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

[GlassesJacketShirt]

Who here has watched his draft video with Celine at least 10 times?

I kept going back to double, triple, quadruple (etc.) check that it wasn't a fever dream.

 

[overlords]

Who here has watched his draft video with Celine at least 10 times?

I'm on my 7th rewatch of the elite prospects break down

 

[BoneHutson]

Adding one of Martone, Ryabkin, McQueen, Frondell, Wozniak or Desnoyers to that forward group will make this team generational.

One last year of suffering.

 

[Habs]

The real irony here is, they know they f***ed up by not drafting Michkov and taking Reinbacher... but if we draft Michkov last year they 100% go with a D this year and we don't get Demidov. The only reason we got Demidov is because a mistake was made last year.....

Cool beans
@OldCraig71 hasn't been this excited since we the signed Elmer Lach as a free agent on October 24, 1940.

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

They need a superstar, 90-100 pt. player, whatever position he plays.

Yes that was my point. They need an offensive star which is what demidov is. Demidov imo will be a better offensive player than celebrini. And they also needed a winger more than a C so getting an offensive potential superstar winger was literally best case scenario

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

The real irony here is, they know they f***ed up by not drafting Michkov and taking Reinbacher... but if we draft Michkov last year they 100% go with a D this year and we don't get Demidov. The only reason we got Demidov is because a mistake was made last year.....

Cool beans
@OldCraig71 hasn't been this excited since we the signed Elmer Lach as a free agent on October 24, 1940.

Not really. I've already outlined this before but bobrov is the most knowledgable person in the NHL relative to Russians specifically in SKA. He knew these kids like the back of his hand. His dad also helped him with info. There must have been something seriously wrong for them not to pick michkov. But at the same time, they've been super aware and interested in demidov since before last draft and were targeting him for this year. That was always their plan regardless of what happened with michkov. They decided on taking the RD that'll probably be a top pair guy over michkov who in my estimation, they did not like personality wise. When team building, personality clashes are crucial. Habs are building something special with Demidov now in their possession and the best thing is, all these kids legitimately seem like cool guys to be around. Michkov apparently is the opposite

 

[KevSkillz4]

Who here has watched his draft video with Celine at least 10 times?

Me!

I just want to be sure that Celine don't have said "Anton Silayev" and I'm the most happy man each time I hear "Ivan Demidov" and not Anton Silayev in my ear.

 

[dinodebino]

I watched ‘’on jase’’ the day after the draft and they were talking about when Demidov will arrive ect, and they spoke about him going to LAVAL for a bit.

Lol i don’t think they know who they just drafted.

They are lazy sports commentators. They don’t research. They just think they know their shit and they don’t.

 

[417]

The real irony here is, they know they f***ed up by not drafting Michkov and taking Reinbacher... but if we draft Michkov last year they 100% go with a D this year and we don't get Demidov. The only reason we got Demidov is because a mistake was made last year.....

Cool beans
@OldCraig71 hasn't been this excited since we the signed Elmer Lach as a free agent on October 24, 1940.

 

[The Last Red]

Not really. I've already outlined this before but bobrov is the most knowledgable person in the NHL relative to Russians specifically in SKA. He knew these kids like the back of his hand. His dad also helped him with info. There must have been something seriously wrong for them not to pick michkov. But at the same time, they've been super aware and interested in demidov since before last draft and were targeting him for this year. That was always their plan regardless of what happened with michkov. They decided on taking the RD that'll probably be a top pair guy over michkov who in my estimation, they did not like personality wise. When team building, personality clashes are crucial. Habs are building something special with Demidov now in their possession and the best thing is, all these kids legitimately seem like cool guys to be around. Michkov apparently is the opposite

Their “plan” included having the teams drafting 2-4 passing on Demidov? That’s incredible execution of a plan.

 

[Goldthorpe]

Still stoke, but here's a shitty thought: just imagine if Chicago would have succeed in getting the 4th OV and picked Demidov with it, how absolutely pissed we would be.

 

[CheldishGamibno]

Still stoke, but here's a shitty thought: just imagine if Chicago would have succeed in getting the 4th OV and picked Demidov with it, how absolutely pissed we would be.

Sure, but if it didn't happen It's because it wasn't meant to be!

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

Their “plan” included having the teams drafting 2-4 passing on Demidov? That’s incredible execution of a plan.

There are reports that they would've traded up to draft demidov no matter where they were. But everyone knew where the 4 teams were drafting. You can probably find it on the Columbus board but I went over and told them I had a feeling they were gonna end up with Lindstrom back in March. Teams have a really predictable type they like. Chicago was going levshunov and everyone knew it. And everyone knows pat Verbeek is not a fan of Russians so he would've never went demidov.

 

[Kennerback]

Sure, but if it didn't happen It's because it wasn't meant to be!

Luck or gamesmanship or both. It’s like when we got Lafleur. It just happened. It changed everything.

 

[Matthew McConaughay]

Luck or gamesmanship or both. It’s like when we got Lafleur. It just happened. It changed everything.

I really think Demidov, is the best prospect since McDavid, yes, better than Bedard and Celebrini, just see him play, why the other teams didn't pick him, i don't know, but they will be very sorry.

 

[Gillings]

Adding one of Martone, Ryabkin, McQueen, Frondell, Wozniak or Desnoyers to that forward group will make this team generational.

One last year of suffering.

Give it to me baby, Uh Uhn Uh UhN.

 

[Kennerback]

I really think Demidov, is the best prospect since McDavid, yes, better than Bedard and Celebrini, just see him play, why the other teams didn't pick him, i don't know, but they will be very sorry.

Celebrini is the super safe pick at #1.

One funny thing with hindsight is most of the season they had Celebrini at 6feet and Demidov at 5:10 or 5:11. That's despite what your lying eyes tell you when seeing tape of both. And this was somehow a knock on Demidov. Turns out after recent official measurements Celebrini is 5'11 3/4 and Demidov is 6'0.5+.

 

[Andrei79]

Bobrov really going to bat for Demidov. Calling the fact the he's a steal an "understatement".

 

[CristianoRonaldo]

6'05" 190lbs, safe to assume he'll eventually reach 6'3 220lbs in his prime.

According to his doctor, the same as Hutson, he will reach 6'3 in 2 years.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Their “plan” included having the teams drafting 2-4 passing on Demidov? That’s incredible execution of a plan.

If Demidov wasn't there, we were going to trade back. Fortunately, he was there.

 

[rahad]

I know I'm late, but I was camping for the last 3 days, unable to react to anything and with people who don't like hockey. So it needs to come out now.

I'm so f***ING stoke we manage to pick Demidov, holy shit this is awesome. I know there were other options and lot of good players, but Demidov is the guy we needed, everyone one else I would have felt we settle for them. Happy for the kid, happy for management, and happy for the fanbase, it's been a while since we draft a player as electrifying, the Bell Center crowd is going to love him.

On a different topic, crazy how much the LDs dropped compared to the pseudo-consensus established over the year, with the first being Silayev at 10th and with three RD drafted before him. I understood the premium on RD but didn't expect it to be this drastic. Feels the Shark especially were very lucky to get someone like Dickinson at 11th.

Seriously, the Sharks had such a good draft. Celebrini and Dickinson in one draft is insane. #1 center and D for sure.

 

[admiralcadillac]

The real irony here is, they know they f***ed up by not drafting Michkov and taking Reinbacher... but if we draft Michkov last year they 100% go with a D this year and we don't get Demidov. The only reason we got Demidov is because a mistake was made last year.....

Cool beans
@OldCraig71 hasn't been this excited since we the signed Elmer Lach as a free agent on October 24, 1940.

How do you know that?

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I'm of the opinion that Cole Caufield started feeling a lot more confident with his shoulder towards the end of last season.
He was was engaging in physical contact not just absorbing it.
There is a huge difference.

Having said that I expect a return to normal in terms of his shooting regimen.
Players who rely on a certain weapon don't just assume it will remain elite they work on it.
How much was Cole able to work on his shot last season?
My guess is probably not nearly enough.

The reason you are worried is because you put him so high up on a pedestal and expect so much out of him.
If his numbers stay the same you have your reasoning worked out in advance.
Last season we were told it will take a full season to fully recover and that's why he couldn't find the back of the net.
Now we read that it may be as much as three years?

I'll stick to the bold text.

The reason I’m worried is because I’d like to see us win a cup in my lifetime. A 30 goalscorer is good. If he’s consistent around that level he’s a decent second liner. But that’s not what we need him to be.

Moreover, I completely disagree with your assessment that his style of play changed throughout the year. And the numbers don’t support you on this either. There may have been short stretches where that happened but by and large he consistently put up the same metrics at the beginning of the year as he did at the end. The only difference was finishing. Twice he caught fire separated by a twenty something game goalless streak.

So yeah, if you aren’t paying attention to what he’s actually doing you’ll say ‘hey he was better later on’ but the underlying numbers are pretty consistent throughout the year. He had tons of chances but couldn’t convert. But he still put up 300+ shots. Still had tons of chances from in close. That was consistent for almost the whole year.

The biggest difference was shooting from mid ice. That dropped by like 75-80 percent. Absolutely putrid.

If he stays like that… it’s a blow to us winning cups. If he goes back to close to what he was, then we can probably put together two lines that are number one quality. It’s a big differences.

I couldn’t care less about putting stock in a player or not. You revise as they develop that’s how it works. I saw CC as a legit potential superstar. Now I have to revise downward from his injury. And until he proves otherwise, I have to view him as a second liner. I’m hopeful he can recover and there’s reason to believe he can. But we have to wait and see. Right now, he’s not the blue chip player I see him as before. There’s risk that’s been introduced into the equation that wasn’t there before.

Adding Demidov helps to de-risk any issues with CC. if CC were to not improve Demidov can pick up that slack. But I’d much rather have two top scorers than one. If CC returns to form and Demidov pans out? I’d say we become contenders pretty quickly. It makes a huge difference.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

The real irony here is, they know they f***ed up by not drafting Michkov and taking Reinbacher... but if we draft Michkov last year they 100% go with a D this year and we don't get Demidov. The only reason we got Demidov is because a mistake was made last year.....

Cool beans
@OldCraig71 hasn't been this excited since we the signed Elmer Lach as a free agent on October 24, 1940.

I think they took position scarcity into consideration when they took RB. Not many stud right side blueliners out there. That was why they went in that direction - plus who knows how they felt about Michkov to boot?

Maybe Mich will blow the league away and Rb won’t deliver but I think it’s way too soon to call it a mistake. Esp since we wound up with Demidov.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, these things often take years before you really know the answer.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Still stoke, but here's a shitty thought: just imagine if Chicago would have succeed in getting the 4th OV and picked Demidov with it, how absolutely pissed we would be.

I think we’d have just taken Lindstrom.

Honestly, if it weren’t for the injury, I might’ve even preferred him. He would’ve given us a completely different dimension.