New addition by the Canadiens: 'he has the desire to go hurt the opposition'

Gleb Pugachyov is already a polarizing name inside the Montreal Canadiens fan base, and the draft just wrapped this weekend.

The debate isn't about talent. It's about how Kent Hughes and his staff value a player built around physical force over pure skill.

On The Sick Podcast, hosted by Trust The Process, the question landed bluntly: was Pugachyov the right pick for the Canadiens?

Analyst Shayne Gaumond didn't hedge. He called Pugachyov's willingness to hit "an ability unlike any other prospect in this draft."

"The willingness, the desire to go hurt the opposition. That in itself is a skill. It's an asset. It's an X-factor," Gaumond said on the show.

That's the kind of quote that splits a fan base in half. Some hear toughness. Others hear a team reaching for an identity instead of a difference-maker.

Montreal just finished a season that earned 106 points, good for sixth overall and third in the division, under Martin St-Louis behind the bench.

Why physicality became the Habs' draft obsession

The Canadiens went 48-24-10 this year and closed with a 7-3-0 stretch over their final ten games before dropping the regular-season finale 2-4 in Philadelphia.

A team trending that well doesn't draft for need. It drafts for identity, and Hughes clearly wanted an edge element in the pipeline.

Think of it like a homebuilder who already has the architecture finished and starts shopping for the brick that can take a hit without cracking.

That's the bet on Pugachyov. He's not projected as a top-line scorer. He's projected as a problem for opponents who don't want to play through traffic.

The Sick Podcast crew didn't pretend the pick was risk-free, either. Hitting and physical presence are real tools, but they don't always translate into NHL ice time on their own.

Pugachyov now enters a Canadiens development pipeline that has produced real NHL contributors in recent years, which raises the stakes on this evaluation immediately.

If he can pair the physical edge with even modest offensive growth, Hughes looks ahead of the curve. If not, this becomes the pick fans point to in three years.

Either way, the conversation around Pugachyov isn't going away anytime soon, and Montreal's scouting staff just put its credibility on the line for it.