New Jersey Devils' Draft Target Profile: Alexander Zharovsky
The second part of a series deep-diving potential second-round targets for the New Jersey Devils.
Yesterday, I began a many-part series deep-diving potential draft targets for the New Jersey Devils with their second-round picks, starting with Czech phenom Adam Benák. As is, they’re currently in possession of the ~50th Overall and ~64th Overall picks, and if they’re not going to move them, it’s important to scout potential draftees and see what the Devils would hypothetically be getting.
Today’s draft target is Alexander Zharovsky, a 6’1 right-winger from the MHL. Zharovsky is one of the most exciting players in the 2025 Entry Draft, but has not garnered as much attention as he deserves simply because he came out of the blue.
With that in mind, let’s dive in:
Statistical Profile
Zharovsky started off his MHL career somewhat slowly, with just six points in his first 16 games. After that, though, and after he developed more confidence in his game, the floodgates opened, and he finished the season with 44 points in the last 29 games, giving him 50 points in 45 games on the season. He transitioned to the KHL for the playoffs, where he earned one point (an assist) in seven games while playing well below ten minutes per night.
One point in the KHL playoffs as a draft-eligible prospect might not sound all that impressive. Still, players like Matvei Michkov, Nikita Kucherov, Kirill Kaprizov, and Vladimir Tarasenko never achieved that feat.
Byron Bader’s model is quite high on Zharovsky. Second-rounders scarcely put up Star Probability or NHLer Probability this high, and if they do, it’s usually because they dropped far below where they should have gone by virtue of their size or Russian nationality. Zharovsky is no different, being ranked overwhelmingly around 50th overall by well-respected outlets. SMAHT Scouting has him ranked 20th overall, which is the highest spot by far, whereas the other outlets have him placed between 45th and 66th Overall. NHL Central Scouting has him ranked as the fifth-best European skater in the draft. He very well may make it to 50th overall (or whenever the Devils’ first second-rounder ends up).
Skating
Zharovsky is a good skater for the MHL, but could use improvement mechanically to generate a bit more power than he does when the going gets tougher. With next year’s path likely bringing him to the KHL as a full-timer, he’s going to need to up his speed and explosiveness dramatically to make an impact with his legs alone.
As I said, though, for an MHLer, Zharovsky is faster and more agile than his peers. He has short, ill-powered strides and crosses his feet too much when trying to move in a straight line. This makes it tough for him to truly create separation between himself and defenders, particularly when facing defenders with even an iota of mobility in their game. Those defenders relatively easily force Zharovsky to the outside, putting him in a lower-danger area of the ice or sealing him off along the boards instead and neutering his plays altogether.
He’s going to need to improve across the board if he wants to make as heavy an impact as he did in the MHL in the Russian pro leagues. I’m less worried about Zharovsky’s agility than I am about his straight-line speed and acceleration, as his overuse of crossovers generally warrants a bit more mobility laterally, which he is smart enough to use to exploit lower-IQ defenders.
It’s especially important that he improves in this regard, considering how much he likes the puck on his stick in transition. That, to me, is one of the areas of the game where Zharovsky excels, and if he doesn’t have the legs to keep it up at the KHL level and beyond, he may struggle to continue developing that part of his game.
I know I’m seemingly knocking his skating quite a bit in this scouting report so far, but Zharovsky’s legs aren’t bad, just average. He’ll still be able to keep pace with KHLers and produce in other ways, but he just won’t be able to dominate them like he did in the MHL if his skating doesn’t improve.
Shooting
Zharovsky’s shooting abilities are a tale of two players — from in-tight, he is deceptive, quick-triggered, and accurate, while from a distance, he’s largely unthreatening. He’s obviously going to need to improve on that, but it’s less of a problem to me than it is to others in the industry. With the way that he plays the game, I’m not sure he’s going to be playing on the perimeter all that much. I know in the “skating” excerpt that he can be pushed to the outside by mobile defensemen, but his hands are so elite that even when that happens, he makes an effort to gain the middle of the ice back by using dekes and dangles, and is generally overwhelmingly successful in doing so.
With that in mind, then, his shooting from in-tight is actually quite good. Zharovsky gets shots off quickly and with pinpoint accuracy when space is an issue or when shooting from inside the slot. He pulls pucks into his body to change the angle of release, giving him an extra layer of deception to goalies when operating in that area of the ice.
From outside the slot, Zharovsky does struggle. He isn’t really able to beat goalies from a distance, and his shots from distance are generally flutterers. As I mentioned, though, this is less of a concern for me simply because of how he plays the game, willing himself to the interior of the ice by virtue of his hands, but it will need to improve regardless.
Puck Skills
Here is where Zharovsky truly shines — his hands might just be the best in the draft. His collection of dekes is wider than any other player in the MHL and wider than just about every prospect in the 2025 Draft, and he certainly knows when to use what move.
There have been times where Zharovsky has eluded several defenders by himself simply with the use of his hands.
His precision with the moves is the most impressive part of his game, to me. It seems as though the game is moving in slow motion when Zharovsky is executing high-level moves to get out of trouble — he’s just so in-tune with the puck and where the puck and his stick are in relation to the defender(s) that it looks so effortless.
Zharovsky combines this otherworldly puckhandling with an innate understanding of body language to really draw defenders out of position. He can fool the opposition into thinking that he’s moving in one direction with savvy head fakes and sell-jobs before pulling the puck in the complete opposite direction and sending the defender flying as a result. It’s astounding to watch, and he does it with such frequency that at some point I stopped being left floored by every move he was making. The clip below was his first MHL goal.
Playmaking & Hockey IQ
Early on in the MHL season, I was unsure of Zharovsky’s playmaking abilities, but he blossomed into a playmaking stud once he gained that aforementioned confidence.
He has a great understanding of where his linemates and opposition are at all times in the offensive zone, with eyes in the back of his head at times. Zharovsky is able to execute tape-to-tape no-look passes and high-danger cross-ice looks at will, catching defenders and goaltenders off-guard in the process.
His vision is steps ahead of the opposition, and he can and will find plays that seem unexpected but are, in reality, calculated on his end. The point totals may suggest that he’s a dual-threat goal-scorer and playmaker (he had 24 goals and 26 assists this season), but his strength lies more in the facilitator role than as a goal-scorer.
Beyond just the passing, his IQ bleeds into off-puck play within the O-zone as well, frequently finding gaps in coverage that he can exploit if/when his teammates find him with the puck. Zharovsky is somewhat of an expert at eluding coverage and, because his shot is strong from dangerous areas of the ice, can capitalize on that ability.
Defensive Awareness
Defense is not Zharovsky’s strong suit, but it doesn’t really need to be, being that defensive play is much more teachable than offensive instincts and skills, and one’s defensive game (usually) gets better as a player ages. I honestly don’t have much to say about the defensive side of his game — just that it could use improvement. It isn’t overwhelmingly bad, though, and a player of his skill set should focus on bettering/polishing the offensive side of things first.
Physicality & Size
Zharovsky has NHL-level height but still has quite a bit of room to fill out, listed at just 163 pounds. He doesn’t shy away from contact, though, and isn’t afraid of getting into the grimy areas of the ice to make a play or pressure on the forecheck.
You’re not going to see him throw open-ice hits or rely on his body to make plays, though. He’s much more reliant on his skill than his frame — something the Devils could probably use more of in their lineup.
That isn’t to say Zharovsky doesn’t have power moves under his belt or that he’s a timid player — he does, and he isn’t. He’s just not going to be a difference-maker in that regard, at least not yet. He’s unquestionably going to get more physical and gritty as his body fills out.
Zharovsky would be an excellent addition to the pipeline with the Devils’ first second-round pick. In my mind, he’s a mid-late first-round talent and has the skillset to truly blossom into an upper-echelon talent if things develop fruitfully with his skating and distance shooting. I’m not remotely concerned about his frame or physicality, as he’ll pack on pounds as he grows older, and his defensive game is of no issue to me considering the other strengths of his game and the type of player he projects as.
The series on draft-day targets will continue tomorrow with one of my favorite players in the draft. 1
The videos supplied in this scouting report are from McKeen’s Hockey and Dylan Griffing (@GriffingDylan on Twitter/X).
Once again, another non- North American propsect. With the issues with the Russian players potentially not coming over, and doing their development work in Russia rather than the North American path, would like to see the Devils move away from their recent pattern of drafting players who are either planning to stay overseas or head to the NCAA. Not that I am criticizing those choices, it is just you need a balance, and as you can see by Utica's results and roster they seem to have lost that balance.