![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2026-votes-11.png\")
<\/p>\nIntroduction<\/p>\n
The expectation was that there would be no new first-rounder in the Top 25 Under 25 after the Montreal Canadiens went to the Eastern Conference Final in the spring. We\u2019d seen Kent Hughes deal two picks from the opening round the previous year to acquire Noah Dobson, and there were various rumours and reports of the general manager trying to land a top-six forward leading up to the draft, and even into the trade deadline.<\/p>\n
In the end, Montreal did trade the 28th-overall pick it was assigned after making the final four (bumped up a spot by the Ottawa Senators\u2019 penalty for trading Evgenii Dadonov when he had a no-trade clause), not for a roster player, but to move up two spots in the draft order. The Canadiens made a familiar move of adding a Russian forward to the prospect pool with their first selection of the event, choosing the Kazakhstan-born Gleb Pugachyov at 26th.<\/p>\n
Not only was not adding an NHLer to the roster at the draft a departure for Hughes, so was the type of player he selected. The previous two years the team added players with standout offensive capabilities led by puck-handling ability in Ivan Demidov, Michael Hage, and Alexander Zharovsky with some of their opening picks. Pugachyov is of a different mould, a more unrefined package of size and speed.<\/p>\n
There was no two-point-per-game season in the MHL from Pugachyov as there had been with Demidov in his Junior season leading up to a draft, or even the point-per-game performance from Zharovsky. If you looked only at his 24 points in 33 regular-season games with Chaika Nizhny Novgorod, you might wonder why he was selected in the opening round at all. But one thing he had over those two highly regarded players was a significant body of work in the KHL, and all 13 of those games were played before he turned 18 years of age.<\/p>\n
They weren\u2019t just token appearances in the top league. He played about 10 minutes each game, scoring two goals and adding an assist. His best game, a two-point effort, was against the eventual Gagarin Cup-champion Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, and the +7 goal differential he held at the conclusion of his 13th game in early March stood tied for the team lead at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s clear from the numbers alone that there\u2019s something a bit different about Pugachyov than your typical prospect, abilities that allow him to have success no matter the level of competition even at a young age. It\u2019s thanks to those abilities that a late first-rounder makes his debut just outside the top 10.<\/p>\n
Voting<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Even Pugachyov\u2019s lowest vote is at 13th; there are two players yet to come in the countdown who have lower placements. Three of the panellists had him inside our top 10, seeing him as a member of the Canadiens in the not so distant future.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Gleb-Pugachyov.png\")
<\/p>\n
The range is a bit wider in the community vote, but still centred around this spot in the order. There is a small bump at the tail end of his range from a small selection of readers that isn\u2019t quite convinced of his NHL calibre.<\/p>\n
History of #11<\/p>\n
Year
\n #11<\/p>\n
2026
\n Gleb Pugachyov<\/p>\n
2025
\n Alex Newhook<\/p>\n
2024
\n Jacob Fowler<\/p>\n
2023
\n Justin Barron<\/p>\n
2022
\n Cayden Primeau<\/p>\n
2021
\n Jayden Struble<\/p>\n
2020
\n Cale Fleury<\/p>\n
2019
\n Josh Brook<\/p>\n
2018
\n Jacob de la Rose<\/p>\n
2017
\n Joni Ikonen<\/p>\n
2016
\n Phillip Danault<\/p>\n
2015
\n Micha\u00ebl Bournival<\/p>\n
2014
\n Jiri Sekac<\/p>\n
2013
\n Tim Bozon<\/p>\n
2012
\n Morgan Ellis<\/p>\n
2011
\n Alexander Avtsin<\/p>\n
2010
\n Jarred Tinordi<\/p>\n
Strengths<\/p>\n
The most NHL-projectable trait he possesses is his size, standing 6\u20193\u2033 and weighing in at 225 pounds a few months after turning 18. He will likely be even bulkier than that when his development in Russia comes to an end. But just being big isn\u2019t enough to ensure an NHL career, and we\u2019ve seen several large players in the countdown this year that don\u2019t currently have enough complementary talents to claim as high a place. A player needs to use that size to his advantage for it to be a strength and not just a stat.<\/p>\n
Pugachyov understands what he can do with his body on the ice better than most prospects, and even a large numbers of players currently in the NHL. There are very few players who can withstand contact from him, and he\u2019s fully aware of that. He engages physically at every opportunity when the opponent has the puck to dislodge it with force and change the possession. <\/p>\n
His imposing frame is difficult enough to deal with, but he\u2019s also a very strong skater, one of the most gifted in the entire organization. That makes him almost impossible to avoid on the ice as he quickly closes in on puck-carriers. It\u2019s the biggest reason why he has success no matter what level he plays at; there are few players even at the pro level who match his physical abilities. He can play the same game in the KHL as he does in the MHL, and find success doing so.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s most effective on offence when he can draw a defender toward him who thinks there\u2019s a chance to steal the puck away, and then easily work the puck past him and through the lane that opened up. He shields off defencemen with relative ease and is then free to make a play.<\/p>\n
Thanks to his speed, he doesn\u2019t struggle to catch up to puck-carriers and then get forced to use his stick to slow them down. Nor does he get caught out by misjudging his route to a hit and having to throw out an elbow or a knee to avoid missing contact. For how physical he is every shift he plays, his penalty minute totals were quite reasonable at every level last year, so he\u2019s already learning how to play within the lines.<\/p>\n
Weaknesses<\/p>\n
His physical game is quite clean, but he can chase hits and take himself out of the play. He will need to get better at choosing when he gets aggressive on the forecheck and goes to finish a hit. He played more games in 2025-26 than he had in any previous season, and that relentless style likely took its toll by the time the playoffs arrived, showing up as reduced offence and more penalty minutes. With his type of game, he will need to find ways to play more efficiently to save something for the biggest moments at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
The one challenge he did face going from the Junior to the pro level was the increase in the pace of play. Movement speed will never be an issue, but processing speed currently is. He wasn\u2019t able to have quite the same offensive impact in the VHL or KHL because opponents were able to close on him and take away his options before he recognized the next move. It\u2019s common for a teenager to have some trouble translating his game to the pros, and he already experienced some offensive success in the KHL, so it\u2019s probably just a matter of getting accustomed to the pace. His mobility and reach give him a bit of extra time to decide on the right play before a defender can intervene, something that some smaller and\/or slower players are never able to overcome in their development and they get completely neutralized at higher levels.<\/p>\n
As impressive as it was to see him produce a few points with Torpedo, offensive questions remain. His MHL production is an indication that his instincts aren\u2019t at the same level with the puck as they are without it. He\u2019s never been a goal-scorer at any level growing up, and his 10 goals at the Junior level are about the most he\u2019s ever produced.<\/p>\n
Projection<\/p>\n
Progress on the offensive side would be the greatest development this season, along with more time spent with Torpedo in the KHL. He hasn\u2019t made the big club out of training camp, meaning he will be starting off in the MHL once again. A good start could result in a quick promotion, but the danger would come from him trying too hard to make that impression and continuing the overly aggressive chasing of hits.<\/p>\n
With a contract that runs through the 2027-28 season, he will have two more years of development in Russia before he could become an option for the NHL. Just the mental maturity that comes in those two seasons will be helpful as he learns the most effective tactics for his game. He will need the proper coaching to keep encouraging him to play his bruising style while also working on the aspects that aren\u2019t at that same level.<\/p>\n
He will be an NHL player in the future. His speed and physicality alone are enough to earn him a fourth-line role at minimum, and it wouldn\u2019t take much of an improvement in his offensive play to bump that projection up to the third. Montreal now has a number of skilled forwards on the team, and he would add a new element as a linemate to facilitate their offensive games by drawing attention with his speed and puck-winning skills. The most optimistic projections have him taking a major step in his offensive game, adding more goal-scoring and becoming a more skilled playmaker than the simple passing plays he makes now.<\/p>\n
He may top out in his development before he could be considered of second-line calibre, especially with the quality of forwards already in the system, but he could become one of the game\u2019s elite third-line players who wins his matchups, follows up with a different type of offensive-zone shift after Montreal\u2019s skilled top six completes its turn, and makes playing the puck a painful proposition for his opponents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Introduction The expectation was that there would be no new first-rounder in the Top 25 Under 25 after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":874506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-874505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874505","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=874505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}