While Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes has yet to strike a deal that could be “needle-moving” for the Habs this offseason, he did acquire an interesting player in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks. After three seasons with the Laval Rocket, it was obvious that 124th overall pick in the 2020 draft Sean Farrell wouldn’t be able to go any higher in the Habs’ organization, and Hughes elected to give him a new start in the Ducks’ organization, acquiring Sasha Pastujov in return.
The 23-year-old left-shot winger was the Ducks’ 66th overall pick in the 2021 draft, and like Farrell, he has not managed to make his way to the NHL. In his second season with the Californian organization, he even made a detour through the ECHL, but last season, he had a career-high 57 points in 71 games, while Farrell had 53 points in 72 games. After landing in Montreal, he was signed to a one-year, two-way deal with an $850,000 NHL salary.
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In a recent interview with RG.org’s Marco D’Amico, Victoriaville native Ducks prospect Tristan Luneau had some great things to say about Pastujov:
Pastujov’s such a great player,” Luneau said. “He plays with so much talent, and he makes his plays look so easy. He’s an incredible person and a fantastic playmaker on the ice. We spent a lot of time together; we were even roommates for a season. He’s been great for me.
As things stand, Pastujov will likely spend the season in Laval with Daniel Jacobs’ men, but he looks like an interesting project and one of the players worth watching at rookie camp, if only to evaluate what he has to offer.
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Last season, the Canadiens’ rookie camp kicked off on September 11th, while the regular season started on October 8, which was just under four weeks before puck drop. With this season scheduled to start on September 29th, we should soon get a rookie camp invite list and a schedule. So far, we know that the Canadiens have invited Alexey Vlasov, but there’s bound to be more invites. Anyone excited for the new season?
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