Canadiens Top Prospects: Demidov’s Start To The KHL Season

Much of the hope linked to the Montreal Canadiens rebuild is tied to top prospects, such as SKA Saint Petersburg forward Ivan Demidov.

He’s not quite ready for the NHL, however, playing in the KHL does mean he’s developing in one of the top hockey leagues in the world. It’s an experience that should help him deal with the lack of time and space involved in professional hockey, usually one of the toughest hurdles to clear for young, talented prospects. His play in the KHL is also the reason Demidov will not be among the many top prospects at the Canadiens rookie camp.

Demidov has played relatively well during his first three games in the league, and you’d be hard-pressed to argue he looked out of place despite ascending from the MHL, the Russian equivalent to the CHL. He’s come very close to scoring his first goal, but as we all know, close only counts in horseshoes, grenades, and road construction work in Montreal.

Until Demidov scores, there will be a certain level of concern from fans in Canada, but we must remember context is everything when evaluating prospects.

Ivan Demidov And His First Few KHL Games

On Monday, Demidov played the third game of his KHL career, serving as the right wing on the third line, alongside former Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov, as well as Croatian forward Borna Rendulic. The trio saw limited ice time against Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, a team featuring former Habs forward Alex Radulov. Those who follow the KHL odds can use the latest BetRivers affiliate code, though SKA Petersburg has been an underdog.

In total, Demidov received slightly more than 10 minutes of ice time, including a little over a minute of powerplay usage.

The first issue that came to the forefront was Kuznetsov’s questionable compete level, as it seemed the veteran wasn’t particularly interested in driving the play for his trio. That’s not out of the ordinary for an older player, but the situation did mitigate some of the production potential for Demidov. Kuznetsov was also the team’s busiest player on a powerplay that failed to score in five opportunities. Consequently, when the teams returned to 5v5, the third line was rarely called upon, seeing Kuznetsov needed time to recover.

The usage led to Demidov playing a little over one minute in the third period, far from an ideal situation for one of the Canadiens’ top prospects. But if we remove emotion from the equation, it’s not a particularly surprising situation to see his ice time cut when SKA’s bench is shortened. Not only is 18-year-old Demidov one of the youngest players in the league, but he’s also learning on the job, connoting that a steady introduction to professional hockey is in order.

Prospect development is a marathon, not a sprint. Matvei Michkov, another top Russian prospect, was given similar ice time by SKA in the first few games of his career. With that in mind, as Demidov acclimatizes to his new settings, his usage should improve.

And yet, within his very limited ice time, we have seen flashes of brilliance that suggest the best is yet to come. For example, a prolonged 5 on 3 for SKA showed little to no life until Demidov hit the ice for the final 10 seconds of the man advantage. Despite the restricted usage, he created his team’s only scoring chance of the powerplay.

Simply put, his sheltered usage may frustrate fans, but it’s a perfectly normal strategy, one that head coach Martin St-Louis used with Juraj Slafkovsky during his first stretch of games in the NHL. If we reach the end of October and his ice time is still among the lowest on the team, then there will be some legitimate cause for concern, but for now, Ivan Demidov is slowly yet surely dipping his ice toes in the chilly waters of professional hockey, a process that usually takes more than a few games.