BROSSARD, Que. — On Friday night, the Montreal Canadiens traded for a six-foot-three Russian right winger.
It just wasn’t the one everyone was speculating about.
No, Kirill Marchenko remains in Columbus, where Blue Jackets president of hockey operations and general manager Don Waddell was busy telling reporters that 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 player wasn’t interested in extending his contract with them beyond its current term.
Marchenko’s first opportunity to do so comes July 1, with the 25-year-old’s deal (worth $3.85 million per season) set to expire in one year and leave him as a restricted free agent. The report that he would not take advantage of it did little to quell speculation that he could be traded.
Rumours were rampant that he could move to the Canadiens heading into the first round of the draft, and league sources confirmed to Sportsnet on Friday afternoon the team had taken “a hard run at Marchenko” and “was hot after him.”
But the deal the Canadiens ultimately consummated during Round 1 was the one general manager Kent Hughes swung for Gleb Pugachyov — a pugnacious power forward taken 26th overall after Pick 28 and a 2027 third-rounder were shipped to the Vegas Golden Knights to put the Canadiens in that position at the draft.
“It’s clear we had classed him higher than where we were going to pick,” said Hughes. “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.”
The GM qualified Pugachyov as “mature.” He told Sportsnet he’s close to NHL-ready and intimated to reporters thereafter that there could be a mechanism in his current KHL contract that enables him to come to Montreal before it’s set to expire in two years.
That doesn’t mean that Pugachyov, who had the rare experience of playing 13 games in Russia’s top league before being drafted to the NHL, can help now.
And there are also no guarantees the Canadiens will emerge from this weekend with anyone else who can, despite their reported efforts to pry Marchenko out of Columbus and their interest in other bona fide players from around the league.
Still, that didn’t dull Hughes’ belief he’ll be able to execute a move — or moves — in the coming days, weeks or months to advance the Canadiens’ immediate agenda.
“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.”
Coupling the 28th pick with next year’s third-rounder and selecting Pugachyov 26th didn’t weaken that position at all 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,” said Hughes. “Irrespective of what position it is, that’s not going to be the difference in terms of your ability to do that.”
That’s because the Canadiens have one of the fullest cupboards in the league, stocked with elite prospects ready to pop and an abundance of proven NHL defencemen. Those are premium assets to be holding, especially in a market that saw 31 players who appeared in NHL games traded over the past week alone.
Hughes said the Canadiens would part with some of them for the right player(s), but not just for the sake of accruing more talent and stocking arms to compete in the wild race that’s developed in the Atlantic Division.
“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 an 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 world 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.”
Whether that’s for Marchenko, or even for someone we haven’t heard about — Hughes said part of the Canadiens’ modus operandi has been to try to entice teams to trade players they hadn’t marketed or previously considered marketing — the will to act now is strong.
“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 pay a pretty significant price,” said Hughes. “That doesn’t scare us.”
The Canadiens also weren’t scared to take a big swing on a player like Pugachyov, who was projected by most draft prognosticators to go in the second round.
But due to the ongoing war with Ukraine, Russia’s been largely inaccessible to everyone, including most NHL teams. The lack of live viewings has pushed the country’s prospects further down NHL lists, never mind those being compiled by “draft experts.”
The Canadiens have had access, and they’ve 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, he makes multiple visits to the country each year, and he has an expansive network there.
That likely helped partner Martin Lapointe shape a much more rounded opinion on Pugachyov than he’d otherwise been able to.
Meanwhile, Hughes said 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 the Canadiens got the bruising Russian who’s 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,” said Hughes.
That was after he said, “He plays like he’s 250 pounds.”
The GM added he’d offer clarity in the coming days as to how soon Pugachyov could be playing like a 250-pounder for the Canadiens.
It was thought they might pick up the six-foot-three, goal-scoring right-winger from Columbus — and they still might.
But the Canadiens are happy to welcome another big Russian into the fold Friday.
