals, 14 assists) in 43 games during the lockout-shortened season.
After Makarov sat out the 1995-96 season, he signed with the Dallas Stars for 1996-97. But he was scoreless in four games during November before joining HC Fribourg-Gotteron of Switzerland's top league, where he played five games before retiring. He finished with 384 points (134 goals, 250 assists) in 424 NHL games, as well as 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) in 34 playoff games.
Makarov was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2001 and into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016.
