Canadiens Trade Up for Alexander Zharovsky

The Canadiens dealt picks 41 and 49 to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for picks 34 and 189, giving the Canadiens the chance to select Alexander Zharovsky, a six-foot-one, 163-pound right winger from Klin, Russia.

In Zharovsky's debut MHL season with Tolpar UFA he scored 24 goals and 26 assists for 50 points in 45 games, to go along with 30 penalty minutes and an even 18 plus/minus differential.

This certainly feels like a player that had been identified while the Canadiens were scouting Ivan Demidov, Yevgeni Volokhin and Bogdan Konyushkov. Zharovsky could stand to add some weight to his frame, but like his fellow Canadiens' Russian draftees, the Canadiens knew they liked him and kept it quiet.

Zharovsky is described as a slippery stickhandler who is able to manipulate defenders with looks-offs, while displaying the ability to string together consecutive nifty puck plays to create offense. Thanks to some shifty and deceptive skating, Zharovsky has the potential to play in an NHL top six if all things go right.

He is also an adept shooter, capable of changing the angle on his shot with a little flick of his wrists, and perhaps most exciting about Zharovsky is his vision and ability to put everything together to create magic passing plays.

Of course, given that he slipped to the second round, there were concerns about him staying in Russia after his current deal, but Demidov worked out quite well, and for all the kerfuffle with Matvei Michkov, he ended up in Philadelphia, right?

Zharovsky could be a great pick for the Canadiens, who were going to make the most of their first selection.