Carolina Hurricanes Prospect Profile: Alexander Pashin

For those of you that follow me on Twitter and know how much I love this player, you probably don’t need to read this. You’ve heard me rant and ramble enough about him. However, Alexander Pashin might be the pick of the bunch when it comes to players the Carolina Hurricanes have drafted in rounds 5, 6, or 7 over the past few years.

I know for a lot of people, you won’t like hearing that given the recent success of Steven Lorentz, yet Pashin seems to be on another level. Now, I can hear you questioning, “What is wrong with you, why are you so high on this 7th round pick from this year?” Well, there are a lot of reasons.

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Pashin is a left-shot forward who can play out wide or down the middle. He’s got incredible hands and he is capable of some highlight reel plays. He will always opt to take the defenseman opposing him out of the equation by either dancing around him, dekeing, or just straight up using his speed to blast by.

He’s also just lethal. So far this season, he’s played 35 games in the MHL, or the Russian equivalent to Juniors. He’s got 40 points, and at the time this is being written, he had just concluded a stint in the VHL, the Russian 2nd-tier league. He’s not contributed anything, but he was playing, and he’s also had time in the Russian big league, having 3 KHL games under his belt.

Something to remember with Pashin is that he is only 18. He’s going to turn 19 around the same time the Cup is awarded. He’s an incredible talent and, considering his age, there’s no telling where this player’s ceiling is at this point. He’s not going to be the next Artemi Panarin; its highly unlikely he’s going to come over and win the Calder trophy.

However, it doesn’t mean that he could not come over and be a key contributor for the Carolina Hurricanes’ organisation. His upside suggests that he could very well be a vital cog in the mainframe of the organisation moving forward. With his speed and his ability to dance around defenders like ghosts, there’s so much to like if he comes over to North America soon.

Yes, if  he comes over. One thing with Alexander Pashin is that he’s incredibly loyal, which is a good thing when he’s in the NHL, but it could prove to be problematic trying to get him into the NHL. He very well could find himself being another Gregory Hofmann, a player who’s got all the tools to play in North America, yet just never came across.

I’ve sung a lot of praise for Pashin, so you’re likely screaming at me “Alright, you like this kid, but what are his weaknesses, he won’t fall to the 7th round just because he’s a smaller player”, which is true. To say his defensive capabilities need development might be a scary understatement. There’s a lot of room for Pashin to develop, though. He’s an incredible talent.

Pashin is a realistic homerun swing. Can he be a genuine Top-6 player? For sure. His ceiling is incredibly high; what makes this a little risky is that his floor is incredibly low, being an undersized forward. He’s a very skilled winger, and a determined little pest. Defense just isn’t a strong point of his game. If he pans out, what an incredible pick this is at #199 for the Carolina Hurricanes.