Canadiens keep hunting Marchenko after Marchenko rumor swirl

Canadiens focus – The Montreal Canadiens made their Round 1 move for Russian power forward Gleb Pugachyov, but the team’s focus on the trade market stayed active after reports and speculation that Kirill Marchenko could still be on the move from Columbus.

BROSSARD, Que. — On a night when everyone in Montreal wanted one specific name, the Canadiens still ended up reaching for a different kind of big. During Round 1, they traded to select Gleb Pugachyov, a 6-foot-3 Russian power forward, even as the market around Kirill Marchenko refused to cool.

Marchenko remains in Columbus. where Blue Jackets president of hockey operations and general manager Don Waddell told reporters it was “news to him” that Marchenko’s team had notified ESPN and NHL Network analyst Kevin Weekes in the middle of the first round of the NHL Draft that the 25-year-old was not interested in extending his contract beyond its current term.

That denial doesn’t change the calendar that’s already coming for Columbus. Marchenko’s first opportunity to extend comes July 1. His deal, worth $3.85 million per season, is set to expire in one year, which would leave him as a restricted free agent.

Rumours leading into the draft were loud that the Canadiens could push hard for Marchenko. League sources confirmed to Sportsnet on Friday afternoon that the team took a “hard run at Marchenko” and was “hot after him.”

Yet Montreal’s Round 1 outcome landed elsewhere. General manager Kent Hughes swung for Pugachyov, describing the move as a rise into a spot the Canadiens had to attack.

“It’s clear we had classed him higher than where we were going to pick,” Hughes said. “We tried to move up several times tonight. and we were able to move up two spots and still get the player we wanted. He’s definitely a player with a big frame. but he also really plays a very robust style. and he’s got really strong hockey sense.”.

To get there, the Canadiens moved from 28th overall. Pugachyov was taken 26th overall, after Pick 28 and a 2027 third-rounder were shipped to the Vegas Golden Knights to put Montreal in that position at the draft.

Hughes also qualified Pugachyov as “mature.” He said the forward is close to NHL-ready, and he intimated to reporters thereafter that there could be a mechanism in the player’s current KHL contract that would enable him to come to Montreal before it’s set to expire in two years.

That timing matters, because Pugachyov isn’t a guaranteed answer arriving immediately. He had the rare experience of playing 13 games in Russia’s top league before being drafted to the NHL, but Hughes didn’t suggest the Canadiens were depending on him alone to solve any short-term needs.

Even with the big swing on Pugachyov, there was no softening around Montreal’s broader intent. Hughes insisted the Canadiens will explore moving players now, in the days, weeks or months ahead.

“I’m confident we’re going to be able to do something,” Hughes said. “I can’t tell you when, but I feel like we’re in a position to do it.”

Hughes said coupling the 28th pick with next year’s third-rounder and selecting Pugachyov 26th didn’t weaken that position in his eyes.

“I don’t think that one late pick is going to be the difference between getting a high-end, top-six hockey player, top-four defenceman, top goaltender,” Hughes said. “Irrespective of what position it is, that’s not going to be the difference in terms of your ability to do that.”

He pointed to what the Canadiens already hold: one of the fullest cupboards in the league. stocked with elite prospects ready to pop. plus an abundance of proven NHL defencemen. Those are assets that. in a market that saw 31 players who appeared in NHL games traded over the past week alone. become especially valuable to protect.

Hughes said the Canadiens would part with some of those pieces for the right player(s), but not just to stockpile more bodies while the Atlantic Division wild race tightens.

“We have a lot of really good prospects,” Hughes said. “I get a lot of phone calls with respect to some of our prospects. They’re good, they’re going to be good hockey players for the Montreal Canadiens. If we’re going to move them, we want adequate return to do it. We’re going to explore things. but we’re not just going to do it for the sake of doing it and look back in two years and say. ‘What in the word were we thinking?’.

“But if it’s something we think can help us now and help us for a significant period of time going forward, we’re not going to be shy.”

The Canadiens aren’t framing this as a single-name pursuit either. Hughes said part of their approach has been to entice teams to trade players they hadn’t marketed or previously considered marketing.

“I think if you want a player that you know is established and capable of helping in today’s market right now, you’re going to be pay a pretty significant price,” Hughes said. “That doesn’t scare us.”

They also weren’t scared to take a big swing in the draft on a player who was projected by most draft prognosticators to go in the second round. Because of the ongoing war with Ukraine. Russia has been largely inaccessible to everyone. including most NHL teams. and the lack of live viewings pushed Russian prospects further down NHL lists. even those being compiled by “draft experts.”.

The Canadiens have had access, and they used it to take Ivan Demidov, Alexander Zharovsky and Pugachyov with each of their last first picks in the draft. Co-director of amateur scouting Nick Bobrov is Russian, makes multiple visits to the country each year, and has an expansive network there.

Hughes said that access also helped partner Martin Lapointe form a more rounded opinion on Pugachyov than he’d otherwise been able to.

Meanwhile, Lapointe — a former five-foot-11 right winger who made a prolific NHL career of playing like he was six-foot-three — was most elated that the bruising Russian is listed at 198 pounds by NHL central scouting and listed at 225 pounds by Eliteprospects.com.

“All I know is he’s over 200 pounds,” Hughes said, “but he plays like he’s 225 pounds.”

The GM added he’d offer clarity in the coming days as to how soon Pugachyov could be playing like a 225-pounder for the Canadiens.

So the Canadiens arrive at Friday’s result with a draft pick in hand — and still with the trading-market pulse elevated. It was thought they might pick up the six-foot-three, goal-scoring right-winger from Columbus, and they still might. What Friday changed is what happens next: Montreal has a new big Russian power forward in the fold. but it isn’t looking done chasing what it can secure now.

Montreal Canadiens Kent Hughes Gleb Pugachyov Kirill Marchenko Don Waddell NHL Draft Columbus Blue Jackets Vegas Golden Knights trade market restricted free agent