Expectations for Zharovsky were limited before the season started, however under his coach, former NHLer Viktor Kozlov, the forward blossomed. Even if he was injured at the time the season started, he came back into the line up with a bang with four points in three games. The KHL was quickly back on the radar of the Montreal Canadiens faithful.
Figure 1. Zharovsky’s points and time-on-ice over the season (smoothed curve).
Kozlov used Zharovsky mostly on the power play to start, but as the points accumulated and Zharovsky showed he could handle the rigours of travel within the KHL schedule, he was moved to a larger role within the team, even running the first power-play unit in November and December.
However, with injuries racking up, Salavat signed Yevgeni Kuznetsov, who had been released from Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Kuznetsov took over some of Zharovsky’s duties, especially on the power play, and it also meant that Zharovsky’s TOI dropped after the New Year. This is one of the reasons that Zharovsky’s performance dropped, the other would be fatigue as the KHL season dragged on. In the end, he finished with 42 points (16G, 26A) in 59 games, with two assists in 10 playoff games. It was enough to be KHL’s Rookie of the Year, and third in team scoring.
Alexander Zharovsky is 2026 KHL Rookie of the Year! The 19-year-old was team’s 3rd goals/points leader (16 G, 42 PTS, 59 GP).#KHLAwards pic.twitter.com/3QXt9VuV1R— KHL (@khl_eng) May 28, 2026
Strengths
The things that stand out when you watch Zharovsky are his high intelligence and creativity, and that is what helped him propel the Salavat power play to one of the best in the KHL when he entered the lineup. He beats defenders one-on-one and can set up a power play easily, using his creativity to distribute and time-space management to speed up or slow down the puck in order to set up teammates for the score.
Right now it’s all about offence, and he is a skilled player in that regard. He keeps the puck close to his body and he uses his spatial awareness to find unoccupied ice and more space, thereby creating more time for himself. He did this in most KHL arenas this season and that should be a good thing as he is not only doing this on an Olympic-sized rink.
Weaknesses
Zharovsky is lanky and while he seems to have gotten bigger throughout the season he still needs to build up both stamina and size. As can be seen in the chart, his ice time dropped in the last third of the season, and one has to factor in that it was his first season playing professionally. He played more or less the same number of games (64 in 20
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