Montreal Canadiens prospect Alexander Zharovsky is well on his way to setting a new productivity record for a player under 19 years old in a single season in the KHL.
To say that Montreal Canadiens prospect Alexander Zharovsky is having a good season in the KHL would be an understatement. The Habs’ 2nd round pick at the last draft currently has 35 points in 40 games with Salavat Yualev, and he’s well on his way to becoming the most productive under-19-year-old player in a single KHL season.
As things stand, that title belongs to former Washington Capitals Evgeny Kuznetsov, who recorded 40 points in the 2010-11 season and is now his teammate with Salavat Yualev. Kuznetsov is currently injured, but he has put up three points in five games so far since joining Zharovsky’s team. What’s interesting to know, however, is that when he set that record back in 2010-11, Kuznetsov recorded those 40 points in 79 games, which meant he had a 0.51 point-per-game average.
With the pair of assists he recorded on Tuesday, Zharovsky has climbed to number three on the above-mentioned ranking, leapfrogging Vladimir Tarasenko, who scored 34 points in 80 games for a 0.43 PPG average and tying Kirill Kaprisov, who picked up his 35 points over the course of 84 games, giving him a 0.42 PPG average.
Only two players now stand in the Canadiens’ prospect’s way, Eeli Tolvanen, who recorded 36 points in 49 games for a 0.73 PPG, and the above-mentioned Kuznetsov. As things stand, Zharovsky has a 0.88 PPG and eight games left before turning 19 on February 22. He needs five points to catch up to Kuznetsov and six to make the record his own. Can he do it? If he kept up the same pace, he would net seven points in the remaining eight games. It certainly looks like it’s attainable.
Salavat Yualev will be back in action on Saturday, and we’ll keep a close eye on his performance then, but so far, it looks like the Canadiens were right to trade up in the second round of the last draft to get him.
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