Prospect Info: [2024 - 5th] Ivan Motherbleeping Demidov (RW), SKA St. Petersburg (MHL)

[Gally11]

I guess Demidov will play in the KHL next season, if not with the SKA probably somewhere on loan?

Not allowed to be loaned in final year of contract

 

[Rapala]

It's insane how much he looks like Kovalev lol.

And like @Saundies said, I don't think I remember a pick that was seemingly so plug and play.

There's nothing glaring that HAS to be worked on. There's no 'pretty pleasing' the hockey gods that he'll grow or fill out or get faster or work harder. Of course he needs to keep working hard and what not like any young player does but nothing we have to really worry about

The things he has to work on are all pretty much physical.
His lower body strength for sure.
We got a gander at his pins and they are definitely out of proportion to his upper body on that frame.
I was joking about it pre-draft saying if we did select him Marty would pull him aside and let him know he has a regimen to help build up those legs.

 

[Justin11]

Not allowed to be loaned in final year of contract

I see. That's the KHL rules?
So, it's 5 minutes a game with SKA...

 

[HabsCode]

I see. That's the KHL rules?
So, it's 5 minutes a game with SKA...

Maybe I'm missing something and to be frank I don't follow the KHL at all, but Michkov was averaging 17+ min/game in the KHL last season, why would it be different for Demidov?

 

[BIG GIFS]

I'd like to see either 91 or 13, would be bad ass.

Would love the 13, I could replace the name on my Cammalleri Centennial Jersey.

 

[bcv]

Maybe I'm missing something and to be frank I don't follow the KHL at all, but Michkov was averaging 17+ min/game in the KHL last season, why would it be different for Demidov?

He wasn’t playing with SKA. He was getting healthy scratched at the beginning of the year before being loaned to Sochi.

 

[HabsCode]

He wasn’t playing with SKA. He was getting healthy scratched at the beginning of the year before being loaned to Sochi.

What is different about SKA. Do they have a reputation for underplaying young prospects?

 

[Justin11]

Maybe I'm missing something and to be frank I don't follow the KHL at all, but Michkov was averaging 17+ min/game in the KHL last season, why would it be different for Demidov?

That's because he was loaned to Sochi, a team in the bottom of the barrel.

 

[Kennerback]

What I said.

But they have to start playing a smarter game from next year, they are getting extremely easy to read with these "ignore those we have interest in" tactic. The whole league knew they wanted Demidov they weren't hiding anything. So that's a big F for Hughes right there. This time it's without consequences, all the teams ahead got who they wanted, but it's not going to be like that every single year. We need better smokescreens.

the fact Chicago was willing to pull their pants down and mortgage the future for 4OA, tells me they knew we were all over Demidov.

 

[Mrb1p]

I'll translate for everyone here - "I can never be wrong and will never admit to it even if I was". Truth is, you or anyone else don't know for another few years.

I know because I've watched plenty of Demidov and Michkov, love them both, I'll ridicule anyone that tries to make it seems like it's a Patrick Kane to Jonathan Toews situation to explain the worse numbers. Both players are Patrick Kane, and it's more than fine.

We gotta stop trying to roast other players just because were insecure about the decisions made.

I'm not saying demidov is different with the puck. I mentioned strength as a weakness also. That's true of demidov too. I gave you EVERY weakness they say michkov has, some shared by demidov. But the main point was michkov does not have close to the effort level when he does not have the puck. He's also an egomaniac so it's predictable he doesn't care when he's not in control. Watch, next you're gonna say michkov doesn't have attitude issues and in fact he volunteers at the local soup kitchens and saves abandoned puppies

The bolded is all we need to read, you have pretty evident bias to call someone you've never met, who's never had public psychological evaluation's and who you flat out just don't know an egomaniac.

You're also assuming Michkov has attitude issues because you've heard that on the internet.

The point is that neither try hard on defense and neither have bad attitude, the character assassination of Michkov is just normal behavior we've seen from fans of teams that try to cope with a decision they can't evaluate as rational. "There must be something more", nah. It's maybe just they misevaluated him and maybe they just preferred someone else.

Maybe I'm missing something and to be frank I don't follow the KHL at all, but Michkov was averaging 17+ min/game in the KHL last season, why would it be different for Demidov?

Because he cannot be loaned to Sochi, I believe. SKA refused to play Michkov because he said he wanted to play in the NHL, I assume they'll do the same with Demidov, but only they have to keep him on the roster or send him down to MHL or VHL.

 

[SOLR]

the fact Chicago was willing to pull their pants down and mortgage the future for 4OA, tells me they knew we were all over Demidov.

Yep. We won't always get lucky that the game plays in our favor.

 

[HabsCode]

Because he cannot be loaned to Sochi, I believe. SKA refused to play Michkov because he said he wanted to play in the NHL, I assume they'll do the same with Demidov, but only they have to keep him on the roster or send him down to MHL or VHL.

Hmm kind of disappointing then if our high end prospect doesn't play against quality opposition in his D+1 season (unless MHL is good opposition).

 

[The Great Weal]

Can we at least wait until both Demidov and Michkov play in the NHL before starting a pissing contest?

 

[Guy Larose]

I know because I've watched plenty of Demidov and Michkov, love them both, I'll ridicule anyone that tries to make it seems like it's a Patrick Kane to Jonathan Toews situation to explain the worse numbers. Both players are Patrick Kane, and it's more than fine.

We gotta stop trying to roast other players just because were insecure about the decisions made.

The bolded is all we need to read, you have pretty evident bias to call someone you've never met, who's never had public psychological evaluation's and who you flat out just don't know an egomaniac.

You're also assuming Michkov has attitude issues because you've heard that on the internet.

The point is that neither try hard on defense and neither have bad attitude, the character assassination of Michkov is just normal behavior we've seen from fans of teams that try to cope with a decision they can't evaluate as rational. "There must be something more", nah. It's maybe just they misevaluated him and maybe they just preferred someone else.


Because he cannot be loaned to Sochi, I believe. SKA refused to play Michkov because he said he wanted to play in the NHL, I assume they'll do the same with Demidov, but only they have to keep him on the roster or send him down to MHL or VHL.

No insecurities here, we haven't watched either in the NHL yet and I trust HuGo's judgment.

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

Scott Wheeler:

I can’t think of a better outcome for the Habs. We know where their young group of defensemen is at. Now, they’ve added two of the best forwards in the draft, one of whom is an elite skill guy and one of whom is a center with length, skating (Hage is one of the best skaters in the draft), skill (he gets high grades in this class here, too) and a profile that I love.

I believe that Demidov is the second-best prospect in the draft and is a home run for the Habs. A true game-breaker is the one thing it felt like their core was missing — the kind of player who can challenge for 90 to 100 points if things break right. There’s no guarantee that he will become that, but I see that kind of upside and he feels like a 70-to-80-point player at his floor. I think he’s going to make magic happen in the NHL and thrill one of the most passionate fan bases in professional sports. It’ll be great for the league.

And Hage might be my favorite prospect in the draft. I think he’s got a legitimate path to a long career as a top-six player. I comped him to Jordan Kyrou and I think that’s within reach.

This is a big day in the Habs’ rebuild and they had the best Day 1 of the bunch. One to remember.

Nice to read that!!

 

[Mrb1p]

What is different about SKA. Do they have a reputation for underplaying young prospects?

SKA is run by probably the smallest of all men in Roman Rotenberg. He's the fruit of nepotism and an actual ego-maniac, he routinely refuses to play players that say they want to be in the NHL and he would rather play 30+ YO yes-men than great young players like Michkov, Demidov or Khusunutdinov. He had all four to start the year on the same line last year in the KHL. He gave one game to Michkov (He played about 5 minutes) before deciding Michkov wasn't cut out for the KHL. He was out a week later. Demidov got I believe 4 games and he played around 6 minutes in each games, it's all he needed to know that he wasn't a KHL player.

the fact Chicago was willing to pull their pants down and mortgage the future for 4OA, tells me they knew we were all over Demidov.

They were in on Lindstrom, not Demidov.

 

[ForeverHabs97]

all the ''lesser competition'' arguments are from people who have short memory

Slaf played ''lesser competition at the olympics''

Cale Makar played in the BCHL and got drafted 4th and now he's pretty much the mcdavid of defense

L argument

 

[The Great Weal]

Hmm kind of disappointing then if our high end prospect doesn't play against quality opposition in his D+1 season (unless MHL is good opposition).

The MHL stinks, but Hughes himself said it best, the excitement of having Demidov as part of the organization trumps the idea that Demidov may go back to the MHL.

 

[le_sean]

What I said.

But they have to start playing a smarter game from next year, they are getting extremely easy to read with these "ignore those we have interest in" tactic. The whole league knew they wanted Demidov they weren't hiding anything. So that's a big F for Hughes right there. This time it's without consequences, all the teams ahead got who they wanted, but it's not going to be like that every single year. We need better smokescreens.

I mean the smokescreen clearly worked, a lot of people thought Buium was a real possibility.

 

[HabsCode]

all the ''lesser competition'' arguments are from people who have short memory

Slaf played ''lesser competition at the olympics''

Cale Makar played in the BCHL and got drafted 4th and now he's pretty much the mcdavid of defense

L argument

Never said it would impact his development or stop him from reaching his potential, I meant more as in seeing how he does against competition closer to NHL would have been interesting instead of burning down a C level league, IMO.

 

[Mrb1p]

Hmm kind of disappointing then if our high end prospect doesn't play against quality opposition in his D+1 season (unless MHL is good opposition).

It's about WHL level. I'm pretty sure he could maybe play in the VHL contractually and it's not a given he's not in the KHL.

Can we at least wait until both Demidov and Michkov play in the NHL before starting a pissing contest?

Why would there even need to be a pissing contest ? Why is there even one ? Are we having a pissing contest with Simashev and Leonard too ? It's so weird. Michkov is a great player and I would've liked to pick him but I'm not gonna go and call Demidov stupid ass things like "Egomaniac" because I need cope ?

No insecurities here, we haven't watched either in the NHL yet and I trust HuGo's judgment.

I've watched both in the MHL and KHL. It's pretty easy to see who has and who hasn't. Michkov is a better offensive player, Demidov is great in his own way and doesn't come with the size problem, which has value in itself. It's the only thing that should be said. None of that making stuff up about Demidov being a two-way player or Michkov being a team cancer.

Never said it would impact his development or stop him from reaching his potential, I meant more as in seeing how he does against competition closer to NHL would have been interesting instead of burning down a C level league, IMO.

I'll say that, as happy as I am with Demidov, the MHL is flat out too easy of a league for him and he's gonna develop some kind of Drouin-i-tis if he goes back again and does the same thing. I'm not saying he's Drouin, but it does create bad habits, that can't be ignored.

 

[HabsCode]

all the ''lesser competition'' arguments are from people who have short memory

Slaf played ''lesser competition at the olympics''

Cale Makar played in the BCHL and got drafted 4th and now he's pretty much the mcdavid of defense

L argument

Aren't those bad examples? I think Makar played in the NCAA in his D+1, and Slaf was in the NHL in his D+1.

 

[Revansky]

For a high skill player consistency is the difference between a 1st line player and a 2nd line player. Think Kostitsyn. AK47 had all the skills and size, and when he was on he impacted the game. But he often didn't show up and so he was a 2nd liner. Be inconsistent enough and you are gone. Talent without work results in nothing.

I think Andrei had some ehmmm work ethic problem. Demidov is a better playmaker too and shows a more consistent motor. Personnality wise they're really fart apart. Kostityn had all the tools but wasn't really productive in his draft year. It was a big development project that failed. Demidov is producing at superstar level (even if it's in the MHL). Way less risk involved.

 

[Habsfan18]

Boys, we have our Nikita Kucherov type, and it’s going to be f***ing glorious.

 

[Whalers Fan]

Only thing stopping me from getting a Demidov jersey right now is I don't know what number he'll wear with the Habs.

Here's the thing Gallagher... either give up your number or you can wear it in Laval. Your choice.

That's a useless threat. Gallagher has a NMC, so he's not going to agree to ride the bus in Laval.