2025 NHL Draft Profile: Alexander Zharovsky

One thing Toronto does not have a lot of in their prospect pool right now is game-breaking skill, or at least the potential for it. Easton Cowan is a strong prospect, but his game is built around smarts and tenacity, not high-end skill. He does have skill to be clear, just not high-end skill that will be able to drive an effective line in the NHL.

Usually, there isn't much opportunity to draft a player with high-end skill outside of the first round. Since 2010, on the high end, there has been the occasional homerun pick beyond the first round. Drake Batherson, Morgan Geekie, Anthony Cirelli, Brayden Point, Pavel Buchnevich, Jake Guentzel, Carter Verhaeghe, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Vincent Trocheck, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Johnny Gaudreau, Bryan Rust, and Zach Hyman are all names you'd want who were taken in the third round or later.

So while it is rare (around one every two drafts), it is possible to find true star talent in the third round or later. These are the kinds of players I'm trying to find in the forwards I'm profiling for Toronto's third round pick.

I'll start with a guy who has had a lot of late hype over the past few weeks, who seems like he could now be an option for the second round.

THE BASICS: STATS AND CONTEXT

• Position: Left-shot winger
• League(s): MHL
• Height: 6'1"
• Weight: 163 lbs
• Birthdate: February 22nd, 2007

Here are his draft rankings, as of writing this:

• Bob McKenzie: Not ranked
• Corey Pronman: 49th
• Will Scouch: 63rd
• Elite Prospects: 42nd
• Scott Wheeler: 41st
• Dobber Prospects: Not ranked
• FC Hockey: 41st
• McKeen's Hockey: 43rd
• HockeyProspect.com: 24th

Last year, Zharovsky was playing in Russia's second tier junior league, not even the MHL. This year he made the jump to Tolpar Ufa, which is the junior team for the Salavat Yulaev KHL organization. If that name sounds familiar, it's because that was Rodion Amirov's team. They are not one of the absolute powerhouses that are based out of Russia's biggest cities, but they are consistently among the better teams in the league from my recent memory.

Back to Zharovsky, in his MHL rookie season he was pretty spectacular and only got stronger as the season went on. He finished with the most points of all U18 players in the league, with 24 goals and 50 points in 45 games. And if you split his season into halves, he had 15 points in his first 23 games but finished with 35 points in his final 22 games.

I will note that this doesn't mean Zharovsky is Russia's top prospect this year, since all the truly elite guys his age will be getting real games in the pro or semi-pro League there. But it does mean he's among the best of that next tier at producing points.

The other asterisk next to that production is that the junior team Zharovsky played for is in the weakest conference of the league – and it is MUCH weaker. Tolpar Ufa were the top seed in the conference, and they were swept in the first round of the playoffs against the 8th seed from the good conference. That does put some skepticism on his performances in the MHL – how much of how good he looked and how many points he produced is because he feasted on awful teams in the weaker conference?

Unfortunately I can't even compare his point production or watch his games against the better conference to see if there is an obvious difference, or if he can still hang against the best of the best. He played all of his games against the weaker conference, so that's all I can look at both for stats and for the eye-test.

However, things changed in a big way after his MHL season was over. Once Tolpar was eliminated from the MHL playoffs, he was eventually called up to join Salavat Yulaev's KHL playoff run. And he played in real games too – he got ice time in 7 games, averaging 6:11 in those games with one over 10 minutes, and had one assist. It's noteworthy that a KHL team who hadn't seen a 17 year old all season called him up halfway through the playoffs to play a depth role. They lost in the semi finals to the eventual KHL champions.

THE GOOD: UNBELIEVABLY SKILLED, LITTLE THINGS POTENTIAL

Simply put, Zharovsky is definitely, 100% the most fun prospect that will be drafted outside of the first round. He will have an argument to being the most purely dynamic and skilled in every way you can think of.

Zharovsky's offensive game is built on having elite puck handling skill and creativity, which I've seen some scouts say is even among the best in this draft. I'm not sure I'd go that far, but I don't think it's crazy to make that claim. He shows incredible control of the puck on his stick, achieving that kind of "has it on a string" effect where he seems to effortlessly weave through defenders with a mix of dekes, fakes, feints, and so on. His puck handling skill allows him to maintain possession even in tight spaces, allowing him to create offensive opportunities from seemingly impossible situations. He also uses give-and-go's effectively.

That's where Zharovsky's passing skill comes into the mix. Most scouts I've seen say he has outstanding playmaking and vision. He is more of a pass-first player, and that puck handling plus high intelligence and awareness allows him to pull off difficult, accurate, and high-danger passes with pretty high consistency. When he dekes and weaves into the offensive zone, he draws defenders out of position and opens lanes his teammates to get open.

Lastly there's his shot. He flashes a good wrist shot, but doesn't use it as much as you may like. A lot of his goals seem to come from dekes in close rather than sniping it from mid-to-long distance. Along those lines, he has deft touch when finishing in tight, using his slick mittens to reposition the puck and picking small targets around or through the goalie for goals. While his shot from distance is a bit of a weakness, his close-range finishing is a definite asset.

As you might imagine, his puck handling and passing make Zharovsky's transition game another strength. He is effective at pushing the pace up ice with the puck, carrying momentum into the offensive zone, and gaining controlled zone entries with consistency. But he also has the ability to slow the game down, especially after entering the offensive zone. I actually get a bit of a William Nylander vibe from him in this regard. He'll curl back to look for trailers, or attack gaps that the defenders leave him because they're afraid to get dangled. He can both take what defenses give to him, but also break things open on his own.

In addition, Zharovsky's work rate and compete have shown considerable growth throughout the season. He puts in a strong effort through each game, and has come a long way in terms of providing consistent and effective backchecks, and actively battles through checks and traffic. He became much more of a complete player through the season, and that is what I saw the most in his KHL playoff stint. They weren't playing him for his offense, he was doing the little things coaches want from fourth line depth and he could be a reliable puck mover.

In terms of his mental game, Zharovsky came to show a lot of composure. This is particularly evident in his ability to adapt to pass receptions even if they're awkwardly placed in his feet or behind him. His off-puck play and general "hockey IQ" are also highly regarded – he sees the ice well, scans and positions himself where he can have the most impact on both offense and defense, and he can read the play as it develops to anticipate where he needs to be.

Defensively he's a pleasant surprise, but I wouldn't call him the next Mark Stone just yet. He can break up passes and prevent scoring chances with his off puck work rate and anticipation. His problem-solving skills are strong, as he quickly reads defensive plays and times his puck handling around checks. Even in KHL games, his positive backchecking and defensive positioning have been noted, with scouts appreciating his willingness to engage and his proactive approach to shutting down lanes.

THE FLAWS: DECISION MAKING, POOR COMPETITION, SKATING QUESTIONS

The main concern with Zharovsky has always been how well that high-end skill can play up when he isn't playing against weaker competition. The MHL in general is not a very competitive league, and he played in the worst part of it. It's great to see him weave through entire teams, fire ridiculous passes and deke the goalie out of his pants. But you likely saw at least a couple highlights I clipped above and wondered what the hell the defenders around him were even doing. Can he replicate it against faster, better, stronger, more defensive players and teams with better, tighter defensive schemes?

Well, let's break down the particular areas where he'll need improvement.

Offensively, Zharovsky needs to improve both his shot and shot selection. His shot is not very powerful, and with his pass-first mentality he has a bit of the Max Domi issue in that teams can sell out on him making a pass. It's not nearly as bad as Domi is, but that's in the MHL. Adding to the problem with velocity, he tends to telegraph his shots, with a too slow windup where goalies have more time to get set.

On the shot selection front, the problem isn't that Zharovsky will shoot from anywhere – it's actually the opposite. He will pass up on quick catch-and-release opportunities in favour of trying to carry it closer to the net where his shot is less of an issue, or he'll pass it. This kind of thing led to some offensive consistency issues, stemming from some poor decision-making at times. It's a bit of that one man army kind of things.

Another area of concern with Zharovsky is his skating. While he moves well enough to succeed at the MHL level, he is more agile than fast, and more of an east-west than north-south guy. His explosiveness and top level speed could use some work. That raises some flags around if he can survive in higher-paced leagues. Improving his skating mechanics and working on adding more power in his lower body will go a long way.

Finally, Zharovsky still has some of those stinky junior habits that are common in teenage prospects still in junior, even in the CHL – looking at you, Easton. He occasionally tries to do too much by himself, carrying it into a sea of defenders and trying to pull off unnecessarily complicated and difficult plays. On the defensive side, while his effort has improved, his defensive engagement and physicality are not considered game-changing. He is not a dominant player on the boards and, while willing to engage physically, he needs to add significant strength to his game to consistently handle the heavier hits and larger players he will encounter in professional hockey.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Take all those flaws and issues and throw them in the garbage because I don't care! I love Zharovsky, his game, and what his brief stint in the KHL playoffs showed about how well he can play at higher levels, within a more strict system, against top competition with his flashy skill and his little off puck ability that didn't get talked about a lot from his MHL time.

Those issues I raised above? He already started to show the concerns were overstated from his KHL play, but even beyond that there's so much of those areas for improvement that will come solely from him growing from the 163 lbs he's listed at. He's not a small guy at 6'1", but he is lanky. As he adds muscle and fills out his frame, he'll add more power to his shot. He'll add more explosiveness and speed to his skating. He'll be able to hold his own along the boards and during other physical engagements.

Look, I get it. The Russian enigma thing, whatever that means to you, is something that creates a lot of uncertainty around their prospects. Will he even want to come over? Is he just a glass cannon on offense but lazy off the puck and defensively? Is his offense even that good or overrated because of his play against awful junior teams? To a small level, it's not even unfair to ask these questions about Zharovsky. I've come to view him as a bit like a less-skilled and incomplete version of Nylander.

I know the answer to this question changes on a game to game basis depending on when he has an off game or Toronto loses a playoff series to a team people already assumed they were going to lose to anyway, but do you care about the flaws Willy has? No, you don't. I'm answering for you. Because at the end of the day, you can't find his skill very easily. I'm not at all saying Zharovsky is at Nylander's level, but I am saying at the third or even the second round, Zharovsky is your best bet to find real game breaking talent. His odds may not be that good, but I take comfort from the fact that he's shown a lot of improvement this year in areas of the game beyond just putting up points. And I can also see ways for him to address the flaws to become an even better and more complete player.

I'm both annoyed and pleased to see how much hype Zharovsky has so close to the draft. He is definitely a late riser. I'm annoyed because I thought he would make a perfect hidden gem target for the third round, and now I'm skeptical he'll be available that late. But I'm pleased because it means I'm not out to lunch to be so high on him.

NHL Central Scouting has him as the 5th best skater in Europe. Fifth best! That would make him a first round talent. We'll see if the other scouting outlets that tend to align more with NHL team thinking, like McKenzie and Pronman, move him up a lot in their final rankings. As of writing this, in late May, neither had him ranked (though Pronman's only covered a bit outside of the first round). I'm hoping the skepticism around his competition and the Russian factor lead him to only rising into the late second round where Toronto can snap him up, if they believe in him too.

Thanks for reading!

I put a lot of work into my prospect articles here, both for the draft and Toronto's prospects. I do it as a fun hobby for me, and I'd probably do it in some capacity even if PPP completely ceased to exist. But if you like reading my work, some support would go a long way! I pay for a few streaming services (CHL, NCAA, USHL, the occasional TSN options for international tournaments that are broadcast) to be able to reliably watch these prospects in good quality streams. I also pay for some prospect-specific resources, such as tracking data and scouting reports from outlets like Elite Prospects, Future Considerations, McKeen's Hockey, The Athletic, and more.

Being able to get paid for this helps me dedicate more time and resources to it, rather than to second/third jobs. And whatever money I make here, a lot of I reinvest back into my prospect work through in those streaming and scouting services. Like I said, I'd be doing whatever I can afford for this anyway, so any financial help I get through this is greatly appreciated!