With Alexander Zharovsky’s rise in the KHL, I reached out to an old friend and colleague, Ivan Letyagin, to get his input on the Montreal Canadiens prospect’s situation.
“Zharovsky is a very talented player, playing now in my homeland city in Ufa,” Letyagin begins. “His talent and potential are so huge that I would say that there have not been any such hockey players in Russia for a long time.”
There is a slight pause before Letyagin moves on to try to compare him to other top talents in the game. “It’s about hockey IQ. For example, [Sidney] Crosby and [Nathan] McKinnon have the same hockey IQ. Among the young players, he reminds me of Elias Pettersson or Macklin Celebrini. I know Elias is not so young already, but for me it still a young generation. These hockey players I listed above have almost no weaknesses and are very intelligent. It’s no wonder that Zharovsky calls Pavel Datsyuk his favourite hockey player.”
While the talk surrounding Elias Pettersson’s situation in Vancouver has been with regard to teammates and most recently a miscarriage for him and his wife, it is easy to forget the player he was in his first years in the NHL.
The fact that Zharovsky has a contract with Ufa should not be viewed as something negative by Montreal fans; on the contrary Letyagin thinks this is a good thing. “I believe that Zharovsky was very lucky to sign a contract with Salavat Yulaev. At the beginning of the 2025-26 season, the Ufa team faced significant financial difficulties, leading to the departure of many key players. As a result, Zharovsky had ample opportunities to showcase his skills and leadership abilities on the ice. In addition, Ufa coach Viktor Kozlov likes to develop young players. Therefore, Zharovsky has an excellent opportunity to develop and become an adult hockey player.
“At the age of 18, Zharovsky is already the leader of the KHL club. This is a very serious achievement, something I haven’t seen in many years. He is an incredibly serious guy for his age. He carefully monitors his daily routine and diet. I believe that with proper development, he can grow into a superstar of world hockey and, together with Demidov, with whom he has known since childhood, can lead Montreal to the Stanley Cup.”
Given the way that Evgeny Kuznetsov left the NHL and having been with three KHL clubs within a season-and-a-half, there may some worries about Kuznetsov’s character and his potential influence on Zharovsky now that he has joined the team.
“Kuznetsov is a huge talent. I believe that it was to him that Ovechkin owes his only Stanley Cup. He had problems with alcohol and drugs for a long time, which is why he eventually left the NHL, where such things are not tolerated. Upon returning to Russia, he tried to establish himself first with SKA and then with Metallurg. Sources say that he continued to lead an unhealthy lifestyle and lost his physical fitness. As I mentioned, Salavat Yulaev was experiencing financial difficulties, and the team was losing its leaders. Therefore Ufa needed experienced players, and they signed a contract with Kuznetsov. He had recently started playing for Ufa, but I don’t know that he is facing problems with the club for now. Ufa needed experienced and talented players to lead the team into the playoffs, and the club management may have decided to overlook Kuznetsov’s issues, at least for now.”
As far as Kuznetsov’s play on the ice, that should impact Zharovsky in a positive way. “Kuznetsov’s main qualities are his vision of the ice and his ability to read the game. He can anticipate several moves ahead of time. For the young Zharovsky, having such a teammate is a significant advantage. It helps him develop his innate talents and put his hockey IQ into practice.”
When looking at the KHL from 10 years ago and comparing it to now, a few things stand out, mainly the fact that younger Russian players are getting an earlier start with fewer international players taking roster spots, and that is also benefiting Zharovsky. The National League (Switzerland) changed the rules to allow six import players, and that has had an impact on KHL, as well as the war in Ukraine that has made players choose the NL or SHL over the KHL.
Letyagin sees some pros of this change to the league. “In recent years, the KHL has been developing as a structure and an organization. I would not say that the level of hockey players currently playing in the top Russian league is higher than it was 10 years ago. If we look at the skill level of individual players, it has remained relatively unchanged over the years. However, the league’s matches have become more exciting, and the teams have become more evenly matched. Nowadays, underperforming clubs are increasingly defeating top-tier teams. This may be attributed to the introduction of a salary cap.”
I question Letyagin’s thoughts on the KHL of old by referencing Kirill Kaprizov’s standout season in 2016-17 with 42 points (20G, 22A) in 49 games, also with Ufa. “When Kaprizov played in the KHL the cream of the crop of European players outside North America was there. These players have been replaced with second- and third-level AHL players. Most KHL teams are developing younger players at a better pace now though, and that is a huge plus for Russian hockey. With this in mind wouldn’t you agree that KHL isn’t at the same level as it was before the 2022 Olympics, as an example?”
We reach an impasse, which I think is down to a language/interpretation problem at this point when Letyagin answers, “I absolutely agree that there are now many more young Russian hockey players in Russian clubs, and this is undoubtedly a plus for the development of hockey in Russia and the KHL itself. I also agree that there are now much fewer European players in the KHL, which is a fact. However, I cannot say that all the European or North American players in the KHL were top-tier players 10 years ago.
“I believe that today’s Russian youth in the KHL is generally at the same level as most European and American players from a decade ago. In addition, the process of Russian players returning from North America to the KHL never stops. It’s like a cycle. Some players have played many seasons in the NHL and are returning home, while others have struggled to establish themselves in NHL clubs and are returning. These players are also of a high level.
“I believe that the overall skill level of hockey players in the KHL has remained about the same. KHL clubs are now conducting a more subtle and competent selection. In the KHL, first of all, there are legionnaires of a fairly high level: Rempal, Livo, Chmielewski, Merkley, Rendulich, Yashkin and others. There are also long-term leaders of Russian hockey: Radulov, Shipachev, Gusev, Shirokov, Plotnikov and others. There are young superstars like Surin or Zharovsky, for example.”
Circling back to the leagues we were discussing earlier, Letyagin finishes with the thing most Europeans had been wanting for decades, at least before the invasion of Ukraine. “Of course, the NL, SHL, and KHL are three leagues that are roughly equal. We just need to see matches between clubs from these leagues to understand which is stronger.”
Ivan Letyagin is a journalist from Russia who worked for several online publications, as well as for his own online portal. He collaborated with the Russian National Team when it featured Alexander Romanov when we met in Stockholm.
You can follow Ivan through his Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/iletyagin/
