{"id":796831,"date":"2026-07-12T09:57:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T09:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/796831\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T09:57:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T09:57:24","slug":"excellent-acquisition-by-kent-hughes-confirmed-as-canadiens-winger-draws-lawson-crouse-comparison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/796831\/","title":{"rendered":"Excellent acquisition by Kent Hughes confirmed as Canadiens winger draws Lawson Crouse comparison"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\t\t\t\t\t \"Utah <\/p>\n

Photo credit: Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

An excellent acquisition by Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens is drawing plenty of attention today.<\/p>\n

The comparison is certainly one that Montreal Canadiens fans will appreciate.<\/p>\n

The analyst gave the Canadiens an “A” grade for the first-round selection. A flattering verdict for Kent Hughes’ 26th overall pick in 2026.<\/p>\n

The name Lawson Crouse was obviously not chosen at random here.<\/p>\n

He represents the big, physical winger who thrives on playing a heavy game but is also capable of contributing offensively.<\/p>\n

That’s exactly the mold in which Pronman sees young Gleb.<\/p>\n

A power forward profile, but with a little something extra.<\/p>\n

Right winger Pugachyov stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 198 pounds at just 18 years old.<\/p>\n

A Montreal Canadiens acquisition praised by several experts<\/p>\n

This is an imposing player who skates well and possesses genuine offensive skills.<\/p>\n

“Pugachyov is a big, heavy winger who skates well and has good offensive skills.”<\/p>\n

– Corey Pronman<\/p>\n

He loves the combination of talent and intensity.<\/p>\n

“The pure tools in his game jump out at you, and when you add that he plays with some bite, it’s an exciting combination of traits.”<\/p>\n

Pronman still points out a few minor concerns.<\/p>\n

He notes some minor questions about Pugachyov’s hockey sense and creativity with the puck.<\/p>\n

But according to him, the athleticism more than makes up for it.<\/p>\n

Pugachyov is so competitive that an NHL coach will give him significant minutes regardless.<\/p>\n

He sounds like a player built for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\n

The kind of player you love to have on your team and hate to play against.<\/p>\n

We’ll see whether Pugachyov can become a Lawson Crouse-or even surpass him.<\/p>\n

Lawson Crouse, 29, is a 6-foot-4, 214-pound winger who recorded 44 points in 81 games this season, including 24 goals.<\/p>\n

Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics<\/p>\n

POLL<\/p>\n

12 HOURS AGO|193 ANSWERS<\/p>\n

Excellent acquisition by Kent Hughes confirmed as Canadiens winger draws Lawson Crouse comparison<\/p>\n

Does the comparison to Lawson Crouse make you optimistic about Gleb Pugachyov?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo credit: Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images An excellent acquisition by Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":796832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,242913,156236,183930,280896,2338,743,70548],"class_list":["post-796831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadiens-prospect","tag-draft-pick","tag-gleb-pugachyov","tag-lawson-crouse","tag-montreal","tag-montreal-canadiens","tag-power-forward"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=796831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/796832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=796831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=796831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=796831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}