Louis Robitaille spoke highly of Montreal Canadiens first-round pick Gleb Pugachyov on BPM Sports this past week.
Former Gatineau Olympiques and Victoriaville Tigres coach Louis Robitaille has just finished his first season as a coach in the VHL, the Russian equivalent of the AHL, and he has had the opportunity to see Montreal Canadiens’ first-round pick Gleb Pugachyov play more than once.
Earlier this week, Robitaille was a guest on BPM Sport and explained the youngster had made a good impression on him. The coach explained he really caught his eye and made him think that he really had something special. He also added:
I thought he was a responsible guy. Beyond the fact that he was playing a physical game at the lower level, it was the way he moved. He’s a big man, but he knows how to play the game. He’s not running around on the ice.
That comment should be music to the ears of Canadiens coach Martin St-Louis, who’s not a big fan of players who go out of their way to land big hits and take themselves out of the play to do it.
However, the former QMJHL also added that he’s not a big points producer:
He’s not a guy who puts up a lot of points. If you watch the MHL playoffs, yes, he got a lot of shots on net, but he doesn’t produce at an insane pace. But guys who play that style, you don’t draft them to produce.
Judging by Pugachyov’s Instagram account, he’s yet another player with a very strong work ethic; over the last few weeks, he’s been sharing plenty of training videos in which you can see him do some very heavy lifting. It will be interesting to see just how strong he will be when his KHL contract ends in two years and whether he’ll be ready to make the jump to North America then; there’s no doubt that the Canadiens hope he will be.
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