Habs Trade Up to Land Their Big Russian Power Forward: Canadiens Select Gleb Pugachyov 26th Overall

The Montreal Canadiens wasted no time signaling their priorities on the opening night of the 2026 NHL Draft. Moments before they were due to pick, general manager Kent Hughes pulled off a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights, moving up two spots in the first round to secure the player they wanted: Gleb Pugachyov, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound Russian right winger who spent his draft season terrorizing defenders across three different leagues simultaneously.

The Trade That Got Them There

With pick No. 28 already in hand, Montreal sent that selection along with a third-round pick in 2027 to Vegas in exchange for the 26th-overall pick. It was a modest price to pay for the privilege of moving up just two spots — but the timing, executed in the minutes immediately before the pick was due, made clear this was not a defensive maneuver. It was a targeted move to ensure no other team could jump in front of Montreal and take the player they had identified as their guy.

Friday's selection marked the fifth time in franchise history that the Canadiens have picked 26th overall, joining a list that includes Filip Mesar (2022), Noah Juulsen (2015), Nikita Scherbak (2014), and Claude Lemieux (1983) — and it also continued a notable recent pattern for the organization: it is the third consecutive year that Montreal's first selection of the draft has come out of Russia.

Who Is Gleb Pugachyov

Pugachyov, born in Almaty, Kazakhstan, turned 18 in March and spent his 2025-26 draft season doing something unusual for a prospect his age: playing meaningful minutes across three different levels of Russian hockey simultaneously. The bulk of his season came with Chaika Nizhny Novgorod in the MHL — Russia's top junior league and the rough equivalent of North America's CHL — where he posted 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points in 33 games. But he also dressed for 15 games with Torpedo-Gorky in the second-tier VHL, scoring a goal and adding four assists, and even broke into the KHL itself — Russia's premier professional league — with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, where he scored two goals and added an assist across 13 games while posting an impressive plus-7 rating. That January KHL stretch was strong enough to earn him Rookie of the Week honors, a notable accolade for a player who wasn't expected to break into the senior pro ranks that early.

His combination of size, physicality, and willingness to play a senior men's pro schedule at 17 and 18 years old is what made him stand out to scouts. NHL Central Scouting described him as "a big, strong top-line winger with smooth skating mechanics at top speed, strong puck protection, and the ability to drive play through size and skill," adding that "he can win pucks, backcheck hard, and create offense with quick passes, smart separation moves, and the ability to beat defenders 1-on-1," with "a powerful" shot and good hands in tight areas.

The Scouting Consensus: High Floor, Developing Offense

Across multiple draft analysts, a consistent picture of Pugachyov emerges: an unfinished offensive game wrapped around an extremely high floor as a physical, two-way power forward. Daily Faceoff's Steven Ellis, who had Pugachyov rated in the first round of his final mock draft, wrote that he "plays a solid two-way game and won't stop moving, even if he doesn't have high-end top speed yet," while cautioning that "his offensive game [won't] translate to the NHL outside of a third-line role" in its current state.

The Hockey Writers' analysis struck a similar balance, describing him as lacking "the high-end offensive skills to be considered a surefire top pick" but praising his motor, energy, and willingness to forecheck and backcheck relentlessly: "He's not going to make things happen with fancy moves, but he can become very dangerous at the right moment and is a player who never backs down." Sportsnaut's scouting report leaned more bullish, calling him "one of the more underrated players in this draft," noting "it's the ferocity with which he plays that truly sets him apart," and adding that "he skates exceptionally well for his size and brings an edge that's impossible to ignore."

A Direct Answer to a Roster Need

The pick is being read across Montreal hockey media as a deliberate response to a specific organizational priority: adding size, physicality, and forechecking ability up front. Sportsnaut's analysis framed it plainly, noting that Pugachyov "loves to hit, which fits into the narrative that the Habs are attempting to improve their physicality, in a bid to improve their odds of advancing in the playoffs," and that his relentless forecheck presence "will surely mesh with the team Kent Hughes is assembling." The Hockey Writers echoed the same point: "With Pugachyov, the Canadiens are addressing a huge need for size up front."

What's Next for Him — and Complications From Geopolitics

Pugachyov is not expected to come to North America immediately. Given his age and the fact that Russian prospects typically remain in the KHL system into their early 20s, the expectation across analysts is that he'll spend at least a couple more seasons developing in Russia, continuing to round out his offensive game against grown men in a middle-six role for a competitive Torpedo organization, before making the jump overseas.

There's also a broader complicating factor specific to his situation: with Russia currently barred from IIHF international competition, Pugachyov has effectively no path to representing his country at the World Juniors or other top-tier amateur events — meaning, as Daily Faceoff's analysis put it, he is "unlikely to get another chance to bully teenagers" at the junior international level and will instead continue accumulating professional experience against grown men in Russia's pro ranks, which several analysts see as a potential long-term positive: by the time he's ready for North America, he may already be a far more complete, battle-tested power forward than most draft-day prospects his age.

What Comes Next for Montreal

With Pugachyov in the fold as their first selection, the Canadiens move into Day 2 of the 2026 NHL Draft with seven remaining picks to fill out the rest of their draft class. For a team that has made size and physical play an explicit organizational priority under Kent Hughes, landing a 6-foot-3, 225-pound winger with genuine pro experience across three leagues — even one who needs more time to develop offensively — represents exactly the kind of high-floor, high-upside bet teams look to make in the back half of the first round.

Sources

1. NHL.com / Montreal Canadiens — Canadiens select Gleb Pugachyov 26th overall in 2026 NHL Draft
2. Daily Faceoff — Canadiens select Gleb Pugachyov No. 26 overall in 2026 NHL Draft
3. Habs Eyes on the Prize — 2026 NHL Draft: Montreal Canadiens select Gleb Pugachyov with pick #26
4. The Hockey Writers — Canadiens Draft Gleb Pugachyov 26th Overall
5. CBS Sports — Canadiens' Gleb Pugachyov: Big buzzsaw picked 26th at draft
6. Sportsnaut — Scouting Report: Canadiens Add Physicality With Pugachyov Pick
7. Yahoo Sports — Canadiens Trade Up, Draft Prospect Pugachyov 26th Overall