When a 17-year-old Emil Gazdov first signed on as Pacific FC’s third-string goalkeeper in 2020, the news came without much fanfare — and little to indicate he would, almost five years later, be headed for Major League Soccer as Pacific’s club-record outgoing transfer.
That’s exactly where Gazdov’s story has brought him this week, though, with news that the now 21-year-old has signed for MLS side CF Montréal and is set to join their first team immediately.
From his humble beginnings as a teenager at Pacific, the North Vancouver native has come a long way in his Canadian Premier League career, slowly working his way up to win the starting job. After fully breaking into the league in 2023 — and overcoming his fair share of struggles in the early stages — Gazdov’s stock soared in 2024, backstopping the Tridents to seven clean sheets, with 0.94 goals allowed per 90 minutes and a 72.31 save percentage.
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At the CPL Awards in November, Gazdov was nominated for both Best U-21 Canadian Player and Goalkeeper of the Year — winning the latter.
“The CPL gives a platform for young players to play, and I don’t think I’d get that anywhere else,” Gazdov told CanPL.ca from Montreal this week.
“I was able to play almost 50 games, and for a goalkeeper my age that isn’t that common. I was able to experience everything, make mistakes, learn, grow my game, and I feel now it’s ready to be taken on to a higher level, adapt to a higher level of soccer, higher level of training and intensity every day. For me that’s the next step and what’s best for my career.”
Gazdov certainly had to earn his opportunities at Pacific. Shortly after joining the club, he went on loan to German side FC Nürnberg U-19, where he stayed for two years honing his craft in a Bundesliga environment. Upon his return in 2022, Gazdov was ready to compete at the professional level — but still had to fight for minutes, playing second-fiddle to Callum Irving.
After Irving’s departure before the 2023 CPL campaign, Gazdov was set to take the number one job on Vancouver Island, but a rough start to the year meant he lost the starting position to Kieran Baskett. Such is the unforgiving nature of the professional game; in a results-driven industry, the margin for error is slim.
Undeterred though, Gazdov snatched back the starter’s gloves in July of that year, and went on to start Pacific’s last 15 games of 2023 — including all three of their playoff games, posting clean sheets in two of them.
Even in 2024, the young ‘keeper had to stay at the top of his game with experienced backup Sean Melvin making a handful of appearances. By the end of the year, Gazdov had rewarded coach James Merriman’s faith in him by winning the CPL’s Golden Glove.
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“To go from the struggles at the beginning, and having it pay off, [Pacific’s] trust and everything in still keeping me in, to be able to pay it off with finally being able to show that I’m the best goalkeeper in the league, was a great way to cap it off and prove to everyone how good I can be,” Gazdov said.
He went on to add that, were it not for Pacific’s faith in him — particularly that of both of his head coaches, Merriman and his predecessor Pa-Modou Kah — he would not be nearly the player he is today.
“Coming in as a young 17-year-old, there’s opportunities in the CPL that aren’t given anywhere else,” he said. “I met so many great people, so many great coaches, and I’m so thankful that my CPL story was with Pacific, because they love to give younger players a lot more minutes.”
Now, the focus for Gazdov moves to Montreal, where he’ll be back at square one, in a sense: fighting for minutes as a backup goalkeeper.
The good news for him is that CF Montreal have a strong track record with CPL player development, particularly in goal. Joel Waterman, of course, was one of the first big outbound transfers from a CPL club in 2019, and the former Cavalry FC defender now has over 100 MLS appearances to his name.
Meanwhile, two of Montreal’s most recent goalkeepers cut their teeth in the CPL. James Pantemis spent the 2020 campaign on loan at Valour FC and went on to start in Montreal, also making Canada’s 2022 FIFA World Cup squad before moving to the Portland Timbers last year.
Montreal’s current starter, Jonathan Sirois, also spent time on loan at Valour, playing the 2021 and 2022 campaigns in Winnipeg — winning the CPL’s Golden Glove in the latter season. In fact, Gazdov played against Sirois in 2022, with his Pacific side winning 2-1.
“Montreal is looking for young talent, looking for young players; they recognize and respect the CPL as a good level and a good platform, so it gives me that hope that there’s a chance to be taken,” Gazdov said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that I can take that chance.”
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Thankfully for Gazdov, he has been assured that a chance will indeed present itself. He said that, while Montreal do see him as more of a prospect for the future at the moment, the club has told him that he will get his opportunity. Plus, much like Pantemis and Sirois, Gazdov has been on the radar of the Canadian men’s national team, which could also be part of his future.
“They believe I can be the number one in the future, and want to give me the opportunity to show it and work hard, prove it every day, and with that hard work opportunities will come,” Gazdov said. “That was really key for me, hearing that there will be opportunities, and it’s just up to me.”
He added: “I know how it works and I know the ins and outs of having to accept my position in the team and work toward beating those in front of me. It’s just the process, but it’s an enjoyable one; I get to go in every day, battle, compete. It’s what you want to do as a footballer, compete with other high level footballers.”
Certainly, his prior experience having to fight his way up to the number one job will come in handy here as he tries to navigate doing that again at the MLS level.
Now that he has arrived in Quebec, the work begins for Gazdov as he competes with Sirois and Sebastian Breza for playing time.
Although it’s a new city for him, Gazdov isn’t a total fish out of water in Montreal. Though he was raised in Vancouver, he went to a French school for much of his childhood, which should give him a leg up as he gets comfortable in the new environment.
As Gazdov said, it’s up to him now; he’s a true CPL success story of a player who battled his way up to the pro game and earned his move up the ladder. Can he now take this new opportunity, and establish himself in this next step of his career?
