Although the end of the Cold War was approaching, the Soviet Union was still not allowing their young ice hockey players to leave the country to play in the NHL.

Konstantinov had previously signed a 25-year contract committing himself to the army, and if he deserted, he would be considered a felon in Russia, which would make him ineligible for a work visa in the United States.

A Russian journalist named Valery Matveev worked with Wings executive vice-president Jim Lites to secure an army discharge for Konstantinov.

With cash provided by the Red Wings, Matveev bribed six Russian doctors to diagnose and confirm that Konstantinov had inoperable cancer, and thus secured his medical discharge from the military in the summer of 1991.

While he was known as "Vladdie" to his teammates, his aggressive style of play earned him the nicknames "Vladinator" and "Vlad the Impaler" among the media and fans, as well as "the Red Shark".

However, Red Wings head coach Scotty Bowman surprised the Flyers by instead opting for the finesse-oriented defense pairing of Nicklas Lidström and Larry Murphy to neutralize the Legion of Doom's forechecking.

On June 13, 1997, following a golf outing with the Stanley Cup celebrating the Red Wings' championship triumph, Konstantinov, along with teammate Viacheslav Fetisov and team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov, hired a limousine to drive them home.

The driver, Richard Gnida, whose license was suspended at the time for drunk driving, lost control of the limousine and hit a tree in the median of Woodward Avenue in Birmingham, Michigan.

The Red Wings sought and received special dispensation from the NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup after they won the 1998 title.

"[6] Konstantinov returned to the ice at Joe Louis Arena, helped by a walker, for the pre-game number retirement ceremony for Steve Yzerman on January 2, 2007.

At the 2014 NHL Winter Classic, Konstantinov was helped onto the ice for a rare Russian Five reunion with his former teammates Sergei Fedorov, Viacheslav Fetisov, Vyacheslav Kozlov and Igor Larionov.