Gleb Pugachyov has landed under the microscope before playing for Martin St-Louis after a rough assessment of Montreal's first-round pick.
Scott Wheeler left Pugachyov outside his ranking of the NHL's top 100 drafted prospects, and the Canadiens forward didn't even receive an honorable mention.
That stands out because Kent Hughes used the 26th overall selection on Pugachyov in the 2026 draft. Montreal clearly saw more upside than Wheeler did.
The criticism isn't new either. Wheeler had already placed Montreal among his draft losers, with the decision to select the 6-foot-3 Russian forward playing into that assessment.
His projection is also modest for a first-round pick. Wheeler views Pugachyov as a potential third-line player rather than a future centerpiece for Montreal's top six.
That doesn't determine his NHL ceiling, but it creates an early storyline around a prospect who will now be measured against the players Montreal passed on.
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Bad news for Kent Hughes as latest addition misses major prospect list
Michael Hage had no such problem making Wheeler's list. The Canadiens prospect landed 21st overall and was rated as the seventh-best player from the 2024 draft class.
Alexander Zharovsky also earned a strong position at 33rd, giving Montreal another forward prospect comfortably inside the top half of Wheeler's ranking.
David Reinbacher followed at 48th. Those placements show the Canadiens still have several highly regarded prospects even after Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson and Juraj Slafkovsky graduated from prospect status.
Pugachyov wasn't the only Montreal omission. Adam Engstrom, despite being 22 and moving closer to an NHL opportunity, was also left outside both the main list and honorable mentions.
Bryce Pickford did receive an honorable mention, which makes Engstrom's absence another interesting decision inside Wheeler's evaluation of Montreal's system.
For Pugachyov, though, the pressure is different because Hughes just spent a first-round pick on him. The Canadiens aren't evaluating that decision through an outside ranking; they'll care about his development, deployment and eventual NHL impact.
Still, being excluded this early gives the big winger something to answer. Montreal made its bet at the draft table, Wheeler clearly isn't sold, and Pugachyov now gets the chance to make that projection look far too conservative.
Will Gleb Pugachyov prove Scott Wheeler wrong and become a top-six NHL forward?
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