Analyst Has Alexander Zharovsky As the 3rd Best NHL-Affiliated Prospect

When it comes to Zharovsky even being ahead of Michael Hage, it can be somewhat controversial, as yes, the 19-year-old is tearing up the KHL, with 14 goals and 38 points in 50 games during his rookie season, but the North American game can still be a complete culture shock for anyone coming over. Nonetheless, he should be high on the list, but number #3 on the surface does seem a little high, especially since we haven’t seen how his game compares to other prospects due to the ban of Russia in international hockey tournaments. Personally, I can’t see why he would be ahead of Michael Hage, who, in my opinion, is probably around the right spot for NHL-affiliated prospects.

His argument for putting Zharovsky ahead of Hage was that the Russian forward is on pace to break Demidov’s rookie record for points in the KHL. While this is true, the fact is that he is getting a lot more ice time than Demidov, which helps him a lot. However, he doesn’t drive play the way Hage has in college or at the World Juniors earlier this year. With that being said, the record he looks like he will break is awesome, but the reality is Leroux may be too high on Zharovsky based on that KHL record than the actual full package that the two players are showing right now. It just seems that Hage’s overall game will transition more easily to NHL stardom, but it’s possible that Zharovsky still ends up being the better player, making Leroix’s analysis look really smart. Even Leroux himself explains that he thinks it could go either way when discussing those two prospects.

When looking through Leroux’s list, it became very clear that the best of the best prospects over the last few years are already in the NHL, making them ineligible for this list, which sort of backs up Leroux’s list as being a more valid assessment than that of a homer who puts Canadiens prospects ahead due to favouritism. There is no denying that Leroux probably has bias in his list, but really it makes more sense than it may seem when you hear about Zharovsky’s and Hage’s rankings without looking at the list.

As mentioned above, only Hagens and Helenius are ahead of Zharovsky. Then, when you look at the rest of the list, there is an easy argument that the Russian forward has more upside than everyone below him, and the same certainly goes for Hage, who is tearing it up at Michigan this season. There is no NHL-affiliated prospect outside the league that can be considered a can’t-miss #1 prospect on that list. In fact, Helenius is probably very close to graduating from this list, which would surely move both players up this board as a result.

On pure talent and projectability, the spot that both players are currently in on Leroux’s list seems to be a fair assessment of where the two Habs prospects belong, although this list is very subjective and the top 15 could all be interchangeable in their own ways. Both Jacob Fowler (14), and David Reinbacher (40) also made the list among Canadiens prospects.

What are your thoughts on Stephane Leroux’s top 40 NHL-affiliated prospects list?