As early as the Montreal Canadiens’ annual golf tournament for the 2024-2025 season, Kent Hughes said there was a possibility that he would go to Russia to meet Ivan Demidov during the KHL season.
It wasn’t a certainty at the time, but the plan finally came to fruition less than a month ago, when Elliotte Friedman said that the CH was going to visit Demidov in Russia.
This was good news overall, given that it is essential that the CH maintain a good bond and closeness with its best hope, especially considering that he does not seem the happiest there, and that He is most likely under pressure to sign a new KHL contract with SKA St. Petersburg.
In short, Kent Hughes will go to Russia to visit his top prospect, but what we also wondered is if the CH general manager would take the time to visit these other Russian hopes.
Indeed, the Habs have several prospects in Russia, including two most important in Bogdan Konyushkov (21-year-old right-handed defender) and Yevgeni Volokhin (19-year-old goalkeeper).
Even if they are not as good as Demidov, they are still two solid prospects in the Habs organization chart, who could very well break into the NHL one day.
Unfortunately for Konyushkov and Volokhin, well, due to lack of time, the CH may not visit them, according to what Mathias Brunet reports.
Indeed, during the last episode of the popular podcast “Process”, Mathias Brunet broached the subject of Kent Hughes’ visit to Russia, and he also affirmed that without any surprise, Nick Bobrov will be part of the trip.
Bobrov is Russian, and he has important contacts in the KHL, including one within SKA Saint Petersburg, Ivan Demidov’s team.
In short, two important leaders of the CH will be in Russia very soon to see Demidov, but probably not the other hopes like Konyushkov and Volokhin.
It’s a real shame, because they are two solid prospects, and this will surely create a little chill with the CH, a chill that was already felt at the start of the season when Bogdan Konyushkov said that the CH spoke a lot with Demidov, and that he did not have the right to this treatment as a second-rate hope.
We can hope that at a minimum, Hughes and Bobrov are in contact with the two Russian prospects, and that they maintain a link with each of them.
In short, this visit to Russia risks being solely focused on Ivan Demidov, while we will try to build more ties with him, reminding him that the Canadian needs him, starting next season.
We especially don’t want Demidov to sign a new contract for next season with SKA.
All this therefore remains to be followed.
In Burst
– In your opinion? I say two, the Alouettes and the Carabins.
– I would add a victory for the Laval Rocket, who is also in action today.
– Two names to watch for the Buffalo Sabres.
– A strange transaction that I still don’t understand.
– To be continued.
