With less than 48 hours to go before the 2025 NHL draft kicks off, the online draft content has gone into overdrive. On Wednesday, it was TSN’s Craig Button’s turn to unveil his mock draft. It’s nothing groundbreaking in the first three selections, with Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa, and Anton Frondell making up his top three. Still, when you look lower, towards the Montreal Canadiens’ selection ranks, it gets interesting.
At number 16, Button has the Canadiens selecting Malcolm Spence, a player we previously covered, but who has fallen to number 25 in TSN’s other draft guru, Bob McKenzie. A 6-foot-2 and 201-pound left winger, Spence would help the Habs address one of their areas of need, bringing some much-needed size to the lineup. In 65 games as an alternate captain with the Erie Otters this past season, he has scored 73 points.
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Next season, Spence has committed to play with the University of Michigan alongside childhood friend and Canadiens’ prospect Michael Hage. Should he be selected by Montreal, it could be interesting to see what kind of chemistry the two could develop.
As for pick number 17, Button has the Canadiens going to Alexander Zharovsky. Does the name ring a bell? Don’t worry if it doesn’t; most scouting outlets have him down as a mid-second-rounder, even though he is the fifth skater on the Central Scouting ranking of European skaters. It’s worth noting that he was not even ranked in the mid-season ranking, which created a buzz around him.
We did, however, talk about him recently, since he is a client of the Gold Star agency, and it was revealed that the Canadiens were set to meet him last Saturday. A six-foot-one and 163-pound right winger, the Russian has impressed in the MHL, where he put up 50 points in 45 games, but he didn’t play a single game in the KHL in the regular season before getting a brief seven-game audition in the post-season, during which he could only muster a single point.
He joined Salavat Yulaev Ufa U18 in Russia U18 for the playoffs following his team’s elimination in the MHL and put up 19 points in 10 games, which is an impressive production rate. Although it’s hard to get a sense of how strong that level is, neither Ivan Demidov nor Matvei Michkov played at that level. His biggest quality is his ability to handle the puck exceptionally well, and he can be pretty deceptive. This is coupled with good skating and the ability to shift direction.
Before even contemplating playing in the NHL, the lanky forward would have to put some much-needed muscle on his frame, and he would also need some time to develop fully. He’s got an intriguing skill set, but he still needs plenty of development time.
Of course, this is just Button’s mock draft, and it guarantees nothing as to who the Canadiens may pick, but I will admit I find it intriguing to see him put Zharovsky so high. I’ll be keeping an eye on that name this weekend to find out where he ends up landing.
Photo credit: Eric Bolte - Imagn Images
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