Bogdan Konyushkov will play in the NHL “very soon”, according to his GM

Bogdan Konyushkov is a promising prospect for the Montreal Canadiens.

The fact that he throws from the right makes him even more special, because in the Habs organization, you don’t necessarily find many young right-handed defensemen.

The 21-year-old is in his second season in the KHL and his progression curve is fascinating. He’s one of the league’s most-used defensemen, wears an “A” on his Torpedo jersey, contributes to his club’s offensive success (22 points in 50 games) and is good in all three zones of the rink.

Reading this, I feel like I’m talking about a guy who was selected in the first round. But Konyushkov was drafted in the fourth round of the last draft, and without necessarily talking about a steal, Kent Hughes and his group seem to have made a good choice.

It’s not for nothing, after all, that Igor Larionov said back in September that the young man already had what it takes to be a key player in the NHL. Positive comments about him have been pouring in since last summer, and it’s easy to believe that the Habs have a good one on their hands.

Bogdan agreed to a three-year contract with his Russian club just after the Habs drafted him in June.

The story seemed a little bizarre, because we wondered if Bogdan had used the Habs to sign a KHL pact after being drafted… And we didn’t really know what the young man’s plan was for the future.

But now we hear from Nicolas Cloutier that Konyushkov could be playing in the NHL “soon”.

The TVA Sports journalist spoke to Maxim Gafurov, General Manager of the Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo:

I think he’ll be playing in the NHL very soon. It depends on him. If he’s ready, he’ll certainly play in the NHL. We’re not going to hold him back. That’s not our style at all. – Maxim Gafurov

The GM may say he expects Konyushkov to play in the NHL “very soon”…

But the player is tied to the team until the end of the 2025-2026 season, and it would be a real surprise to see him come to North America before the end of his contract.

Barring a major turnaround, Konyushkov will be playing in Russia…

And in the best of all possible worlds, he could join the Canadiens for the start of the 2026-2027 season. He’ll be 23 by then.

But seeing his general manager open to the idea of seeing him make the jump to the NHL is reassuring enough for Habs fans. It’s ironic, though, because we’re talking about the same GM who gave him a contract extension without even talking to the Habs before the draft.

Should we take his word for it?

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