According to an announcement from the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres, the Montreal Canadiens have invited forward Alexei Vlasov to their rookie camp in mid-September. Despite being eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft, no team took a chance on Vlasov.

Despite his proven scoring ability in the QMJHL, it’s not a huge shock that Vlasov went undrafted this summer. Although size isn’t as much of a factor as it used to be in the modern NHL, Vlasov is only 5’9″ and 179lbs. Additionally, he doesn’t have great skating ability to make up for his lost size, and he typically relies on his teammates to drive the play.

Still, Vlasov has a tremendous motor, playing through the whistle on almost every shift. This past season with the Tigres, Vlasov registered 44 goals and 80 points in 64 games, tying for ninth in league scoring with St. Louis Blues prospect Justin Carbonneau.

An invite to rookie camp will give the Canadiens a personal look at whether Vlasov will be a player worth taking in the later rounds of the 2027 NHL Draft. If he has another high-scoring season, Montreal could assess that his scoring ability is too good to overlook and have confidence in their own internal processes to get his skating where it needs to be for professional hockey. Vlasov is expected to play for Victoriaville for the 2026-27 season before joining the University of Connecticut Huskies for the 2027-28 campaign.