Alexander Zharovsky says Juraj Slafkovský reminds him of a player who played alongside both of them

Félix Forget
Alexander Zharovsky says Juraj Slafkovský reminds him of a player who played alongside both of them
Credit: Alexander Zharovsky semble fatigué depuis quelque temps.

Alexander Zharovsky has just had a great season in Russia. The CH prospect scored 16 goals and 42 points in 59 games, all against adults who were physically much more mature than he is.

That's a pretty impressive haul.

And for the past few days, Zharovsky has been in Montreal for training. He's been seen on the ice with Ivan Demidov, Phillip Danault, and Adam Nicholas over the last few days.

But of course, these clips don't change the fact that it's still difficult to evaluate him. And that's why it's interesting to hear from someone who played with him last year… but also with Juraj Slafkovský in 2021–22, before he arrived in Montreal.

In an interview with the Russian outlet Championat, Jack Rodewald, who played with both forwards, had high praise for the young Russian: he thinks Zharovsky is quite similar to the Slafkovský he knew back then… and he believes Zharovsky is capable of having a similar impact to that of the Slovak once he reaches the NHL.

And we all know just how much of an impact Slaf has in Montreal, hehe.

Of course, you still have to take it with a grain of salt. Zharovsky and Slafkovský have quite different playing styles, and we've seen just how hard Slaf had to work once he arrived in Montreal to become the player he is today.

Talent and potential are all well and good… but it takes more than that to become an impact player in the NHL.

The good news is that Zharovsky comes across as a determined young player. Seeing him spend part of his summer in Montreal working with Ivan Demidov (and other members of the Canadiens organization) is a good sign, and he'll have another year in the KHL to continue developing.

No, Zharovsky isn't (probably) as promising a prospect as Slaf was back then… but it's still cool to see that a player who's played with both of them sees similarities between the two guys.


In a nutshell

– Phew.

– Interesting.

– What do you think?

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