As we enter the second week of November, we're well into the 2026-27 season in some parts of the world including across Europe, with leagues on that continent nearly two months old.
The Montreal Canadiens have a number of prospects all over Europe including 2025 second round pick Alexander Zharovsky, two-time National League champion Vinzenz Rohrer and 2026 first round pick Gleb Pugachyov, among others.
One of the team's prospects, who has been suiting up in Russia's second division, the VHL, found himself on the move on Monday following a relatively slow start to the 2026-27 campaign.
Montreal Canadiens Forward Prospect Traded Overseas
In a post on the VHL's official website on Monday, the league announced that Montreal Canadiens prospect Makar Khanin, along with his teammate Grigory Kaburov have been traded from AKM Tula Region to Khimik Voskresensk in exchange for cash considerations.
"Forwards Makar Khanin and Grigory Kaburov were traded to Khimik Voskresensk for cash compensation.
Khanin played 21 games for the Tula club and recorded 9 points (2 goals, 7 assists), while Kaburov played 66 games and recorded 27 points (18 goals, 9 assists)." the VHL said in their press release.
Khanin, 21, was selected in the seventh round (210th overall) of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens and has spent his entire career in Russia thus far. He now joins a Khimik Voskresensk team that's loaded with NHL prospects, including two others drafted by the Montreal Canadiens - Daniil Sobolev and Yevgeni Volokhin.
The Salvat native has just four career KHL games under his belt, all of which came during the 2024-25 season with Dynamo Moscow. Following that season, he came to North America for a week to participate in Montreal's Development Camp, which was a great opportunity for him to meet with & get to know the Canadiens staff and fellow prospects.
Since the start of the 2025-26 season, Khanin has played exclusively in the VHL, which is Russia's equivalent of the American Hockey League. Once Khanin steps onto the ice with Khimik Voskresensk, it'll be his fourth VHL club in 14 months, which isn't necessarily ideal for a young player that's looking for some stability in order to take that next step in his career.
In 77 career games in the VHL, Khanin has registered 43 points (13 goals, 30 assists), 14 penalty minutes and is a plus-nine. Nine of those 43 points have come this season with AKM Tula Region.
Khanin likely won't be coming over to North America anytime soon to officially join the Montreal Canadiens organization, but the club do hold his rights until he turns 27, which isn't until mid-March of 2032. There's certainly still time for Khanin to show what he's capable of given that he's just 21 and eventually make the jump the AHL in the years ahead, but there's plenty of work to do before that can be considered.
Hopefully for Khanin, he'll be able to have some stability with Khimik Voskresensk and remain with the club for the remainder of the season. His first game with his new club could come as early as Wednesday as they take on Omskie Krylia.