1. Ivan Demidov’s arrival in North America
At the NHL Board of Governor meetings in Palm Beach, Fla., in early December, I struck up a conversation with an Eastern Conference executive who brought up Demidov’s name, unsolicited.
“He’s a bona fide superstar, who will arrive in Montreal and immediately make an impact,” he said, adding he thought it wouldn’t take long for the Russian dynamo to become the Canadiens’ best player if he didn’t immediately start on that foot by next fall.
If that happens, it’s a bonus, because Demidov’s imminent arrival after his KHL contract expires this spring is enough of a gift on its own to the Canadiens and their fans.
Hughes excited for Demidov's chance to grow in final year of KHL deal
Montreal Canadiens' Kent Hughes discusses the team's plans for first-round pick Ivan Demidov next season, confirming the Russian star will finish out his deal in St. Petersburg and voicing how it will give him a great opportunity to grow his game.
By all accounts, the fifth-overall pick in 2024 is coming, and you don’t have to be an NHL executive to foresee what the injection of his talent might do for the team’s scoring potential.
Now, we always caution against judging a player based exclusively on YouTube highlights.
Even watching full games on video fails to adequately paint the type of complete picture you’re looking for to make a proper evaluation of a prospect.
But Demidov’s sizzle reel reveals enough to infer he’s going to be a special player in the world’s best hockey league. And
this excellent video analysis from David St. Louis of
eliteprospects.com is just one of the in-depth scouting reports out there that helps justify that inference.
Hence Demidov’s arrival topping our list of things Canadiens should be excited about for 2025.
I know how the executive I spoke to would feel about that ranking.
“We had eyes on him ahead of the draft, and we were blown away,” he said. “He’s the complete package.”
The Canadiens were obviously convinced, with their opinions of Demidov likely only reaffirmed on a recent trip to meet with him and watch him play in Russia.
General manager Kent Hughes, advisor Vincent Lecavalier and co-director of amateur scouting Nick Bobrov had to have been impressed with what they saw, as Demidov snapped a scoring drought and continued to build on his overly impressive rookie campaign with SKA St. Petersburg in their presence.
Since then, the 19-year-old has increased his totals to 10 goals and 26 points in 38 games and has finally seen the type of playing time his play merits.
It's not known if it’ll remain at close to 20 minutes when Demidov has been played for less than 10 in 15 of his games, but Canadiens fans can look forward to him getting on the ice plenty with their team over the coming months.
