F Ivan Demidov - SKA St. Petersburg, KHL (2024, 5th, MTL)

[The Last Red]

Eichel has been a very good, but not great, player over the course of his career.

 

[JRichard]

Laughable to me that Demidov dropped to 5th. I get the Celebrini hype, but otherwise we're seeing teams making the same damn mistake every year. Next year going to be groundhog day, with Ryabkin falling to 5th or 6th.

Are you sayin its same case with Michkov dropping at 7?
Ryabkin should do well with Demidov after the Habs pick him at 5. (Sarcasm there…)

Players drafted 2 and 4 all very nice prospects too. Not sure about 3 Sennecke. Reach to me.

Not sure if Reinbacher and Simachev picked 5-6 to be honest. Good but very nice at this point i dont see it. NHLers most probably of course.

 

[Fantomas]

Are you sayin its same case with Michkov dropping at 7?

Yeah teams see Russians as more risky.

 

[TheKrebsCycle]

Yeah teams see Russians as more risky.

Especially ones w 3 year contracts

 

[Fantomas]

Especially ones w 3 year contracts

When Russian players start saying "we don't want to come over anymore" (won't happen), that's when you start passing on them.

They all want to be in the NHL, especially the really good ones. This is being proven over and over and over again.

The other annoying tendency is taking C and D over W. That only makes sense when things are equal. But Demidov is clearly better than Levshunov, Lindstrom. Just watch the games, watch the skill. Scouts, GMs are silly, silly people. History proves this to be true.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

When Russian players start saying "we don't want to come over anymore" (won't happen), that's when you start passing on them.

Seems like people think every Russian player says this anyway despite the fact it’s literally never true

Hilarious people thought Michkov wasn’t coming for 3 years tbh

 

[TheKrebsCycle]

Seems like people think every Russian player says this anyway despite the fact it’s literally never true

Hilarious people thought Michkov wasn’t coming for 3 years tbh

How is it hilarious ? He literally had 3 years left on his contract at the time of the draft. Was it possible he came before that ? Of course , anything is possible . Was it a slam dunk or overly likely ? Absolutely not . Unless you have some info to the contrary . Which I’d legitimately be interested in reading .

 

[Sasha Orlov]

How is it hilarious ? He literally signed a 3 year contract just prior to the draft. Was it possible he came before that ? Of course , anything is possible . Was it a slam dunk or overly likely ? Absolutely not . Unless you have some info to the contrary . Which I’d legitimately be interested in reading .

It was always more likely than not and I, along with other Russian posters, said so at the time

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

How is it hilarious ? He literally signed a 3 year contract just prior to the draft. Was it possible he came before that ? Of course , anything is possible . Was it a slam dunk or overly likely ? Absolutely not . Unless you have some info to the contrary . Which I’d legitimately be interested in reading .

Michkov signed a five year contract in 2021. Considering he was 16 at the time and two years out from being drafted, that signing has to be seen under a different light altogether.

 

[montreal]

Backhand Pass Chance 3:02
Fucale Save 3:21
Steals Puck Nice Pass 5:11
In Close Chance 6:31

 

[Just Linda]

I'm starting to think that the coach hired on for political reasons who has no experience with hockey might not know what hes doing.

 

[Alex K]

I'm starting to think that the coach hired on for political reasons who has no experience with hockey might not know what hes doing.

He hired himself, he's the GM of SKA

 

[Zine]

He hired himself, he's the GM of SKA

Then compared himself to Mourinho.

 

[Sombastate]

I'll just say that ever since the KHL season started and Demidov started getting dicked around, my twitter feed has a lot less Hab fans.

And make no mistake about it, Demidov is getting dicked around. He looks good out there.

 

[thefutures]

I'll just say that ever since the KHL season started and Demidov started getting dicked around, my twitter feed has a lot less Hab fans.

And make no mistake about it, Demidov is getting dicked around. He looks good out there.

Hmmm 4 games 1 point and barely playing. Must be some sort of team cancer or something

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

The habs fans who were constantly talking about how Michkov can't get ice time can't make the team are sure quiet

 

[FlyguyOX]

Hmmm 4 games 1 point and barely playing. Must be some sort of team cancer or something

Bahah came here to say this.

Major red flag for the player, obviously

 

[Sombastate]

The habs fans who were constantly talking about how Michkov can't get ice time can't make the team are sure quiet

This is exactly why i've been quiet on the whole situation. I have no clue who is gonna be a better player. Of course i have my hunches.

So far is seems like Demidov is dealing with some of the hurdles Michkov had to deal with. We'll have an idea of how he handles it in comparison

 

[santapore]

so 4 games for ska. 3 games for demi and 0+1. 1 in the bench. i said month ago that demidov makes 25points in khl....is not that crazy now right? coach is asshole....and demidov is played only junior games before this season. maybe i should drop my prediction...to 20?

 

[montreal]

I'll just say that ever since the KHL season started and Demidov started getting dicked around, my twitter feed has a lot less Hab fans.

And make no mistake about it, Demidov is getting dicked around. He looks good out there.

He just got on the ice a few weeks back after being out all off-season to the ankle injury he got in the MHL Finals. He's looked the part so far but he also clearly looks like he badly needs to work on his first step quickness and lower body strength as he's easy to push off pucks and lacks the speed to separate himself from others when he's not moving his feet.

I thought he would spend most of the year in the VHL on a line with his brother or Romanov his linemate from last year, so we'll see what happens over the next couple of weeks.

The habs fans who were constantly talking about how Michkov can't get ice time can't make the team are sure quiet

Michkov in the one game he played for SKA last year I believe he played like 6 mins (I'd have to look it up though), Demidov's first 2 games combined he played 27:38 mins.

 

[montreal]

so 4 games for ska. 3 games for demi and 0+1. 1 in the bench. i said month ago that demidov makes 25points in khl....is not that crazy now right? coach is asshole....and demidov is played only junior games before this season. maybe i should drop my prediction...to 20?

He's played in the KHL and VHL before this season.

 

[santapore]

He's played in the KHL and VHL before this season.

wow...really? if we count them...this year is way better atleast with that 1 point and 1 vhl game. i dont say that vhl should be demidov's place. khl is fine if he gets playing time.

 

[montreal]

i dont say that vhl should be demidov's place. khl is fine if he gets playing time.

you said he only played junior games.

The KHL is fine, the VHL is fine, he knows how to hockey but needs a lot of work on physical tools, so points and playing time aren't important as it's not like he's going to forget how to pass the puck but if he doesn't work on that first step quickness and add a good bit of lower body strength, he will have issues at the NHL level.

 

[Maitz]

SKA really struggle creating offense and they often have trouble getting out of the D zone, I really think their D struggle feeding the offense. I love what I saw in the 3 games I watched of Demidov, in the O zone is always trying to create something with nice passes and has nice chances off the rush, on the forecheck he doesn't shy away from contact and often initiate contact to create separation. Unfortunately, he is victim of a team that often trail in the game and skip a lot of shifts. As soon as SKA will pick up their offensive game he will be fine

 

[Just Linda]

SKA really struggle creating offense and they often have trouble getting out of the D zone, I really think their D struggle feeding the offense. I love what I saw in the 3 games I watched of Demidov, in the O zone is always trying to create something with nice passes and has nice chances off the rush, on the forecheck he doesn't shy away from contact and often initiate contact to create separation. Unfortunately, he is victim of a team that often trail in the game and skip a lot of shifts. As soon as SKA will pick up their offensive game he will be fine

I would've thought that a Nikishin/Zaitsev pairing would've been KHL elite but Nikishin hasn't played and Zaitsev looks like he didn't work out much this summer.

That 20 year old kid looks promising but hasn't looked good yet.