A massive summer development in Montreal could change everything for the Canadiens

Alexander Zharovsky is coming to Montreal. His agent, Dan Milstein, confirmed to TVA Sports that the Canadiens' 2025 second-round pick will attend the team's development camp in Brossard in early July.

It was never really a surprise. Zharovsky has already been spending time in the city alongside his close friend and Montreal teammate Ivan Demidov, and he's expected to be in Montreal for roughly 40 days this summer.

Before that, there's a detour. He'll head to Fort Lauderdale from June 20 to 24 for the Gold Star agency camp, a pre-draft showcase held annually in Florida that gets Russian prospects in front of NHL scouts and front offices before the draft.

Zharovsky will be there as a player already drafted, not as someone auditioning. That's a different energy walking into that gym.

The Gold Star camp this year includes 22 players from the 2026 draft class, among them Nikita Ovcharov from the Quebec Remparts and Alexander Karmanov, listed as the tallest player in the world. Top-2027 prospect Nazar Privalov will also be in attendance.

After Florida, Zharovsky returns to Quebec for his first real look inside the Canadiens organization, a year delayed.

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Why Zharovsky missed last year's camp, and what changes now

He wasn't at the development camp last summer because he couldn't get a visa in time. That was just days after Montreal selected him 34th overall in 2025. One of those bureaucratic situations that nobody wins and everybody remembers.

This time, there are no visa complications standing in the way. He goes through Brossard, then back to Russia by mid-July for the start of Salavat Yulaev Ufa's KHL training camp.

He still has one year left on his KHL deal. His contract obligations in Russia run through May 31 in theory, though he could be released earlier if Ufa is knocked out of the playoffs before that.

So where does that leave the Canadiens? Monitoring. Kent Hughes and Martin St-Louis get a live look at the 18-year-old winger in a competitive setting, and then he goes back to the KHL for what is almost certainly his final season in Russia.

Demidov, who finished his first NHL season with 62 points in 82 games including 19 goals, is the model for how this pipeline can develop. He posted 9 points in 19 playoff games this spring, 7 points in his last 10 regular-season games, and found his footing in a real NHL role as the year went on.

Zharovsky is two steps behind that. He's not walking into the NHL next fall. But the fact that he's in Brossard, in the building, around the staff and the culture, matters more than people outside the organization tend to give it credit for.

The Canadiens finished 48-24-10 this season, 106 points, sixth overall in the league. They have assets and they have a developing core.

How Zharovsky fits into that picture two or three years from now is one of the more interesting questions in this organization's rebuild. The July camp won't answer it. But it's the first real step.

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