Player Discussion Ivan Demidov: Welcome to Montreal

[Hins77]

I thought Leonard had a better game than Demidov, slightly better impact. More involved in the plays.

Not sure why you bring up Leonard in a Demidov thread though.

Because I saw some posters saying he is bust. Both are young, but Leonard is also older than Demidov. Maybe Leonard is more involve like you say, but he is more caractere/gritty player, so his style of player was easier to translate in the NHL vs Demidov imo.

 

[drebola]

Masterclass of Hugues, draft Demidov, play with trash like Newhook and Laine. Unreal

 

[Yep]

I think he is fine. You can see he is ajusting to the lack of time and space and the physicality of NHL playoffs.

He will benefits from the crowd boost in Montreal. And he will get his first points. Don't worry.

 

[waitin425]

I thought Leonard had a better game than Demidov, slightly better impact. More involved in the plays.

Not sure why you bring up Leonard in a Demidov thread though.

Easy to look that way when the ice is tilted and you are playing with better players.

Demi has obvious skill. I just don't think we are going to see much of it this year with a lack of 2C. He is 19. He needs someone quality beside him.

 

[morhilane]

Easy to look that way when the ice is tilted and you are playing with better players.

Demi has obvious skill. I just don't think we are going to see much of it this year with a lack of 2C. He is 19. He needs someone quality beside him.

That excuse was used for Slaf the last 3 seasons (when he's not with Suzuki) and lots of posters come and claim that's false and if Slaf really had actual talent he should be able to make those not quality players better. I can't wait to see the same comment about Demidov.

I personally thought Demidov looked overwhelmed in his first two regular season games. So I'm totally not surprised by what is going on right now. I also think the Caps have a much better system and structure in place which is easier to slot into then whatever MSL has the Habs doing.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Seems like a good experience for Demidov to have yesterday he touched the puck alot more

 

[Rapala]

I thought Leonard had a better game than Demidov, slightly better impact. More involved in the plays.

Not sure why you bring up Leonard in a Demidov thread though.

Washington has a ready made role for Ryan Leonard's with the game they play which is as a North South winger.
Demidov is a poison in small areas of open ice his skill hands and vision are what will set him above most players.
He's still learning how to find the open ice in the post season let alone learning how to exploit it.

Marty has a huge decision to make with this kid next season.
Is he going to be good enough to play with Suzuki where he''ll have the greatest opportunity to grow his game and learn how to play the right way?
Like Hutson we have to decide if the production and growth will ultimately outpace the growing pains.
Not knowing who our 2C is to be this has to be the only way to proceed at this point.
As much as I like Evans defensive game he's not at an offensive level that can benefit Demidov for very long.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Leonard has done nothing but get away with an obvious interference penalty.

 

[Naslundforever]

Seems like a good experience for Demidov to have yesterday he touched the puck alot more

Evans was 50% face offs which beats Newhook all day at least. Only won one in the O-zone though, that’ll help Demidov get o-zone touches for sure if it steps up.

Evans rocked it vs mon beau Lars

Faceoff Comparison

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Played well yesterday once Laine was removed, he needs to be put in a position to use his strengths

PP1 would do wonders

 

[ahmedou]

He's with Montreal since April 2025.

It's not like he's with Montreal since July 2024.

 

[Kennerback]

He’s adjusting to the speed of the playoffs. He’s getting there. Put either Caufield or Laine vs Demidov as L/R half wall PP one-timers.

 

[CapSpace]

Masterclass of Hugues, draft Demidov, play with trash like Newhook and Laine. Unreal

He has to make moves this summer, not later, to fix this.

 

[Bobby Holik agent]

Meh,
On a better team right now he's 4th lines material.
Some sort of wildcard supplement depth forward.
Here the fun part, we aren't a better team!

 

[the valiant effort]

First two road games of his NHL career and you can tell he was getting a feel for it. He bounced right back up after that snuffing along the LW wall, he had that good corner battle helping Newhook. He’s going to get some good looks tomorrow

 

[JustStopThePuck]

Masterclass of Hugues, draft Demidov, play with trash like Newhook and Laine. Unreal

Masterclass of ignorance?! Hughes doesn't make the lines.

"But he should have traded for better linemates?"

Dude, we didn't even know Demidov was coming until the end of the season, well past the trade deadline.

"Well we could have drafted Michkov and he'd be fire with Demidov."

And a round we round we go.

 

[Tyson]

Demidov is clearly lacking man strength for playoff hockey. It will come though

 

[JustStopThePuck]

The kids going to make mistakes, outside of that I think he's getting up to speed with the NHL and Montreal's system. The real problem I'm seeing is when he enters the zone and dishes it to the D or his linemates, he's never getting the puck back.

 

[Leto]

He’s adjusting to the speed of the playoffs. He’s getting there. Put either Caufield or Laine vs Demidov as L/R half wall PP one-timers.

Speed and physicality. Transitioning from the KHL to NHL is one thing, adjusting to the dirty nature of the NHL PO is another.

He should take inspiration of Kucherov's mean streak. Being dirty like Kucherov is a plus in the PO.​

 

[DAChampion]

Demidov has been playing with the two least effective linemates in the team, frustrating.

I think this might be worth a try:

Caulfield Suzuki Slafkovsky
Anderson Dvorak Gallagher
Kappanen Evans Demidov
Armia Newhook Heinemen

Top two lines actually work, keep them.
But bottom six is still rough. Armia is injured, Newhook sucks, Kappanen and Heinemen are green.

 

[Canadarocks66]

Laine & Demidov will have strong games tonight.

Not really. Maybe in game 3.

 

[Matthew McConaughay]

Demidov is clearly lacking man strength for playoff hockey. It will come though

Hutson is smaller and is holding its own.

 

[le_sean]

Hutson is smaller and is holding its own.

Hutson is 21. He’s naturally going to be a little more filled out. Demidov is just 19.

Plus he looked a lot better in the 3rd

 

[Canadarocks66]

Lots of fans here have put expectations through the roof for Ivan. It was always clear for me that he would need time to adjust, specially in the playoffs againts a big boy team.

Expectations like being called "Demigod?" Absolutely absurd for a kid not named Crosby, Ovechkin or McDavid in the last 20 years.

 

[Tyson]

Hutson is smaller and is holding its own.

Sorry but Hutson is also having a hard time. Also, isn't Hutson 2 years older?