Hughes on Pugachyov: ‘He was the best player available’

MONTREAL – The 2026 NHL Draft is now over and, between trades and picks, this year’s edition of the event was not a quiet one for Canadiens brass. 

In the first round, the Habs moved up two spots, acquiring the 26th-overall pick from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for the 28th-overall pick and a third-round selection in 2027. It became clear the Canadiens wanted to get their man, Gleb Pugachyov, and according to Kent Hughes, this is why: 

“He’s got size. He plays a physical game, but he also has good hockey sense. Our scouts think he has a lot of potential and versatility. He can play up and down the lineup,” shared the Canadiens general manager. “We think his game is mature, his physique as well, and he already has his identity. We think he was the best player available.”

This is the third straight year that Montreal has gone for a highly touted Russian player with its first pick, after Alexander Zharovsky, plucked at 34th overall in 2025, and Ivan Demidov, selected fifth overall in 2024.

“I think it’s more difficult to get access to Russia. Because of that, these players aren’t getting seen as often and are more likely to slide,” explained Hughes. “On the other hand, I don’t come into every year telling myself we’re going to draft out of Russia.”

On the team’s needs:

“We’re looking for specific things. We’re not just looking to accumulate more talent and then we’ll figure it out,” outlined Hughes. “I think we’re at a stage where we are looking for players that need to help us at certain positions.”

On management’s strategy heading into the summer:

“We’ve had discussions with several teams with respect to certain players. […] We don’t just look at what’s, in theory, available on the market. If there’s a player on team X or team Y that we think would be a really good fit, I can pick up the phone and say, ‘Would you move him, and if not, can we put an offer in front of you that makes you consider it?’ That’s kind of always how we tried to do it and it’s certainly been a part of our MO this offseason.”

The Habs went for size this year, with every one of their picks measuring no less than six feet tall. Montreal also beefed up its pipeline on the backend, selecting four defensemen out of eight total picks in 2026. According to Nick Bobrov, the choices reflected both organizational need and where the strengths laid in the draft class.

“As Marty [Lapointe] said, the D's 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,” said the Habs’ Co-director of Amateur Scouting. “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.”

That said, the Canadiens feel they picked up some real gems up front, starting with Pugachyov. Lapointe was gushing about the booming winger in his post-draft press conference.

“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 Montreal’s Director of Player Personnel and Amateur Scouting. “So, to be playing at 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.”