Well, would Gulyayev have been the Canadiens' choice? Hard to say, but we do know Montreal's management liked him quite a bit.
"On June 27, 2023, the Canadiens traded the 31st overall pick (which became Mikhail Gulyayev), the 37th overall pick in 2023 (which became Ethan Gauthier), and Gianni Fairbrother, in exchange for forward Alex Newhook."
And while Newhook still has yet to make a concrete impact in Montreal, here comes young Gulyayev, who could already be joining the Colorado Avalanche as reinforcements.
"Colorado Avalanche 1st-rounder, Mikhail Gulayev is seemingly eyeing the end of the season to jump to the NHL.
More from the youngster on his work with Guy Boucher and his NHL comparables below:"
We highly recommend the full article from RG Media, but basically, it confirms that Gulyayev could indeed be arriving in the NHL as early as this season (at the end of the season), similar to how Ivan Demidov joined the Montreal Canadiens a few months ago.