F Ivan Demidov - SKA St. Petersburg, KHL (2024, 5th, MTL) Part 2
- Thread starter hangman006
- Start date
Ya I guess that's an option. I won't lie I'm not quite sure how KHL development works. He played in MHL SKA team last season no? Could he have played elsewhere in KHL?
Sometimes when I see these takes I get reminded of how many people don't think about the other factors at all. Like the most important one - language. There are reasons why so few Russians come to NA before their draft, and one of those reasons is how insanely difficult it is to just move to another continent, another country, learn the new language, etc, while leaving your friends and sometimes family behind.
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viceroy
Registered User
You know in the future KHL/NHL pact they should just put in a 20yrs of age to go stateside rule. Unless of course they leave before they're 16.
If someone would explain how prospects end up with a team we wouldn't need to waste posts. Are they drafted or do they just choose where they want to go?
Giant Panda
Formerly Just Linda, Baby Panda, and Great Panda
- Feb 24, 2018
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If SKA gets swept, does he for sure have to wait to get released from his contract or could he potentially join the Habs for the end of season/ potential playoffs?
Nobody is going to know that except SKA. However, the rumour is that even if they exit the playoffs early, they will not release Demidov from his contract; they will send him down to the MHL to finish out.
Boyon90
Registered User
- Sep 23, 2013
- 1,063
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It would make no sense
1. Player can refuse, terminate contract, besides any bs threats from management
2. Why send someone to a farm team when he's about to leave, he would take ice time from actual farm players
3. The only way I see this is if he wants to play more, himself
Players can choose the youth school they develop in. They're then contracted to these schools/organizations. However wealthy teams have the money and influence to cherry pick the elite kids.
There is no draft like in the NHL.
For example both Demidov and Miroshnichenko are products of Vityaz (one of the poorer KHL organizations).
Both were wanted by SKA when they became MHL eligible. Demidov took the opportunity and SKA paid good compensation to Vityaz.
Afaik, Miroshnichenko's parents didn't want him going to SKA. He eventually went to Omsk (another elite KHL organization)
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Thanks. So presumably Demidov got good money too. So if SKA offered more money to a player than other teams they have to decide is the money worth putting up with the coach.
JadedRandom
Registered User
It's more than just money, though the financial incentives SKA gives to talented young players is also a big part of the equation.
But the thing is that however much bad rap SKA as an organization gets because of the coaches and culture/management issues, it's also true that they have top-level facilities with some very good development staff available to young players/pros.
So signing-in with SKA can be an advantage for younger players since they'll have more tools available to them to help them develop if they ever need those.
In the specific case of Demidov we can definitely say that the coaching and culture in SKA have definitely held him back a bit this year and also last, where he played in a league he was clearly too good for.
And I'm sure if we looked more closely we'd see other cases of hockey-hopefuls whose careers have been somewhat-negatively impacted by SKA's culture.
But for every single one of those we'd find, I'm also pretty sure that we'd see multiple players who have benefited from the top-notch facilities and treatment SKA gives to its players at all levels.
So yeah, there are caveats to signing with SKA, but there are also distinctive tradeoffs to take into consideration for every single KHL organization.
The same is also true of every NHL team and every situation.
Basically, the more you look at it the less clear-cut it gets.
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Ya this is definitely a good point, there are obviously many factors in deciding which route is the best for an exceptional young talent. All I was saying was I would not be surprised if young russian players come to North America earlier based on how SKA has dealt with these young guys. I have a feeling a change in philosophy is going to happen soon over there. We'll see.
JadedRandom summed it up well.
Also, the prestige of playing in St. Pete or Moscow is huge.
Furthermore, agents and their connections can play a significant factor in where kids play.....just like it is in N.A.
But in most cases kids are years away from the KHL when they move to SKA's system, so Rotenberg's KHL player usage probably doesn't factor into their decision making. I mean most won't even become KHLers.
Even so, most young talent appears to be staying away from SKA these days. The 2009-born national junior team has 0 players from SKA on the roster.
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