Could the Montreal Canadiens have back-to-back rookie of the year winners in two leagues?

Montreal Canadiens fans have been blessed over the last couple of seasons with the amount of world-class talent breaking into the lineup. Last season, we saw Lane Hutson burst onto the scene with a record-breaking rookie campaign, where he took home the Calder Trophy. Then, near the end of the season, we got to see a glimpse of what the team’s top prospect, Ivan Demidov, is capable of. This came after his own record-breaking performance in the KHL, where he registered the most points in a single season by a player under 20 years old.

The way Demidov broke into the NHL, scoring a goal and an assist on his debut against the Chicago Blackhawks, there were high hopes that the Canadiens could be just the fourth team in league history to have back-to-back Calder Trophy winners. Demidov opened the season as the betting favourite to win the Calder Trophy, and currently sits on three points in five games, which has him in a tie for third in rookie scoring. The thing is, the Canadiens have the opportunity to have back-to-back rookie of the year winners in two different leagues.

After trading away both their first-round picks to acquire star defenceman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders, the Canadiens made their first pick in the 2025 NHL Draft in the second round, selecting high-skill Russian Alexander Zharovsky. Zharovsky played last season in the MHL for Ufa Tolpar, where he had 24 goals and 50 points in 45 games. After the Canadiens selected Zharovsky in the draft, highlights began to surface, and it became clear that his stick-handling and playmaking ability were some of the best in the class. Zharovsky even got the stamp of approval from his new teammate, Demidov, when GM Kent Hughes called the former fifth overall pick for input before making the selection official.

Now, in his first season in the KHL, Zharovsky is showing that the Canadiens may have another star Russian winger on the horizon. In limited playing time, something Demidov also experienced last season, Zharovsky is producing at a pace that may eclipse the record set last season for the most points by a player under 20. In 7 games this season with Ufa Salavat Yulayev, Zharovsky has two goals and six points. It is not just the numbers, but it is how he is putting them up. He is already looking like a human highlight reel. It is not just his stick-handling ability, but pairing it with his ability to protect the puck as he manoeuvres through defenders, makes it incredibly difficult to defend against.

While Demidov will be trying to make the Canadiens the first team since 1967-68 to have back-to-back Calder Trophy winners, Zharovsky is on his own quest to secure the rookie of the year trophy in the KHL, which could give Montreal back-to-back rookie of the year winners in two separate leagues. The Canadiens already have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, with players like Michael Hage, David Reinbacher, and Jacob Fowler still waiting in the wings. With Zharovsky joining that group, the Canadiens are quietly assembling a young core that could dominate the Eastern Conference for years to come.