Yup, I find Datsyuk is the better comparison but no two players are alike. I just don't see Demidov developing the one timer that Kucherov has. His game is puck possession and dynamic creativity like Datsyuk.
Agreed on Kucherov as they look very different on the ice as Kucherov is very upright and deliberate with a great one timer. Kucherov also prefers to slow the game down whereas Demidov plays with more pace and abandon. If Kucherov was not Russian he would not be used as a comparison.I know that Demidov himself even mentioned Kucherov but I think that was little more than naming a contemporary Russian star with great puck skills. Truthfully he is closer to Panarin but that is also a sketchy comparison as Demidov is bigger, stronger and more defensively aware.
I see potential for more of a Mitch Marner with more jam and grit as well as having a better shot. Datsyuk isn't a bad comparison either but I don't think that he will get to that level as Datsyuk is in the conversation as the greatest puck handler to ever play the game as well as being elite defensively. Demidov may very well be great at both of those things as well so stylistically you may have a very good point.
Picking a player as a comp is always a flawed endeavour destined for failure on some level but we all do it in order to envision a prospect playing in the NHL. I generally prefer to use a hybrid so how about a Datsyuk/Marner hybrid?
I also hear very little talk about Demidov at center although he played a fair bit of it last season, especially in the playoffs. I heard "Le Stupide" Boisvert entirely dismiss him as a potential center but he quite literally has all the qualities that you want as a center as well as having recently played the position in the most high leverage games that his team played last season. I am not saying that he will be a full time center in Montreal as we look to have a lot of them. I suspect that the Habs management see the potential as well as all of Suzuki, Dach, Hage, Beck and Kapanen are all right handed and with Demidov being a lefty could very well alternate with a right handed center on strong side draws without necessarily needing to switch during play as he can actually play the position.
We are hitting the Sahara desert portion of the hockey year so I suppose these types of extrapolations are going to take over the board until Hughes trades a dman or two lol.
She was easily the second tallest person on the stage.
