Kent Hughes’ recent 6-foot-3 Canadiens acquisition is turning heads: ‘He has something special’
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Louis Robitaille clearly approves of one of the recent forwards acquired by Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens.
The former head coach of the Gatineau Olympiques and Victoriaville Tigres now works in Europe.
He crossed paths with the towering No. 39 more than once.
Robitaille recently completed his first season behind the bench of Omsk’s VHL affiliate, the Russian equivalent of the American Hockey League.
That gave him a front-row seat to Gleb’s development.
He first noticed the young forward completely by chance.
While on the road, he attended a KHL game between Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod and the Shanghai Dragons.
The imposing prospect was impossible to miss.
“Pugachyov stood out to me.
The young players wear full cages, so he was hard to miss,” Robitaille said over the phone.
His first impression was a strong one.
“I remember thinking, ‘Okay, there’s something special about this kid,'” added Robitaille, who later saw him again during the MHL playoffs.
He’s more than just a physical player.
Pugachyov, a 6-foot-3, 224-pound wrecking ball, brings much more than a strictly physical game.
Robitaille pointed to his hockey sense.
“I thought he was a responsible player. Beyond the fact that he was physical, it was the way he moved….
He’s a big guy who knows how to play the game. He doesn’t chase the play all over the ice,” the coach noted.
The concern is his production.
At 18, the young forward generated plenty of shots during the MHL playoffs but didn’t score consistently.
But Robitaille sees room for growth.
“Can that develop?
I believe so. His puck skills aren’t bad. I don’t think he’s a one-dimensional player.”
Torpedo holds his rights for two more years and would like to keep him, but he’ll certainly be a name for Montreal Canadiens fans to watch.
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Kent Hughes’ recent 6-foot-3 Canadiens acquisition is turning heads: ‘He has something special’
Does Gleb Pugachyov have the potential to become an impact player for the Montreal Canadiens?