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

[Kennerback]

Demidov is a set up winger who makes his linemates better like Patrick Kane, Jaromir Jagr and Nikita Kucherov.

He is so good to make such hard long passes tape to tape from his backhand and this is rare even in the NHL.

As I wrote the other day...I stiil in shock that the Hawks pass on this guy to have a duo with the sniper Bedard.

Apparently Hawks brass believed Levshunov was a safer pick for them @2. Their reservations with Demidov were the Russian factor, being in the MHL unchallenged for 2 years, not having any international experience and up until mid-June they would bring up the fact he was a "smallish" winger.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Apparently Hawks brass believed Levshunov was a safer pick for them @2. Their reservations with Demidov were the Russian factor, being in the MHL unchallenged for 2 years, not having any international experience and up until mid-June they would bring up the fact he was a "smallish" winger.

Teams will lean defense over wing most of the time. That's why I was confident (if not still scared) that they'd go Levshunov at 2.

 

[26Mats]

Demidov is a set up winger who makes his linemates better like Patrick Kane, Jaromir Jagr and Nikita Kucherov.

He is so good to make such hard long passes tape to tape from his backhand and this is rare even in the NHL.

As I wrote the other day...I stiil in shock that the Hawks pass on this guy to have a duo with the sniper Bedard.

I think he's going to make magic when he's on the ice with Hutson at the same time.

 

[Leto]

Apparently Hawks brass believed Levshunov was a safer pick for them @2. Their reservations with Demidov were the Russian factor, being in the MHL unchallenged for 2 years, not having any international experience and up until mid-June they would bring up the fact he was a "smallish" winger.

Their loss that they didn't do proper due diligence. Props to Bobrov for doing the leg work.

 

[Jaynki]

The Hawks will finish bottom 5 again for sure this year so they'll have another chance at drafting a player to ride shotgun to Bedard

They will likely have to win the 1st or 2nd overall if they want to sniff a talent like Demidov. Which is unlikely. I mean, they probably will draft a great player tho.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Apparently Hawks brass believed Levshunov was a safer pick for them @2. Their reservations with Demidov were the Russian factor, being in the MHL unchallenged for 2 years, not having any international experience and up until mid-June they would bring up the fact he was a "smallish" winger.

You always have to be careful with soft skilled wingers. Demidov new height and weight is very nice. He is not going to be a physical force and welcomes contact though (IMO). The added height/weight will help him fight off contact as he cuts around guys though.

Bust or disappointment factor? Seems low but nobody wants to talk about it. This season in the KHL will give us a good picture on how much he can handle less time and space. I love this pick but there is more development required. Not about who they are today, it's about who they will be from age 20+.

So yeah, next step is evaluating how he handles the KHL. 0 pts in 4 games last year and my hunch tells me he takes a while to gain momentum/confidence in a new league. If he comes out hot right away, he's a star.

 

[Jaynki]

Demidov is a set up winger who makes his linemates better like Patrick Kane, Jaromir Jagr and Nikita Kucherov.

He is so good to make such hard long passes tape to tape from his backhand and this is rare even in the NHL.

As I wrote the other day...I stiil in shock that the Hawks pass on this guy to have a duo with the sniper Bedard.

Its a generational blunder on their part. No wonder they were all in for 4th overall. Ty timmins and Ty hawks. Sincerely.

You always have to be careful with soft skilled wingers. Demidov new height and weight is very nice. He is not going to be a physical force and welcomes contact though (IMO).

Watch shift-by-shift. He is a madman in the corner and because of his skating mechanics he won most of them. It opens the play a lot offensively and its extremely efficient in the defensive zone to start the break-out.

As impressive as his highlights are, his overall game is even more impressive.

 

[Jaynki]

You always have to be careful with soft skilled wingers. Demidov new height and weight is very nice. He is not going to be a physical force and welcomes contact though (IMO). The added height/weight will help him fight off contact as he cuts around guys though.

Bust or disappointment factor? Seems low but nobody wants to talk about it. This season in the KHL will give us a good picture on how much he can handle less time and space. I love this pick but there is more development required. Not about who they are today, it's about who they will be from age 20+.

So yeah, next step is evaluating how he handles the KHL. 0 pts in 4 games last year and my hunch tells me he takes a while to gain momentum/confidence in a new league. If he comes out hot right away, he's a star.

9 min video.

KHL shift by shift.



September 2. 10 f***ing month ago.

Give him minutes and PP and he will be a KHL star.

The guy is going 1 on 1 against the D with between the legs move leading to slot passes (around 1:30) and he is winning board battles with his skating mechanics and hands, in reference to my post above. Watch his shift starting around 3:25, he is agressive and physical on the foercheck. Absolutely no sign of a small and weak winger.

Player with such talent simply just not bust, well it happens once per decades maybe when they are drug addict or have mental sickness.

 

[Gally11]

You always have to be careful with soft skilled wingers. Demidov new height and weight is very nice. He is not going to be a physical force and welcomes contact though (IMO). The added height/weight will help him fight off contact as he cuts around guys though.

Bust or disappointment factor? Seems low but nobody wants to talk about it. This season in the KHL will give us a good picture on how much he can handle less time and space. I love this pick but there is more development required. Not about who they are today, it's about who they will be from age 20+.

So yeah, next step is evaluating how he handles the KHL. 0 pts in 4 games last year and my hunch tells me he takes a while to gain momentum/confidence in a new league. If he comes out hot right away, he's a star.

I haven’t seen any reports that says he plays a soft game, if anything his competitiveness and drive are on the high side, he does not seem afraid to go to the net, soft to me would be a perimeter player like Pacioretty as his career progressed


Edit: he also only averaged 7min in those 4 games but produced 9 points in 7 games in KHL preseason game with 14min of ice time. Time will tell but he seems to be underrated at times.

 

[CheldishGamibno]

You always have to be careful with soft skilled wingers. Demidov new height and weight is very nice. He is not going to be a physical force and welcomes contact though (IMO). The added height/weight will help him fight off contact as he cuts around guys though.

Bust or disappointment factor? Seems low but nobody wants to talk about it. This season in the KHL will give us a good picture on how much he can handle less time and space. I love this pick but there is more development required. Not about who they are today, it's about who they will be from age 20+.

So yeah, next step is evaluating how he handles the KHL. 0 pts in 4 games last year and my hunch tells me he takes a while to gain momentum/confidence in a new league. If he comes out hot right away, he's a star.

I'm not disagreeing with what you said but he had about 7 1/2 minutes of icetime per game in the KHL, can't really do much with that

 

[Habs Halifax]

Its a generational blunder on their part. No wonder they were all in for 4th overall. Ty timmins and Ty hawks. Sincerely.


Watch shift-by-shift. He is a madman in the corner and because of his skating mechanics he won most of them. It opens the play a lot offensively and its extremely efficient in the defensive zone to start the break-out.

As impressive as his highlights are, his overall game is even more impressive.

His strength is IQ and skating. Shot and vision is very good too. But make no mistake, he has not been tested physically yet. Think about the reasons why it was 4 KHL games last year? It was not about politics. It was about safe development and allowing him to fill into his frame a bit more.

Certainly going to be someone who is hard to catch with the puck on his stick. Will he take unnecessarily chances at bad times? Not sure, that part hard to predict. Slaf did but learned how to manage the puck better. Demidov will have to learn this too. First in the KHL and then in the NHL.

Doubt he is going to come in and be a star like Crosby right away. Probably going to be like MacKinnon IMO.

If he dominates the KHL this season, I'll be even more impressed.

 

[Jaynki]

His strength is IQ and skating. Shot and vision is very good too. But make no mistake, he has not been tested physically yet. Think about the reasons why it was 4 KHL games last year? It was not about politics. It was about safe development and allowing him to fill into his frame a bit more.

Certainly going to be someone who is hard to catch with the puck on his stick. Will he take unnecessarily chances at bad times? Not sure, that part hard to predict. Slaf did but learned how to manage the puck better. Demidov will have to learn this too. First in the KHL and then in the NHL.

Doubt he is going to come in and be a star like Crosby right away. Probably going to be like MacKinnon IMO.

If he dominates the KHL this season, I'll be even more impressed.

I bet he comes and instantly becomes our best player.

I'm not disagreeing with what you said but he had about 7 1/2 minutes of icetime per game in the KHL, can't really do much with that

And he did pretty impressive things with those limited minutes. All easily available with a couple of clicks and worth watching.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I'm not disagreeing with what you said but he had about 7 1/2 minutes of icetime per game in the KHL, can't really do much with that

That's not the point. The point here is when this happens, what is the context into why? Not every coach is Ducharme. Sometimes, the player is not ready bud. And sometimes the team wants to win and can't afford to have someone learn on the job in high usage. Habs can do this now but that will change in 3+ years.

Allowing him to fill into his frame was a smart move by SKA. Russia does know how to develop as well and they have their own way. However, they are very aware of time/space and more physicality as well.

Demidov will not have the same time/space as he had in the MHL. It's undetermined how he adjust to the KHL this year at age 19. This will be the 1st challenge in his development after the draft. His 4 KHL games last year was a little taste so he is not coming in blind.

 

[InAG-P]

f*** it, ordered my Demidov jersey today...

I want to as well, i just don't know what number to put!

 

[le_sean]

That's not the point. The point here is when this happens, what is the context into why? Not every coach is Ducharme. Sometimes, the player is not ready bud. And sometimes the team wants to win and can't afford to have someone learn on the job in high usage. Habs can do this now but that will change in 3+ years.

Allowing him to fill into his frame was a smart move by SKA. Russia does know how to develop as well and they have their own way. However, they are very aware of time/space and more physicality as well.

Demidov will not have the same time/space as he had in the MHL. It's undetermined how he adjust to the KHL this year at age 19. This will be the 1st challenge in his development after the draft. His 4 KHL games last year was a little taste so he is not coming in blind.

He’s bigger than Michkov and slightly ahead at the same age. But SKA didn’t want to loan Demidov out to a different team as punishment like they did with Michkov, who was willing to sign an extension. It’s as simple as that. They don’t care about his development because they know he’s looking to leave ASAP.

 

[Kennerback]

I don't know if there was a bit of gamesmanship to get Demidov. But a reminder how we pulled off Lafleur. He didn't fall on a platter to us.

1- Give Ernie Hicke and our 1970 late First Round now to the Golden Seals for the Seals First Round pick 1971.
2- Seals did it because they believed they had no chance to get Lafleur anyways because the Kings were so bad (whereas Pollock bet on older Seals players regressing).
3- When Kings were worst than Seals mid-season, Pollock just gifted the Kings Ralph Backstrom to make them better than the Seals.
4- Five Stanley Cups

 

[Habs Halifax]

I bet he comes and instantly becomes our best player.

I won't bet against that. However, over the years, I have learned to be a bit more on the conservative side. Same approach I am taking with Hutson and Reinbacher.

Turning pro is a massive step. First development challenge with Demidov is the KHL. How much confidence/momentum can he gain from this next season and how much usage will they give. Time will tell.

I will give you my Habs perspective for the 25/26 season from Demidov after this next KHL season. I rather stay humble than gullible.

He’s bigger than Michkov and slightly ahead at the same age. But SKA didn’t want to loan Demidov out to a different team as punishment like they did with Michkov, who was willing to sign an extension. It’s as simple as that. They don’t care about his development because they know he’s looking to leave ASAP.

OK, why only 4 KHL games last year? What do you think those reasons are? This has less to do with Michkov and more to do with the KHL being one of the better leagues in the world.

We have seen that with J Hughes and Lafreniere at 18 year olds in the NHL. So I feel Demidov will take a bit like them. I doubt this is going to be a McDavid or Crosby situation where he comes in right away and is a star. Hope so but doubt it.

Not easy to talk low point with Demidov because of the growing bandwagon party going on. Trust me, I like this pick just like any other Habs fan too.

 

[Jaynki]

I won't bet against that. However, over the years, I have learned to be a bit more on the conservative side. Same approach I am taking with Hutson and Reinbacher.

Turning pro is a massive step. First development challenge with Demidov is the KHL. How much confidence/momentum can he gain from this next season and how much usage will they give. Time will tell.

I will give you my Habs perspective for the 25/26 season from Demidov after this next KHL season. I rather stay humble than gullible.



OK, why only 4 KHL games last year? What do you think those reasons are?

Respect my dear.

His KHL games were because St. Petersburg does not play his young. Its the same organisation that loaned Michkov to Sochi.

Hughes hinted that if Demidov does not play for St. Petersburg in the KHL next year maybe they can arrange something and have him come in NA this year in the presser. Not in those exact word but i think its what he implied.

 

[le_sean]

I won't bet against that. However, over the years, I have learned to be a bit more on the conservative side. Same approach I am taking with Hutson and Reinbacher.

Turning pro is a massive step. First development challenge with Demidov is the KHL. How much confidence/momentum can he gain from this next season and how much usage will they give. Time will tell.

I will give you my Habs perspective for the 25/26 season from Demidov after this next KHL season. I rather stay humble than gullible.



OK, why only 4 KHL games last year? What do you think those reasons are? This has less to do with Michkov and more to do with the KHL being one of the better leagues in the world.

We have seen that with J Hughes and Lafreniere at 18 year olds in the NHL. So I feel Demidov will take a bit like them. I doubt this is going to be a McDavid or Crosby situation where he comes in right away and is a star. Hope so but doubt it.

Because SKA is a lot better than Sochi, where Michkov was loaned. Michkov didn’t even make the team in his D+1 year, and Demidov did a year younger.

 

[417]

No. You assume they f***ed up.

They still say they feel lucky to have Reinbacher.

Bobrov, who follow Russian player since they are young teenager, willingly passed on Michkov who is part of the SKA organisation. The same as Demidov and the same as he worked for and for whose Sergei Bobrov(Nick's father) actually works for as head scout.

The same guy who willingly passed on Michkov admitting behind the scene there were things they felt unconfortable with in Michkov case is saying that Demidov is the steal of the draft and that it is an understatement. He say his ceiling is as high as any superstar in the league, naming Kucherov.

Take from it what you want.

There's a group of Habs fans who just can't accept that the Habs didn't take Michkov because they preferred Reinbacher.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Respect my dear.

His KHL games were because St. Petersburg does not play his young. Its the same organisation that loaned Michkov to Sochi.

Hughes hinted that if Demidov does not play for St. Petersburg in the KHL next year maybe they can arrange something and have him come in NA this year in the presser. Not in those exact word but i think its what he implied.

They tested him in 4 games and if he showed ability to help their roster, it would have been more than 4 games. Simple as that. It's all about monitoring the situation

Even Hughes spoke a bit towards it (You are correct) KHL is a great spot for him next year but if he don't play KHL, we will have to look at what the other options are.

I'm just trying to stay humble with all the excitement.

Because SKA is a lot better than Sochi, where Michkov was loaned. Michkov didn’t even make the team in his D+1 year, and Demidov did a year younger.

Yup, spoke towards that too. Can't have someone learning on the job while you are chasing a championship. But at the end of the day, the 4 KHL games was a test to see if he was ready or not. No doubt in my mind.

I hope he dominates the KHL this season, but I'm not putting that kind of pressure on the kid.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I want to as well, i just don't know what number to put!

I would guess 91.

There's a group of Habs fans who just can't accept that the Habs didn't take Michkov because they preferred Reinbacher.

Becomes an even more obvious item after their clear love and targeting of Demidov.

 

[BoneHutson]

Slafkovsky Suzuki Demidov
(empty) Dach Caufield
Newhook Hage Roy
(empty) Beck RHP

(empty) Reinbacher
Hutson Guhle
Xhekaj Mailloux

Fowler
Montembeault

the missing keys are :

• 1D similar to Reinbacher who could log 25 minutes a night,
• legitimate second-line left winger who could complement Caufield and Dach
• 4th-line players who can put up around 20 points.
  
  With this squad, you can expect the Habs to win in 10 years around 3+ Stanley cups, multiple conference finals, and have seasons of 60 wins

Martone and Shaefer next draft. You heard it here first

 

[Prettyisland]

I would guess 91.



Becomes an even more obvious item after their clear love and targeting of Demidov.

I am also not convinced that Philly didnt do some dirty work and the player would not go anywhere but Philly

 

[WeThreeKings]

I am also not convinced that Philly didnt do some dirty work and the player would not go anywhere but Philly

Arizona was excluded - he did meet with Montreal, fwiw.