Canadiens Sign Bogdan Konyushkov to Entry-Level Deal

After drafting him in the fourth round (110th overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft, the Montreal Canadiens announced they had signed Russian defenceman Bogdan Konyushkov to a two-year, entry-level contract on Friday, July 10. As confirmed by his Russian team, Konyushkov will play the 2026-27 campaign with his home club Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) to most likely report at the end of the season once the team is out of Gagarin Cup contention, similarly to the situation between Sergei Ivanov and the Columbus Blue Jackets from a few days ago.

Konyushkov is progressing nicely in the KHL. The defenceman has 108 career points in 263 regular-season games, all with Torpedo. He has also made 29 appearances in the Gagarin Cup Playoffs, with a solid total of one goal and 11 assists from the blue line. For two seasons, his head coach in Nizhny Novgorod was NHL legend Igor Larionov, who then moved on in his career to coach the league’s powerhouse SKA St. Petersburg.

The Habs are now breeding a good core of Russian players in their lineup, with forward Ivan Demidov recently signing an eight-year contract extension and having another exciting player in the pipeline in Alexander Zharovsky.

Other than his KHL experience, Konyushkov did join Nizhny Novgorod’s second-league affiliate Torpedo-Gorky during their playoff run to a Petrov Cup championship in 2025, scoring three goals and adding ten assists in 17 games. Earlier, he was an important part of a Nizhny Novgorod team that snapped up the Junior Hockey League title in 2022. Experience and past wins will help Konyushkov in his transition to North America, hoping that he can turn into a full-time player on the Habs’ blue line.