Habs Daily: Hughes On Demidov, Canadiens Players Health

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

Montreal Canadiens News

Kent Hughes spoke to the media during his trip to Edmonton, where he’s evaluating future prospects currently playing in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Talent should always be the priority when drafting players, but when you can get a talented player who is also wise beyond his years, it makes things much easier, as it did when the Montreal Canadiens picked top prospect Ivan Demidov fifth overall at the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.

Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes on Ivan Demidov : “Our scouts were very high on him (Demidov) all throughout the year. We interviewed him before the draft and he was just..I was blown away with his maturity, his confidence, without arrogance. He was just a very impressive kid.”

— Austin Kelly (@AustinReporting) August 7, 2024

Speaking of Demidov, the KHL is not shying away from promoting him in their pre-season buildup.

How goalies see Ivan Demidov.#KHLPreseason pic.twitter.com/W2hmJEn7Uh

— KHL (@khl_eng) August 7, 2024

Usually, Montreal Hockey Now law dictates we must add a Demidov highlight to the Daily every time he’s mentioned, but we’re starting to run out of options. Just kidding, we’ll never run out of Demidov highlights. Check out his hat-trick performance in the playoffs, including a nice game-winning goal to close it out.

As much as fans are hoping the team will take a step forward once the many young, talented players in the lineup enjoy individual growth, the fact of the matter is that health will always play a crucial role in deciding any team’s fate. Heading into 2024-25, players such as Kirby Dach and Arber Xhekaj will look to maintain a healthy status for as long as possible.    [Top 3 Canadiens Players That Must Stay Healthy In 2024-25]

This is a smart marketing opportunity for the team’s ECHL affiliate, as the Lions have sponsored a car at the NASCAR Canada Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières this weekend.

Very cool: the Montreal Canadiens’ ECHL affiliate, the Trois-Rivières Lions, is sponsoring Raphael Lessard for GP3R weekend.

Biggest race of the @NASCARCanada_ schedule. pic.twitter.com/2XhZD5GRRe

— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) August 7, 2024

National Hockey Now Network

There are some interesting Pittsburgh Penguins stats nuggets to chew on that may confirm a few criticisms. NHL Edge is advanced statistics that measure the activity on the ice, including speed and shot velocity. It’s not so much made-up metrics to ascertain who is controlling the game as it measures the actual on-ice speed. And with it, one of the criticisms lobbed at the Penguins rang true. [Pittsburgh Penguins]

It’s safe to say that the New Jersey Devils were a shell of their former selves in the 2023-24 season. Following a 112-point 2022-23 in which the Devils were a force to be reckoned with, they fell flat on their faces last season after gambling on some internal pieces to advance to another level. After that didn’t quite happen, New Jersey went through a bit of a makeover this summer, bringing in some necessary veteran leadership and a bit of elbow grease. One player who the Devils are relying on to bring some missing elements back to the lineup is forward Paul Cotter. [New Jersey Devils]

Coach Derek Lalonde didn’t need a deep dive into his team’s analytics to tell him what the Detroit Red Wings need to accomplish in 2024-25. “I think the numbers speak for themselves,” Lalonde said. “We were a top 10 team in goals-for, but we were a bottom-10 team in goals-against. So we’d love to improve that goals-against.” [Detroit Red Wings]