CSKA Moscow, New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins Zubov was drafted in the fifth round of the
1990 NHL entry draft by the New York Rangers. Prior to this, he played for the
Red Army's hockey team,
HC CSKA Moscow, in Russia. He continued to play for the Red Army until 1992, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Although Sergei spent some of his rookie season with New York's
AHL affiliate, the
Binghamton Rangers, he played forty-nine games as a rookie for the Rangers, scoring 31 points, considered then to be above-average for a defenseman. Zubov's high-scoring ways continued, as he scored 12 goals and earned 77 assists during the
1993–94 season, which led the team in regular season scoring. He contributed 19 points to the Rangers' playoff campaign, as he, along with
Alexander Karpovtsev,
Sergei Nemchinov, and
Alexei Kovalev became the first Russians to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup. Zubov continued to play well for the Rangers, but on 31 August 1995, he was traded to the
Pittsburgh Penguins with
Petr Nedvěd for
Ulf Samuelsson and
Luc Robitaille. Zubov only spent one season in Pittsburgh, it was rumored because he and team captain
Mario Lemieux didn't get along, especially on the powerplay where both men wanted to be in control. He was traded to the Dallas Stars on 22 June 1996 for
Kevin Hatcher.
Dallas Stars in 2007 Although Zubov never again reached the scoring height of his 1993–94 season with the Rangers, he earned all three of his trips to the All-Star game with the Stars. He never again reached an 80+ point total, but had 11 consecutive years of 40+ point seasons and 30+ assists. He only recorded a negative plus/minus four times in his career, with two of them within his first three years in the league. In the 2005–06 season, Zubov posted 71 points for his highest outing in over a decade, and also received his first
Norris Trophy nomination. Zubov missed nearly half of the
2007–08 NHL season with a
sports hernia injury and most of the
2008–09 NHL season with a hip injury.
SKA Saint Petersburg On 30 July 2009, he decided to leave the NHL as he signed a contract with SKA Saint Petersburg of the
Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He was also selected as a reserve by Team Russia for the
2010 Winter Olympics should an injury occur during the tournament. On 18 April 2011, it was reported that Zubov would officially retire due to hip-related injury problems. ==International play==