F Ivan Demidov (2024, 5th, MTL) Part 2

[Garbageyuk]

Do don't need to evaluate anything to understand the Habs have absolutely no scoring depth.
Meanwhile their 19 year old phenom is sitting (getting benched last game) and anchored with 2 plugs thus far? And It's not like Montreal has anything to lose these playoffs.

I'm convinced it's Roman Rotenberg behind the Habs bench in a Martin St. Louis mask.

Lol, you guys are just clueless. He’s green as hell and got burned several times in the 12:00 minutes he played. But sure, let’s play him 20:00+ minutes on the top line and absolutely ruin his confidence before his career even starts.

Again, THIS WAS HIS 3RD NHL GAME. Not sure wtf you guys are expecting. Tell me when a 19 year old was put on the top line for the playoffs in his first few games, just one example in NHL history. Let’s hear it.

 

[Zine]

Lol, you guys are just clueless. He’s green as hell and got burned several times in the 12:00 minutes he played. But sure, let’s play him 20:00+ minutes on the top line and absolutely ruin his confidence before his career even starts.

Again, THIS WAS HIS 3RD NHL GAME. Not sure wtf you guys are expecting. Tell me when a 19 year old was put on the top line for the playoffs in his first few games, just one example in NHL history. Let’s hear it.

Ironic that Cole Caufield almost fits that criteria. Just turned 20, his pre-rookie year (2020-2021), with only 12 professional games under his belt, yet he had (afaik) the most ice time of any Montreal winger in those playoffs. 3rd in playoff points.
Demidov is much more talented than Caufield, had played much higher compettion for longer, yet, thus far, is getting shafted. But hey, if you wanna continue having inept offense, be my guest.

Let me guess, you were also a Rotenberg apologist, right?

 

[Garbageyuk]

Ironic that Cole Caufield almost fits that criteria. Just turned 20, his pre-rookie year (2020-2021), with only 12 professional games under his belt, yet he had (afaik) the most ice time of any Montreal winger in those playoffs. 3rd in playoff points.
Demidov is much more talented than Caufield, had played much higher compettion for longer, yet, thus far, is getting shafted. But hey, if you wanna continue having inept offense, be my guest.

Let me guess, you were also a Rotenberg apologist, right?

Again, you are absolutely clueless. Caufield bounced between the 2nd and 3rd lines that playoffs, and that team had tons of veterans to insulate and protect the young guys.

A punishing and physical top-4 D of Weber, Petry, Edmundson, and Chiarot to keep opposing teams honest, playing in front of Carey Price to bailout mistakes. A borderline Selke level C on the top line, and additional vets like Toffoli, Perry, Staal, Armia, Byron, Gallagher, Anderson, Lehkonen, and Kulak.

Legitimately one of the oldest teams in the league, with a roster structure that insulated the few young guys on the team, and afforded them easier matchups with more support.

This is the youngest team in the entire league and doesn’t have a roster anywhere near as deep and balanced. Also, this team is much, much smaller.

Completely different situations.

 

[HeadLiceHatty]

Demidov will be fine, he’s being thrown into the fire he had a bad game. He’s not playing with talent and he’s in the biggest games of his life as a 19 year old, is what it is, he’ll be fine. I think it’s really not a good way for him to enter the league playing the top seed on a meh bottom seed team in a playoff series.

 

[jaa]

Just put him with heineman and Kapanen. Screw Laine and Newhook.

 

[Kshahdoo]

As Habs fans see now, it's not that easy to score goals in the NHL, especially if your linemates aren't optimal. I doubt he'll outscore this season's Michkov if he plays with Laine and Newhook and no PP1 time next season.

 

[HeadLiceHatty]

As Habs fans see now, it's not that easy to score goals in the NHL, especially if your linemates aren't optimal. I doubt he'll outscore this season's Michkov if he plays with Laine and Newhook and no PP1 time next season.

No chance but the only people that ever rated him over Michkov as a prospect were Habs fans and that’s ok. He’s a special prospect and he’s very fun to watch and he’ll be an elite talent.

 

[kp61c]

No chance but the only people that ever rated him over Michkov as a prospect were Habs fans and that’s ok. He’s a special prospect and he’s very fun to watch and he’ll be an elite talent.

he is a better prospect than michkov

 

[bud12]

No chance but the only people that ever rated him over Michkov as a prospect were Habs fans and that’s ok. He’s a special prospect and he’s very fun to watch and he’ll be an elite talent.

Everyone have rated Demidov over Michkov and for good reason. He's a better player

 

[Sting]

I find it funny that as soon as he starts looking like a regular young player who is struggling, everyone else gets the blame, mainly his linemates and the roster in general.

Reality is - he's 19 and he's not Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid. He doesn't look good out there and that's not shocking. It's not just his linemates. It's him.

I'd be careful to form any evaluation of him based on this stretch of games.

 

[bud12]

I find it funny that as soon as he starts looking like a regular young player who is struggling, everyone else gets the blame, mainly his linemates and the roster in general.

Reality is - he's 19 and he's not Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid. He doesn't look good out there and that's not shocking. It's not just his linemates. It's him.

I'd be careful to form any evaluation of him based on this stretch of games.

What are you talking about? He looked good in 2 of his 3 games.

 

[DaPhazz]

I find it funny that as soon as he starts looking like a regular young player who is struggling, everyone else gets the blame, mainly his linemates and the roster in general.

Reality is - he's 19 and he's not Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid. He doesn't look good out there and that's not shocking. It's not just his linemates. It's him.

I'd be careful to form any evaluation of him based on this stretch of games.

Shocking, he looked good to me in the majority of the 3 games

 

[Sasha Orlov]

I find it funny that as soon as he starts looking like a regular young player who is struggling, everyone else gets the blame, mainly his linemates and the roster in general.

Reality is - he's 19 and he's not Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid. He doesn't look good out there and that's not shocking. It's not just his linemates. It's him.

I'd be careful to form any evaluation of him based on this stretch of games.

Thank god there’s an unbiased Sens fan here to give us the truth

 

[saintunspecified]

What are you talking about? He looked good in 2 of his 3 games.

Love his skating and skill. He looks to me like he needs to get stronger, and learn the NHL game. The caps are a ***** to play against. Who has so many big & mean mfers who move so fast? I'd be concerned about his intelligence if he wasn't a little tentative out there, which imo he appeared to me to be. But I don't think he's going to remain that way - I think he'll learn to deal with it, and become a star.

Of course tepid takes like mine don't tend to drive engagement.

 

[Artaud]

No chance but the only people that ever rated him over Michkov as a prospect were Habs fans and that’s ok. He’s a special prospect and he’s very fun to watch and he’ll be an elite talent.

Demidov always had more upside than Michkov to knowledgeable analysts. Michkov is too small and too slow to reach the levels Demidov can attain.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Not too worried , Caps really came out flying and I think he only touched the puck 3-4 times all game. That line as a whole was so awful , I'd put him with Evans and Armia or Heineman instead of Newhook and Laine , the entire line of them together is borderline unplayable at 5 on 5. Newhook and Laine can't keep possesion for the life of them , Demidov wasen't much better but nobody has looked good on that line this year

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I find it funny that as soon as he starts looking like a regular young player who is struggling, everyone else gets the blame, mainly his linemates and the roster in general.

Reality is - he's 19 and he's not Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid. He doesn't look good out there and that's not shocking. It's not just his linemates. It's him.

I'd be careful to form any evaluation of him based on this stretch of games.

I will defend Demidov because he has to be defended. Laine and Newhook have been terrible even before Demidov came in. It's not like he arrived and they started playing bad, they have been terrible and Demidov (in his first game) managed to make them look good. Look it up if you want, Laine & Newhook are the worst 5v5 forwards on the Habs. Now Demidov is unable to make them play better but that is hardly surprising. I do not think any Habs forward other than Suzuki could make that line look half decent. The only reason Laine is in the lineup at this point is for the PP and Newhook is basically playing on his own 90% of the time. So yes, the linemate excuse is valid, he has been put in the worst possible scenario to have success. At this point, getting him away from them should be the priority to see how he can react. If he starts struggling with other linemates yes he could get some blame

 

[zegrassyknoll]

HFBoards on any young player's first month

 

[seadawg]

Ima Demigod will be just fine.

 

[MeHateHe]

Are people really assessing this player based on two regular season games and one playoff game?

 

[FliegerKorps]

While Demidov hasnt looked particularly great, he's playing with two abysmal 5v5 blackholes in tight playoff games.

 

[Kshahdoo]

While Demidov hasnt looked particularly great, he's playing with two abysmal 5v5 blackholes in tight playoff games.

That's the case. When Michkov played with TK he was a PPG player, it's when they tied him to not very good and creative players his production dropped significantly. I expect the same from Demidov.

It looks like their 1st line is set in stone with Suzuki, Caufield and Slaf, and if the Habs don't improve their roster, I doubt Demidov will be that great in his rookie season. Let's be honest, SKA in most evenings had better 5vs5 players as his linemates than Laine and Newhook.

 

[TomKosto]

Habs fans on this forum are kinda ruining the Demidov vibe. Calling him a sure shot 100pts player, chance of winning the best player in playoffs. Guess it’s like this when you have that many fans, but the guy gonna need sometime to adjust, NHL is a different league, especially in the playoffs.

 

[Garbageyuk]

What I’ve noticed most so far is his lack of speed. Much like Michkov, he lacks the acceleration and top end speed to create distance. He needs to work on this as much as he can this summer. His skating technique is fine.

The other thing is he is legitimately terrible defensively. The effort is there some of the time, but he appears to really be lacking in terms of defensive awareness.

And multiple times per game thus far, he is simply floating and watching teammates battle for pucks in the D-zone, and he doesn’t appear to know where to be. Understandable, due to it being his 3rd games so far, and he doesn’t speak English well, but still.

Yet another thing is his lack of effort when it comes to back checking - there is no hustle at all, and it’s happened a few times where he just leisurely skates back at a meandering pace, and when he gets there he does nothing and just watches instead.

I sincerely hope that some of this is due to him not being familiar with the new system and the communication barrier, but tbh I kind of doubt it. Back checking is fundamental - he should know this shit by now since he spent the year in the 2nd best professional league in the world.

It’s either he doesn’t understand that he’s supposed to f***ing giver when it comes to back checking and he needs to get involved in puck battles in the defensive zone, or he does know that, but simply doesn’t care to put the effort in. Neither is good.

Hopefully this stuff improves quickly as he gets more familiar with the team, coaches, and system. A lot of this is hopefully due to nerves too - he’s been thrust into the playoffs in the best league in the world in his 3rd game.

Maybe the torrid pace is causing him to hesitate and overthink things and the result is the deer in the headlights thing where he just floats. Or it could be a combination of all the things I mentioned.

It’s strange because he seems to do well off the puck in the offensive zone - he hustles, is engaged in puck battles, cycles the puck well, and makes smart decisions more often than not, knows where to be, etc.

Whatever the case, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt being that it’s been 3 games, but these issues are glaringly obvious so far.

Cue the outrage.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

There is one full time NHL’er so far from this draft.

Demidov has two points in three games. That alone is all I need to know. That’s a good start.

Relax with analyzing it more than that. He’s 19 years old playing against the best players in the world. If there’s flaws, they’ll expose it. Nothing that should cause real reason for concern. Getting anything out of Demidov right now is a positive.