MONTREAL – There was something fitting about where the Canadiens found themselves on the opening night of the 2026 NHL Draft.
For three hours and 12 minutes, Montreal waited. Twenty-five names came off the board before the Habs were eventually on the clock at No. 26, after moving up two spots from No. 28. It was the kind of wait fans would have dreaded not long ago, when early draft picks were viewed as lifelines rather than luxuries.
This time, though, the delay served as something else entirely: a reminder.
A reminder of a season that ended just 28 days earlier with the NHL’s youngest team reaching the Eastern Conference Final. A reminder of a club that had climbed 30 points in the standings in only two years. A reminder of how far the organization had come since Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes arrived in 2021 and 2022, respectively, and of the culture Martin St-Louis has cultivated behind the bench in four seasons. Most of all, it was a reminder that Montreal is no longer drafting from the top because it has to. It’s drafting near the end of the first round because it earned the right to be there.
“You have to take the good with the bad, but we’ll take that every time if we get to have the season we had,” Gorton said in an exclusive interview following the draft. “Hopefully it’s a place we’ll be picking at for a long time now.”
That shift changed the purpose of the weekend in Buffalo.
The Canadiens weren’t searching for the foundational cornerstones who would redefine the direction of the franchise, as they once did with players like Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Ivan Demidov. Instead, June 26 and 27 became an opportunity to reinforce what had already been built; to add another layer to one of hockey’s deepest prospect pools and, perhaps, uncover the complementary pieces that could one day transform an emerging contender into a Stanley Cup champion.
Of course, the NHL Draft is rarely about instant gratification.
Unlike the NFL, where first-round selections are often expected to contribute from Day 1, hockey prospects typically require a few years of development before they’re ready to make an impact at the highest level. By the time members of Montreal’s 2026 draft class are pushing for NHL jobs, the Canadiens’ roster—and perhaps even their needs—could look considerably different.
That’s why drafting for positional need can be a dangerous game. Drafting for identity, however, tends to age much better.
“Based on how the team is currently constructed and how the team performed in the playoffs, obviously the team has certain needs that are well documented,” said the Habs’ co-director of amateur scouting Nick Bobrov. “But our job with the draft is to draft the best player available where we are picking, so we can’t deviate from that principle.”
No matter how your lineup evolves, every contender has room for a player who is difficult to play against. A player who relishes the hard areas of the ice, imposes himself physically, and can alter the complexion of a game without needing the puck on his stick every shift.
In selecting Gleb Pugachyov 26th overall, the Canadiens believe they’ve found that kind of player. A power forward with shades of the Washington Capitals’ Tom Wilson, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound 18-year-old has a thirst for physicality that cannot be quenched, while bringing legitimate offensive upside. Pugachyov recorded 10 goals and 24 points in 36 games in Russia’s top junior league, giving Montreal confidence that his bruising style is complemented by the skill to produce.
The combination was compelling enough for Bobrov, Martin Lapointe and Canadiens brass to trade up two spots to ensure they got their man.
“This guy is a unicorn. We love the way he plays, shift in, shift out. The details in his game at his age are rare,” glowed Lapointe, the team’s director of player personnel and amateur scouting. “So, to be playing in the KHL and blocking shots and diving to block shots and backchecking hard, like finishing his checks on the forecheck, bringing pucks to the net, that's what you wish for in a player. And we feel that this guy was the guy that we needed and he was there and I feel lucky to have him.”
Bobrov’s description of Pugachyov, on the other hand, was much more direct: he’s Montreal’s perfect match.
As it turned out, he wasn’t the only one. On Day 2, the Canadiens continued searching for players who fit their blueprint, and one requirement stood above the rest: size. Including Pugachyov, all eight of Montreal’s selections in 2026 stood at least six feet tall. Four of those picks were defensemen: Timofei Runtso, Cooper Cleaves, Brayden Klimpke, and Jean-Samuel Daigneault.
“As Marty [Lapointe] said, the Ds are always in demand. And we always talk about different buckets, and which ones are full and which ones are becoming emptier. So, where the best fishing holes are, as we say,” Bobrov explained. “And it's different from draft to draft. Sometimes, a bucket of big forwards might be fuller than on the D side. So, in this case, it just so happened that the D's were the best players in particular spots.”
Selected in the second round, Runtso is the highest-profile blueliner of the bunch. A native of Los Angeles, CA, he led the WHL’s Victoria Royals in goals, assists and points by defensemen in 2025-26 with 11-33–44 totals in 68 games played. Runtso is committed to Miami University (Ohio) for the 2026-27 campaign.
The remaining picks came up front, with the Canadiens adding three forwards. Parker Trottier (grandson of Bryan Trottier, a six-time Stanley Cup champion as a player), a quick, energetic and direct skater; Wesley Royston, another explosive power forward; and Tyler Deakos, a shoot-first winger, were selected in the sixth and seventh rounds, rounding out this year’s crop of youth talent.
And with that, the Habs closed the book on yet another draft––one that served as a reminder of just how much has changed in Montreal of late.
Just four years ago, the Canadiens stepped to the podium at the 2022 NHL Draft with the first-overall pick, which was an exciting day, but also a symbol of the road that lay ahead for the organization. But after years of patient rebuilding, “rebuild” is no longer part of the conversation.
The Stanley Cup, on the other hand, is.
