For the second season in a row, the Montreal Canadiens’ fans are particularly interested in the KHL. Last year, it was about keeping an eye on prized prospect Ivan Demidov, and this year, it’s about keeping tabs on the Habs’ first pick at the last draft, Alexander Zharovsky.
While the Canadiens gave up their first-round pick to get Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders, they still got to pick the player they had on their radar in Zharovsky. They believed he should have been a first-round selection, so the fact that he was still available at 34th overall was a pleasant surprise, and Hughes didn’t hesitate to make a trade with Carolina to claim him there.
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Yesterday, the youngster scored his third goal of the season for Salavat Yulaev Ufa. He now has eight points in nine games, which makes him the third-best scorer on the team, behind Maxim Kuznetsov and Danin Alalykin, who have played 16 and 15 games, respectively.
Much like Demidov last season, Zharovsky is not seeing a ton of ice time in the KHL, averaging just 12:58 so far this season. This average was brought down by a game in which he saw only four minutes of action. There is no issue with his offensive play, but coach Viktor Kozlov wants to see him play at both ends of the ice and commit to the defensive side of the game as well.
It’s not easy to teach young players to do that, and there are growing pains, but if Kozlov manages to do it, when Zharovsky finally comes over to Montreal, that’s one thing the Canadiens won’t have to worry about. That’s major, considering how much Martin St-Louis is pushing his men to play a collective defense game. The sooner he learns, the better. The Canadiens don’t want to find themselves with another talented offensive player who struggles at even strength because he doesn’t know how to play defense. This is the situation Patrik Laine is in right now (when he’s not injured): he’s trying to learn to play that side of the game, and it’s not easy.
Zharovsky has got plenty of time to learn, though, since his KHL contract runs through to the end of the 2026-27 season. In a recent episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman said:
There isn’t anyone I know, including Jason Bakula [Sportsnet’s scout], who doesn’t think that Alexander Zharovsky will be a big hit for Montreal, and they got him in the 2nd round. –
It will take a bit of time, but when Zharovsky does come over, he will be an impact player.
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