The following article is an Eyes on the Prize collaboration between Hadi Kalakeshe and Patrik Bexell.
After more than half the KHL season has been played, there is a better understanding as to what Montreal Canadiens have in Bogdan Konyushkov. The one thing that remains unclear is his development path forward.
The questions were asked as soon as the Canadiens drafted Bogdan Konyushkov with the 110th pick in the fourth round of the 2023 NHL draft: who is this player? Why was he drafted? Where is the additional information about him?
Having played a full season with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the KHL, the data was already there to give some insight to his value as a draft pick, but he was also an overager. Montreal hasn’t had the best record with when picking them – Lukas Vejdemo, Mattias Norlinder, Arsen Khisamutdinov and recently Petteri Nurmi. There is only one player that has made some impact on NHL level, Vejdemo, but none of them have made it into the team on a regular basis. What would make Konyushkov an exception to what has become a rule in the Montreal Canadiens organization, at least when it comes to older European draft picks?
After two thirds of the season in the KHL, there is some more data to build a case; to temper expectations, or to build them up.
Before going any further it is important to remember that KHL isn’t at the same level it was even two years ago. The Russian invasion of Ukraine made foreign ice hockey players leave Russia either due to security reasons, their own moral code or the fact that many national ice hockey federations banned players in the KHL from playing on their respective national teams.
Many hockey experts, coaches and players now regard the KHL as the third-best in Europe, especially as the Swiss National League expanded the import allowances to six per team (up from four). All this combined has meant an exodus of the best foreign players out of the KHL to the NL, SHL, Liiga, and other European leagues.
Looking simply at the statistics, the development of Konyushkov hasn’t been the best. It hasn’t been a massive step forward from the young defender especially considering the weakening of the KHL. He had 25 (2+23) points over 64 games last year and this year he is on pace for 34 points over 64 games. His ice time is increasing by a little over two minutes a game (KHL, 2023).
Strengths
Statistics only tell part of the story and there are things to like about Konyushkov. His shot is one of those things. He has good placement and good accuracy, the shot comes naturally for him and he can use it from the blueline as a slap shot or as a shot pass to create a tip-in or as a hard pass making defenders unsure of what part of the ice to cover.
His passing is sharp, and he executes the pass with deception and variation making it hard to defend. He is used to playing on the power play where utilizes his passing, and aforementioned shot, to good effect. It is here where his hockey IQ really stands out as well, because he has a good sense how to play offensively.
In the defensive zone, Konyushkov keeps up well with cycling forwards and is comfortable switching assignments. He gets his stick in the right lanes more often than not, and prevents a decent amount of opposing zone entries with good gap control and mirroring the puck carrier’s footwork. On both sides of the puck, anything that has to do with reading the game and using his stick, he does well.
Weaknesses
This brings us to the negative aspect of the game: his skating. There is something ‘wrong’ in the way that he generates power with his legs, as that power isn’t transferred down to the blades of his skates and into the ice, making him ‘slow’ both in regards to acceleration and top speed. This especially shows in his pivots, making him struggle to retrieve pucks on dump-ins.
It is a similar problem that Artturi Lehkonen spent two years rectifying while at Frölunda prior to his NHL debut. Konyushkov isn’t a very good skater, something that Russia is famous for developing. Konyushkov’s technique needs to become better in order to be a good, solid NHL defender.
This skating issue translates into his balance. While Konyushkov is 5’11’’ and not really small, he struggles with his balance against men in the KHL. It almost seems like he has built up his upper body rather than his core, thereby raising his centre of gravity rather than keeping it at a lower point and making sure he can stay upright during the on ice battles.
These struggles also means that, just like Alexander Romanov used to do, he uses his stick to cross check and hold opposing players in check. The problem is that he isn’t as skilled at hiding it.
Conclusion
The choice to pick a player in his second year of draft eligibility comes with pros and cons. The pros are that the scouts and team has more data available and can see a clearer trajectory of where the player is going, the negative part is that you might lose out on players in their first draft eligible year. However, the chance of becoming an NHLer in the fourth round is about 22% (Nevalainen, 2020).
Will Konyushkov be one of those 22% making it out of the fourth round?
There are certain things to like as pointed out, above and the deciding factor will be his skating. As Hadi Kalakeshe points out in the podcast (attached below), Konyushkov is the opposite of Mattias Norlinder. He can read the defensive game better, but he can’t get to the situations in time. Norlinder could get anywhere with his skating, the problem was that he didn’t read the situation well enough.
This brings up the next problem: Konyushkov’s contract and the impact Adam Nicholas can have on his development since there is no KHL-NHL transfer agreement. Konyushkov’s contract was extended earlier this year to 2026, and Nicholas can probably point out things to improve Konyushkov’s skating via e-mails and texts, however the hands-on approach will be lacking.
At the time of writing, Konyushkov will most likely need AHL time, partly to fix his skating but also in order to increase the understanding of the North American game as he won’t have been exposed to the style of play to the same degree as Russian players before him.
The positive thing is that he has the trust of his coach, and with an increased dependency of Russian players in the KHL he will get the chance to play a heavy minutes in all situations of the game.
Can he become a NHL player? The opportunity is there, but there is still some way to go, however as this moment the Konyushkov chance is greater than the 22% Nevalainen calculates in his article.
References:
Nevalainen, J., 2020, ‘NHL draft pick probabilities’, dobberprospects.com
KHL, 2023, KHL.ru
A longer version of our discussion about Bogdan Konyushkov in the podcast episode attached below:
