On Monday night, the Victoriaville Tigres announced that winger Alexey Vlasov had been invited to the Montreal Canadiens’ rookie camp. The 5-foot-9, 176-pound left winger is 18 years old and has played two seasons in North America. In 2024-25, he skated in the USHL, scoring 23 points in 51 games with the Sioux Falls Stampede before moving to the QMJHL for 2025-26. With the Tigres, he put up 80 points in 64 games.
While Vlasov doesn’t have the size element the Canadiens desperately need, it’s an interesting invite from the Habs. The youngster is talented, has a knack for scoring goals, and was ranked 102nd among North American skaters ahead of the 2026 draft. With 44 goals, he was the highest-scoring rookie in the QMJHL this past season. He was a constant scoring threat, skating on an all-Russian line completed by Egor Shilov and Kornei Korneyev.
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It’s not hard to know why he was passed over in the draft, given his size and the fact that his skating isn’t quite up to par. However, the Canadiens have excellent development coaches, and he could greatly benefit from rookie camp. This will be an exceptional opportunity for the youngster to show he can measure up to drafted players.
Rookie camp invites do not always lead to contract offers, of course. Still, some players seize the opportunity and turn it into something more, like Arber Xhekaj, who was undrafted but forced the Canadiens to offer him an ELC in October 2021.
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