“The Canadiens communicate a lot with Ivan Demidov”

Let’s talk about the KHL for a moment.

Bogdan Konyushkov is a somewhat underrated defenseman in Montreal. The prospect plays in Russia, which makes it a little harder to keep up with him in North America.

On the other hand, he remains a youngster with a lot of responsibility in the KHL. He’s intriguing.

It’s interesting to wonder how the Habs perceive him. After all, the club has no shortage of up-and-coming young defensemen, but it won’t spit on one more youngster.

Jeff Gorton said it best: he’s not going to apologize for having too many young defensemen in the bank.

All this to say that the young man gave an interview to journalist Sergey Demidov, who works for the Responsible Gaming site, to talk about several subjects. And out of the lot, his relationship with the Habs stood out.

And here’s what he had to say about it.

The Habs communicate so much with Ivan Demidov because he’s a top draft pick. He’s a top prospect.

I don’t have that. – Bogdan Konyushkov

Montreal @CanadiensMTL fans were seriously concerned when they saw that Bogdan Konyushkov was no longer the captain of Torpedo in the KHL and was moved to the third pair of defensemen. What happened? Konyushkov explains to @RGSafePlay via @smdemidovhttps://t.co/tIqiGlyknN

– RG.org (@RGSafePlay) September 16, 2024

So it’s understandable that the defenseman, who plays in a country where NHL clubs find it hard to communicate with players, feels he doesn’t talk enough to the Habs.

But it’s also understandable that the Habs find ways to communicate often with Demidov. At least, that’s the perception of Bogdan, who doesn’t know Demidov very well personally.

If Bogdan is right, it’s good for the club to see that Demidov can communicate with management.

Remember that, according to what Kent Hughes told Marc Denis yesterday, the Habs intend to pay the top prospect a visit this year. I wonder if Bogdan will get a visit too…

Marc Denis (RDS): “In the case of Ivan Demidov, are you just letting Roman Rotenberg take care of his development, is there constant communication with SKA, do you know what’s going to happen in the next year because sometimes it’s a bit complicated with young Russian players.”… pic.twitter.com/TYN1FBKJgv

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) September 16, 2024

While we’re on the subject of Bogdan, he said in his interview with the RG site that losing his captaincy had more to do with the arrival of Slava Voynov on his team. It’s not a punishment because of potential North American aspirations.

But at the same time, would he say the opposite publicly?

Overtime

– The table is set for the camp.

To get off the bottom rung of the NHL standings and push toward a playoff picture they’ve been absent from for three seasons, the Montreal Canadiens need to get off on the right foot. @EricEngels has the preview. https://t.co/NDfGluGPRL

– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 17, 2024