Habs Daily: Demidov Update, Canadiens Defensive Depth Chart

Here are the Montreal Canadiens news items, highlights, and stories you may have missed on Monday.

Montreal Canadiens News

The Montreal Canadiens have a bevy of young, talented defencemen, but they’re yet to prove they can maintain relatively healthy possession numbers for more than a short stretch of games. Heading into the 2024-25 season, it appears that the blue line may get even younger, as both David Reinbacher and Logan Mailloux will have a legitimate opportunity to earn a job in the NHL.  [Montreal Canadiens Defensive Situation – Depth Chart Analysis]

The Montreal Canadiens released a short video featuring their top prospect, Ivan Demidov, answering a few questions. It’s hard not to be impressed by his handle on the English language, which is much better than my Russian.

SKA St-Petersburg’s development camp is underway, and Demidov is expected to join the players attending, but for now he’s being held out of action due the knee/ankle injury he sustained in the playoffs, where he scored 28 points in 17 games.

Ivan Demidov n’est pas au camp de développement du SKA aujourd’hui, car il se remet encore d’une blessure, me confirme son agent Dan Milstein. @CanadiensMTL

— Nicolas Cloutier (@NCloutierTVA) July 15, 2024

Speaking of Demidov, it appears the young man is obsessed with hockey, which is always an encouraging sign for players who are expected to eventually perform among the top 1 percent of their sport.

Habs prospect Ivan Demidov in an interview last year on how he spends his off-season when he’s not training.

👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/zAMH6hQnRT

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) July 15, 2024

National Hockey Now Network

• The Chicago Blackhawks are getting ready for a big season. A lot of development is set to take place which will help them move forward as an organization. All over the world, players are going to be getting ready to compete for their chance to become a part of something special being built in Chicago around Connor Bedard. [Chicago Blackhawks]
• Drew O’Connor finally had his breakout later last season. The easy going kid from New Jersey was in his first full NHL season. He scored 16 goals and 33 points in 79 games, and there was no more shuttling in and out of the press box, no more hauling back and forth to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. [Pittsburgh Penguins]

• The New Jersey Devils announced on Monday evening that they have signed forward prospect Adam Beckman to a one-year, two-way contract. Beckman’s contract is worth $775,000 at the NHL level and $125,000 ($150,000 guaranteed) at the American Hockey League (AHL) level.[New Jersey Devils]