Bogdan Konyushkov: his KHL coach fell in love with him

After being drafted an intriguing Russian defenseman in the fourth round of the last draft, Bogdan Konyushkov has signed a three-year contract in the KHL.

The 20-year-old Russian isn’t expected to make the leap to North America until he’s 23.

But the Habs needn’t be too concerned about this contract.

First, Konyushkov isn’t the most talented defenseman on the team’s prospect roster. He’s clearly no Lane Hutson, Logan Mailloux or David Reinbacher. And defensemen often don’t finish developing until their mid-twenties.

So the Russian’s contract in his native country is hardly the end of the world. In fact, he could have an Alexei Emelin-style career. Emelin played 380 games for the Tricolore, and was always a crowd favorite because of his physicality. He came to North America at the age of 25.

This article by TVA Sports’ Nicolas Cloutier reads.

Although the two Russians don’t necessarily have the same playing style (Konyushkov is more of a passer than a physical player), they could have similar careers. With Montreal’s future blue line overflowing with defensemen, Konyushkov could be destined to play on a third pairing.

In fact, the right-handed defenseman’s head coach has fallen in love with his protégé. At the age of 20 (in the KHL, a league where youngsters don’t necessarily belong), he played an average of 20 minutes per game.

This is not the story of a player who gradually climbed the ranks over the course of the year. He quickly obtained considerable playing time. – Alexander Appleyard, scout for Smaht Scouting and contributor to The Athletic Philadelphia.

Before the draft, Appleyard was the only person to mention Konyushkov’s name on Twitter. The prospect was an unknown, and clearly, CH scouts did their research in Russia. It’s true that, with Nick Bobrov, the team is well established in Vladimir Putin’s country, but we still had a feeling that they weren’t keen on selecting Russian players.

In addition to Konyushkov, Yevgeni Volokhin has also been selected by Montreal.

In short, Konyushkov is a fascinating prospect. I can’t wait to see his KHL highlights next season. He has his coach’s confidence, in any case.

In short

– Many fine plays.

– Read more.

In today’s #GoHabsGo Daily:

– Top prospect David Reinbacher made an excellent first impression in Montreal.
– The Montreal Canadiens AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, should have a much more interesting forward lineup next season.

Plus more NHL news:https://t.co/CKCaC23q36

– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) July 5, 2023

– Good news.