May 3: The team has officially announced the contract, confirming the terms. General manager Don Waddell released a short statement on his newest prospect:
Alex is a high-end, skilled player and a proven point producer. We feel he’s ready to make the transition to North America and look forward to watching his continued growth next season.
May 2: On the same day their 2022 playoffs began, the Carolina Hurricanes also signed one of their prospects, Alexander Pashin, to a three-year, entry-level contract, according to CapFriendly (link). The contract is set to begin with the 2022-23 season, and carries an average annual value of $827K. Pashin was the Hurricanes’ seventh-round selection, 199th overall, in 2020.
The 19-year-old forward brings with him a balanced scoring approach but is rather undersized, listed at just 5’8″ and 154 pounds. Pashin has played his career to date in Russia, but has only played four career KHL games, one in 2019-20 and three in 2020-21, and none this season.
Despite limited time in the top league, Pashin has plenty of experience in the MHL and VHL in Russia, all in the Ufa organization, putting up 17 goals and 22 assists in 37 MHL games in 2019-20 along with 19 goals and 26 assists in 41 games in the MHL in 2020-21. Moving to the VHL in 2021-22, Pashin again impressed with 17 goals and 13 assists in 34 games. Pashin was part of this year’s World Juniors team for Russia, but played in just one game before the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19. What the next steps are for Pashin as he comes over to North America are unclear, however without much experience in the highest levels, one would expect him to be slated for additional development before he makes an appearance in the NHL.