Connect with us

Canadiens Wrap

Habs Wrap: Rebuilding Lessons, Demidov, Roy, Reinbacher

Published

11 months ago

on

Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes nhl waiver waivers

MONTREAL — There’s always Montreal Canadiens content to absorb, but there are only so many hours in a day. On Sundays, we recap the most exciting and relevant NHL news stories that you may have missed throughout the week so that you can stay in the Canadiens loop.

Monday

It’s always a good time to take a look at some of the many, many Ivan Demidov highlights from his dominant time in the MHL. Highlights can be a little misleading if they only focus on high quality plays, but the sheer number of lengthy videos featuring multiple excellent plays by Demidov is proof that this is not simply a matter of cherry-picking. [Canadiens Prospects: Highly Entertaining Ivan Demidov Highlights]

ICYMI: We’ve reached the top 10 in our Montreal Canadiens prospect summer rankings, which means we’re discussing some of the most promising young players in the organization, including Michael Hage and Owen Beck. The top 10 also starts off with profiling three defencemen who will be fighting for ice time in the near future. [Montreal Canadiens Prospect Rankings – Players Ranked No.10 to No.6]

Tuesday

TVA analyst Nicolas Cloutier reported that Rhett Pitlick is no longer a Montreal Canadiens prospect. The Habs had until August 15 to offer him an entry-level contract. Pitlick, 23, was drafted in the fifth round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He scored 35 goals and 44 assists in 109 games for the University of Minnesota during his three seasons in the NCAA. His third season with the Golden Gophers was respectable, to the tune of 19 goals and 17 assists in 39 games, but the overager won’t represent a significant loss to the organization’s prospect pool. Pitlick ranked 36 out of 40 in our 2024 Canadiens prospect summer rankings.[Habs Prospect Rankings – Players Who Missed The Cut & Prospects Ranked No.40 to N0.31]

The Canadiens prospect rankings top 5 kicks off with one of the most polarizing players in the system, defenceman David Reinbacher. Those relying on a quick look at his point production last season you won’t have a very high opinion of his play, but it’s crucial to keep usage in mind when analyzing hockey players. Reinbacher’s season was complicated, to say the least, but it finished on a very encouraging note.  [Canadiens Prospect Rankings: David Reinbacher’s Complicated Season]

Victoriaville Tigers forward Justin Larose has been invited to the rookie training camp. Larose, 19, had a solid season from an offensive standpoint, scoring 38 goals and 42 assists in 67 regular-season games, as well as 16 points in 14 playoff games.

Wednesday

Smaller players have to adapt to thrive in the NHL. Martin St-Louis and Yvan Cournoyer are two players who had to build up their leg mass to carve out ice against bigger opponents, and top prospect Lane Hutson is following suit. A recent picture highlighting his gigantic quadriceps has led to fans giving him the nickname ‘Quadzilla’. [Top Canadiens Prospect Lane Hutson Has Gigantic Legs]

The Habs did not offer an entry-level contract to Rhett Pitlick, and it’s unlikely they’ll give one to Ty Smilanic. The standards have been raised in recent years due to an influx of young, talented players acquired via a their many, many draft picks. It’ll become a common occurrence as the team continues to collect picks and prospects.  [Montreal Canadiens Likely To Allow More Prospects To Walk]

The President’s Cup will be hosted by the Royal Montreal Golf Club next month, giving Habs players a perfect opportunity to mingle with PGA members as they close out the golf season. [Canadiens]

This should come as no surprise as he’s already proven he’s a great athlete, but Nick Suzuki is also quite adept at playing golf with non-regulation equipment.

Meanwhile, Kent Hughes is taking in some summer hockey action at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. It’s never too early to get a hard start on your work.

Thursday

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.


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

Usually, Montreal Hockey Now law dictates we must add a Demidov highlight to the Daily/Wrap 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]

Friday

The Montreal Canadiens are at a crucial point in their rebuild, and they could learn from the mistakes of their rivals on what to avoid over the next year. Between the Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators and, up until recently, the Florida Panthers, the Atlantic Division has been the most imbalanced division in the NHL; holding substantially long playoff droughts during the last 15 years. [Key Mistake Made By Canadiens’ Rivals That Must Be Avoided]

Ivan Demidov was rated as one of the top prospects in the KHL, which isn’t all that surprising since he’s considered one of the top prospects in the entire hockey landscape. He received the most first-place votes from a group of 60 Russian sports journalists, but finished behind Philadelphia Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov for the top spot. Again, that’s not particularly surprising. Michkov is very talented, and more importantly, he’s a year older than his Russian counterpart. Regardless of the final ranking, Habs fans are unlikely to protest given it’s incredibly rare that a Canadiens prospect is considered one of the most offensively talented players outside the NHL.

Here’s the legally mandated Demidov highlight following a mention of his name in the Habs Wrap.

We mentioned Demidov is getting his fair share of attention from the KHL yesterday, and that hype Train Keeps A-Rollin‘.

Speaking of the Demidov, he did hit the ice on August 6, a very encouraging sign that his lower-body injury is in the rearview mirror, but he was not part of the SKA Saint Petersburg players who participated in a scrimmage on Thursday.

Alex Newhook and friends were in St-John’s to raise money for very good causes.

Saturday

By now you’re probably sick of my endless sales pitch when it comes to Arber Xhekaj’s impact, which is definitely underrated by some, but one of the aspects of his play that we don’t touch upon enough is the entertainment factor whenever he’s on the ice. After all, the Canadiens are in the entertainment business, and few entertain as well as No.72. [Xhekaj Short-Term Extension Could Be Missed Opportunity For Habs]

The 2024 Montreal Canadiens summer prospect rankings have reached the cream of the crop, starting with forward Joshua Roy, who clicks in at fourth on our list. Roy’s development has been fascinating. He was written off as a lazy player very early in his hockey career, but all it took was one good coach (and a lot of hard work) to get him back on track. Thanks to a laundry list of team-leading statistics, Roy is knocking on the door to be considered part of the core. [Canadiens Prospect Rankings: Joshua Roy Deserves More Credit]

Ivan Demidov was pictured with the man who holds his ice time fate in his hands, SKA Saint Petersburg bench boss Roman Rotenberg. In the past, Rotenberg hasn’t exactly shown much confidence in young, talented players, as evidenced by SKA shipping Matvei Michkov to Sochi in back-to-back years, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll treat Demidov in the same manner. As an aside, you’ll note the Tweet below was made by our good friends that run the Habs Reddit account. I strongly suggest giving them a follow if you like to stay up to date with all things Canadiens.


You knew where we were going! Here’s the legally mandated Demidov highlight following a mention of his name. Demidov scored a goal and two assists in this game, powered by his nine shots on net.

 

Related Topics:

MHN in your inbox

Enter your email address and get all of our articles sent directly to your inbox

Canadiens Roster & Cap Info