When Canadiens president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton met with the media Thursday in Brossard he said there was “a pretty good chance we’ll be picking 28th.”
The Canadiens ended up picking 26th overall at Friday night’s NHL Draft in Buffalo after making a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights to move up two spots and select Russian winger Gleb Pugachyov. Along with the 28th pick, the Canadiens sent a third-round pick at next year’s draft to the Golden Knights.
A general view during Day 1 of the 2026 NHL Draft on Friday in Buffalo. Bruce Bennett / Getty Images
The 6-foot-3, 198-pound Pugachyov had 10-14-24 totals and 36 penalty minutes in 33 games this season with Nizhny Novgorod Chaika in the Russian junior league. The 18-year-old also played 13 games in the KHL with the Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo, posting 2-1-3 totals. Pugachyov, who didn’t attend the draft in Buffalo, was ranked ninth among international skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
When Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes met with reporters at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard after the first round of the draft was completed late Friday night he described Pugachyov as a physically mature player with good hockey sense who plays a robust game. Hughes added that Pugachyov plays a similar game to Washington Capitals power forward Tom Wilson and that Pugachyov was the best player available, according to the Canadiens scouts, at that spot in the draft.
There was speculation and hope from Canadiens fans leading up to the draft they might trade a first-round pick for the second straight year to acquire some immediate help, but that didn’t happen. Last year, the Canadiens traded two first-round picks — No. 16 and No. 17 overall — along with forward Emil Heineman to the New York Islanders to acquire experienced right-shot defenceman Noah Dobson.
This marks the third straight year the Canadiens have taken a Russian player with their first pick at the draft. In 2024, they took forward Ivan Demidov in the first round with the No. 5 overall pick and last year they took forward Alexander Zharovsky in the second round (34th overall). The fact Canadiens co-director of amateur scouting Nick Bobrov is Russian and has strong hockey connections in that country is a reason for that.
Seventeen of the 32 first-round picks this year were traded, including the 28th pick the Canadiens traded to move up. The Florida Panthers, who won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2024 and 2025, traded the No. 9 and No. 25 picks last Sunday to acquire Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators. It marked the fifth straight year the Panthers traded away first-round picks. Panthers GM Bill Zito has also traded away his first-round pick for the next three years as part of deals for Seth Jones, Brad Marchand and Tkachuk.
The St. Louis Blues traded picks No. 15 and No. 29 to the Anaheim Ducks Friday night in exchange for 23-year-old centre Mason McTavish, a 6-foot-1, 219-pounder who had 17-24-51 totals in 75 games last season.
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Gorton was asked Thursday if the Panthers have helped diminish the value of teams keeping first-round picks.
“I think the whole league, in general, you’re seeing first-round picks move more than probably ever,” Gorton said. “We even saw one move in the top five, which we generally aren’t seeing. So I think you’re seeing that shift. Yeah, I think that’s true.”
The Buffalo Sabres traded defenceman Bowen Byram to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday in exchange for the No. 4 overall pick. The Sabres used that pick Friday night to select 6-foot-3, 206-pound defenceman Daxon Rudolph, who had 28-50-78 toals in 68 games last season with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders.
The Canadiens are still looking for a second-line centre and/or big top-six forward, along with a right-shot defenceman to help them next season. They’d also like to get bigger and more physical and they have added size for the future with Pugachyov.
“I do believe that there are going to be more trades throughout the course of the summer,” Hughes said. “And I think from our perspective we always try to keep an open mind and look around, whether it’s at the draft. I know more often than not we have made trades at the draft. But it doesn’t mean it’s not in July, August, September, November, whenever we feel like there’s a deal that kind of moves the needle for us as a team.
“We’ve had conversations with several teams with respect to certain players,” Hughes added. “I think I’ve said it before, we just don’t look at what’s in theory available on the market as opposed to there’s a player on Team X or Team Y that we think would be a really good fit and I can pick up the phone and say: ‘Would you move him? Even if you’re not thinking about moving him could we put an offer in front of you that made you consider it?’ And that’s kind of how we’ve always tried to do it and that’s what’s been a certain part of our MO this off-season. Probably more so because we’re looking for specific things. We’re not just looking to accumulate more talent and then we’ll figure it out. It’s great to continue to add talent, but we need it to help us in certain positions or in certain ways.
“We’re going to explore things (with trades), but we’re not just going to do it for the sake of doing it and then look back in two years and say: ‘What in the world were we thinking?’” Hughes added. “But if it’s something that we think can help us now and help us for a significant period in going forward we’re not going to be shy.”
Drafting 18-year-old hockey players is always a bit of a crapshoot, which is a reason more teams aren’t afraid to trade them away now.
“I do think that in the NHL it’s a tough thing to go into an 18-year-old draft and say: ‘We need that,’ and expect this person to come on our team next year,” Gorton said Thursday. “Whereas in other sports, say like the NFL, they’re drafting players that are walking on their team. They need an offensive tackle. OK, we’re going to take an offensive tackle. He’s playing this year. We don’t necessarily have that. Maybe in the first round — maybe in the top half of the first round.”
The NHL free-agent market opens on July 1, which will give the Canadiens another opportunity to acquire some immediate help for next season.
“There’s always players in there,” Gorton said Thursday about the free-agent market. “I think, in general, the league has shifted to signing their players sooner and locking them up and not as many are getting there. So it has changed the league that way.
“Is there people in it that we’ve identified that might be a fit for us?” Gorton added about the free-agent market. “Yes.”
Hughes remains confident the Canadiens will be able to do something to make the team better before the start of next season.
“I can’t tell you when,” he said. “But I feel like we’re in a position to do it. We’ll just do it when it makes sense. Teams make trades at different points of the season.”
Rounds 2-7 of the NHL Draft will be held Saturday (11 a.m., Sportsnet, TVA Sports). The Canadiens have one pick in the second and third rounds, two picks in the fourth round, one in the sixth round and two in the seventh round.