Gleb Pugachyov wants to skate with Demidov and Zharovsky in Montreal this summer

Félix Forget
Gleb Pugachyov wants to skate with Demidov and Zharovsky in Montreal this summer
Credit: Capture d'écran/Twitter

Last night, the CH selected Gleb Pugachyov with the 26th overall pick. In doing so, they secured a Russian winger who is clearly not afraid of physical play.

He checks like a train… and it's no wonder Kent Hughes compared him to Tom Wilson.

That said, Pugachyov chatted briefly with the media this afternoon. And it's interesting to note that he mentioned other names when asked which players he was looking to model his game after.

The young Russian mentioned Juraj Slafkovský, who is well known in Montreal as a power forward.

He also mentioned Brady Tkachuk, whose playing style is equally well known in the city.

However, the truly interesting point mentioned by the Russian came at the end of the press conference. Pugachyov was asked if he was looking forward to skating with Alexander Zharovsky at the club's development camp in the coming days.

And the Russian went a step further: Pugachyov stated that he intends to skate with Zharovsky and Ivan Demidov over the summer. We know that the two Russians will be spending much of the summer together in Montreal, and Pugachyov could very well join them.

The Habs' first-round pick also noted that he knows Demidov and Zharovsky well (Zharovsky was actually with Pugachyov last night), and that he's excited about the prospect of joining his two compatriots.

So we'll see how it all plays out, but it's encouraging to hear that Pugachyov clearly intends to spend some time in Montreal this summer before returning to Russia ahead of the upcoming season.

There are still some immigration details to work out, though. But the plan, clearly, is to have that sorted out in the coming days so we can see Pugachyov in Montreal sooner rather than later.


Update

– Pugachyov mentioned that the Habs were the first team to interview him at the Gold Star camp. And right from that moment, Nick Bobrov told him that the Habs were interested in him.

– Pugachyov believes he can be an NHL player in two years. Reminder: he still has two years left on his contract in Russia.

– The young Russian wants to improve his skating and mobility this summer.

– A funny moment at the end of the press conference.

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