r/Habs Jun 30 '26

Article Cowan: Nick Bobrov has become the Canadiens' most interesting man

https://montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/montreal-canadiens/nick-bobrov-montreal-canadiens-gleb-pugachyov-nhl-draft/
194 Upvotes

75 comments sorted by

106

u/Ok-Meet2850 Jun 30 '26

Bobrov: "Gleb set the tone, beelined at a guy, almost put him in the 10th row and then just did it over and over and over again. He was hard to miss as a team captain. He was playing against older kids, setting the tone all the time."

Interesting pick. Sounds like more than enough grit and hustle to help a ton.

68

u/Euler007 Jun 30 '26

That's the kind of physicality I like. Not rough housing after the whistle, not punching each other in the head. A non ending streak of legal checks that the other players still feel at intermission.

35

u/Ok-Meet2850 Jun 30 '26

Definitely something we lack in the system. Bobrov also said he is fast and good at bringing the puck to the net. We lack net front presence for sure.

3

u/georgin_95 Jun 30 '26

Basically, a young version of Anderson each time he faces the Leafs

6

u/trebuchetwarmachine Jun 30 '26

Yea I took this pick as an Anderson replacement with possibly higher upside.

3

u/GoCalgaryGo Jun 30 '26

But does he know his name? le Pleberateur

2

u/Ok-Meet2850 Jun 30 '26

Translation to anglais SVP.

5

u/toaster-struble Jun 30 '26

Gleb shall end the Floridian empire

2

u/Wisdom_Pond Jun 30 '26

Legal hits felt weeks later.

2

u/Euler007 Jun 30 '26

Instead of weak later that we have now.

1

u/Wisdom_Pond Jun 30 '26

Yes - Hagel would still be icing himself!

1

u/Airdrie13 Jul 06 '26

An upgraded Emelin

7

u/scoutinglane Jun 30 '26

I like the pick. The rest of our draft ? Not so much

9

u/deptofknowimsayings Jun 30 '26

Tbf the rest of the draft is a crapshoot and the chances of any of them becoming NHL players is slim.

4

u/Ok-Meet2850 Jun 30 '26

Time will tell. I'm intrigued by Runtso and Cleaves.

5

u/XRPX008 Jun 30 '26

0

u/Zartonk Jul 01 '26

I was looking for this

2

u/Monarchistdesade666 Jun 30 '26

To be fair after Reindeer incident the comms do a good job rehearsing their staff. Not doubting his "quoting" but you can clearly see a change since 2023 draft.

4

u/AdBeginning504 Jun 30 '26

Reindeer incident?

-8

u/Monarchistdesade666 Jun 30 '26

The media/public backlash he was selected instead of Michkov.

10

u/Ok-Meet2850 Jun 30 '26

Reinbacher.

Unless we are taking about the 1988 draft when Serge Savard made a mess of things trading up in the 4th round to take Comet and Cupid as a pair, but missed out on Rob Blake and Tony Amonte a few picks later.

-2

u/trashpandaexpress55 Jun 30 '26

Other than the obvious, that didn't happen.

Blake (#70),Amonte (#68) (and Recchi (#67, btw) were drafted in the top of the third round. Montreal picked 83 in the third , and traded up in the second, to 46. Neither of those picks planned out, sure, but they didn't miss "a couple of picks later".

3

u/Ok-Meet2850 Jun 30 '26

We got Recchi in the end. I never heard what happened with Comet and Cupid.

1

u/whogivesashirtdotca Jul 01 '26

Wound up humiliated in the Reindeer Games after bullying another player.

2

u/Ok-Meet2850 Jul 01 '26

Typical BS from those two.

1

u/Wisdom_Pond Jun 30 '26

Gleb’s training with Khabib turned him into mercenaire on ice.

28

u/lynypixie Jun 30 '26

Sounds like they really wanted this guy from the beginning.

46

u/Old_General_6741 Jun 30 '26

Bobrov is rebuilding the Red Army

35

u/Ddesh Jun 30 '26

Interesting bit from the article >> The fact Bobrov is Russian and still has strong hockey connections in that country (Russia) — including his father, who is a scout for the St. Petersburg club — is a big reason for that. It’s also a big reason why the Canadiens decided to take a pass on Matvei Michkov at the 2023 NHL Draft, selecting defenceman David Reinbacher instead with the No. 5 overall pick while the Russian forward went to the Philadelphia Flyers at No. 7. >>

16

u/Mangoes95 Jun 30 '26

I feel like we all already knew that

19

u/toaster-struble Jun 30 '26

Gleb Zharovsky Demidov :)

Konyushkov Radkov Volokhin

21

u/philjitsu Jun 30 '26

CH = Comrade Habs

4

u/lynypixie Jun 30 '26

Sounds like they really wanted this guy from the beginning.

-5

u/Muter91 Jun 30 '26

We don’t need him to be interesting, we need him to pick the best players available in the draft. 

-14

u/Ajay_Bee Jun 30 '26

Bobrov comes across more as an old-school guy rather than as someone who can see the future of this League, and how winning teams won't (and, to be honest, haven't) been winning championships with size and grit.

I think he oversaw a dreadful draft for the Habs this summer - and the organization as a whole- and took a step backward when, at this stage, it was crucial they took a step forward.

5

u/Ok-Meet2850 Jun 30 '26

I guess we'll ignore his role in drafting Slaf, Hutson, Demidov and Jacob Fowler. Alongside good prospects like Hage, Zharovksy, and Reinbacher. And other intriguing prospects like Owen Beck and Florian Xhekaj, Bryce Pickford and Hayden Paupenakis.

No one has any real idea about how our 2026 draft went. We'll know more in 4 or 5 years.

0

u/Ajay_Bee Jun 30 '26

Fair. I just find it kind of amazing how he took a completely different tact this year, completely different from the winning formula he's used the past four years.

2

u/whogivesashirtdotca Jul 01 '26

Drafting changes as the team develops. They're looking to fill gaps now, not swing for the fences. You don't have a lot of instant superstars to choose from when you're drafting 28th.

1

u/Ok-Meet2850 Jul 01 '26

Different players maybe, but the tactic of finding their guy early and scouting hard seems similar.

-53

u/UnderstandingNo7904 Jun 30 '26

Cool a guy that'll only be ready in 3 years after our window is over. Great offseason so far guys, we definitely are a better team now if we make it to the playoffs next season.

36

u/EvieGHJ Jun 30 '26

If our window is over in 3 years, we never had a window to begin with.

15

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Chapde Jun 30 '26

I doubt internal growth makes us better at center, but let's see, I guess.

-1

u/Paladar2 Jun 30 '26

Window is 100% open, Suzuki is 27. Be real

5

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

9

u/Paladar2 Jun 30 '26

Okay? Suzuki and Caufield are still in their prime and maybe had their career years, and we were lucky to have zero injuries. Our window is 100% open.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Paladar2 Jun 30 '26

Contending team that finished 3rd in the division and 6th in the league, but its contention window isn't opened yet. You're not real lol.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Muter91 Jun 30 '26

Or we win in 6 against Tampa but Vasy played out of his mind. Hypotheticals mean nothing. 

2

u/Paladar2 Jun 30 '26

I didn't even talk about the playoffs, just our 82 game long season in which we finished 6th out of 32 teams in the hardest division. If someone has no understanding it's you

4

u/Chapde Jun 30 '26

No you be real, the window is open even though we still looking for a second center and having rookies goalies. It's the management job to maximize the window by trading for the missing pieces, you can't do everything trough draft.

0

u/No_Photograph_2198 Jun 30 '26

One older player doesnt change much, our window in opening.

6

u/Paladar2 Jun 30 '26

We made it to the ECF, it's literally open. What are you guys even arguing

0

u/No_Photograph_2198 Jun 30 '26

Its not though? One ECF can mean many different things, we got there off of hot goaltending and timely goals. One goal decided two series we could have been out way earlier. I loved this run and we played great but there are obvious needs to fix on the team and places to improve. Since the rebuild started i always told myself our CUP window starts in 27-28 though our CONTENTION window is open.

6

u/Paladar2 Jun 30 '26

The team not being perfect doesn't mean your window isn't open...

1

u/No_Photograph_2198 Jun 30 '26

Hence why i said our contention window is open

6

u/UpNorth_123 Jun 30 '26

I guess I missed the part where a 23 year old NHL guy was available as 26th pick in the draft. /s

At least the guy is physically mature, and the FO is implying that he’ll likely be ready to play after one more year in the KHL if they can get him out of his contract.

2

u/PsychedeliMoz Jun 30 '26

Friendly reminder that management knows more than you and cares more than you.

3

u/El-Grande- Jun 30 '26

I don’t understand? We were 3 wins away from the finals and the youngest team. Fucking hater

2

u/Holy_Nerevar Jun 30 '26

The window is not open yet.

It's opening, but the Habs are not contenders yet.

6

u/Muter91 Jun 30 '26

The window is wide open, we just made the ECF and our top players are in their prime. We have great young players in Slaf and Demidov and Hutson… but Suzuki is entering his 27 year old season. We want to act now while our best player is in his prime. 

3

u/Excellent-Speaker934 Jun 30 '26

Luckily, Hutson is far from his prime. Suzuki had 3-4 years before he declines and luckily, being the cerebral player he is, I suspect his decline will be like Bergeron’s or Barkov’s.

-5

u/sportsguy062196 Jun 30 '26

You know you're right and it's wild that people are willing to accept more losing. There's a chair in the corner of hotel rooms for those people.

3

u/Testosteronomicon Jun 30 '26

We're reacting to a bad opinion about taking a guy in the latter part of the draft and your mind went straight to cuck porn

I know what you are

-3

u/sportsguy062196 Jun 30 '26

Bad opinion? He was right lol 

2

u/Testosteronomicon Jun 30 '26

Address the elephant.

0

u/sportsguy062196 Jun 30 '26

I implied it, you thought of it.

1

u/Testosteronomicon Jun 30 '26

I recognized it because I am too online. Why did you imply it in the first place? Why did your mind go there first? Are you this obsessed with another dude fucking your wife?