The Athletic published its list of each team's prospect who had the most promising season, and Alexander Zharovsky topped the list for the Montreal Canadiens.
Last weekend, The Athletic released its list of which prospects had the most promising season for each team, and for the Montreal Canadiens, Arpon Basu chose the Habs’ first pick at the last draft, Alexander Zharovsky. Since Kent Hughes had traded both of his first-round picks at the last draft to acquire Noah Dobson, the young Russian ended up being Montreal’s first pick at 34th overall. The Tricolore had to move up to get him at 34, but the organization was pleased to do it, especially since they had the winger in their top 12 on their internal list.
A childhood friend of the Canadiens’ first pick at the 2024 draft, Ivan Demidov, Zharovsky had a great season with Ufa’s Salavat Yulaev, putting up 42 points (16 goals and 26 assists), seven points short of Demidov’s under-20 KHL record. The 18-year-old finished third in scoring on the team in the regular season, and he’s now playing in the second round of the KHL playoffs.
He picked up two points in the first round as UFA defeated Ekaterinburg Avtomobilist in six games. On Wednesday, they will kick off their second-round series against the Yaroslav Lokomotiv, who finished third overall in the regular season, while Salavat Yulaev finished in 13th place. Needless to say, Zharovsky’s team will be the underdog.
The youngster is under contract with Ufa until May 31, 2027, but Basu believes that he could join the Canadiens earlier than that, just like Demidov joined the Canadiens last April after SKA St. Petersburg lost in the first round of the playoffs.
Bryce Pickford could also have been a good choice as the Habs’ prospect who had the best season, but the 20-year-old blueliner is playing junior hockey in the WHL against kids and not against men like Zharovsky in the KHL. Still, Pickford’s 83 points (including 45 goals) in 55 games certainly deserve a mention.
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