Alexander Zharovsky’s coach has not spoken with the Canadiens

Alexander Zharovsky’s coach has not spoken with the Canadiens
Credit: Alexander Zharovsky semble fatigué depuis quelque temps.

It was recently reported that Alexander Zharovsky would be spending “at least” another year in Russia.

In fact, everyone agrees that the young man, who didn't have an easy end to the season in the KHL, still needs more playing time there to develop.

And since he has a year left on his contract, everything is fine.

We'll see if he eventually signs another contract before coming here. But for now, in his case, it's simply a matter of taking it one year at a time.

His coach in Russia, Viktor Kozlov, also believes he should stay in the KHL for “at least” one more year. As noted in an article (TVA Sports) by Nicolas Cloutier, he doesn't even know if his player will be ready for the NHL in a year.

I told him not to be satisfied with his current level. I don't think he's stupid enough to screw it up. – Viktor Kozlov

In fact, Zharovsky's Russian coach claims he hasn't had any discussions with the Canadiens. What's more, Nicolas Cloutier's question seems to have left him perplexed.

We know it wasn't the same with Ivan Demidov. Last year, Habs fans got to know Roman Rotenberg, who was often in contact with the Canadiens.

More than that: there was a visit to Russia regarding this matter.

Zharovsky has great talent, but he isn't as ready as Demidov was about a year ago. He has work to do and will need to use the 2026–2027 season to work hard. And after that, he could arrive in Montreal alongside Michael Hage…


In a nutshell

– Connor McDavid will play, in my opinion.

– Nice.

– Wow.

– Makes sense.

– Must-read.

– We don't want to miss tomorrow's game.