Habs Daily: Demidov Rookie Of The Week, Top Prospects Shine

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

Montreal Canadiens News

Top prospect Ivan Demidov received an encouraging accolade in the KHL. The fifth-overall pick from 2024 was named The Rookie Of The Week following his four-point game for SKA Saint-Petersburg. [Canadiens Prospect Highlights: Ivan Demidov Four-Point Night]

Ivan Demidov is the #KHL rookie of the week! ⭐️

Our gifted forward tallied four (2+2) points, a +4 plus/minus rating and three hits across two matches.

Keep it up! #hcSKA pic.twitter.com/gso19kpN29

— SKA Ice Hockey Club (@hcSKA_News) September 24, 2024

The Habs ran with a completely new lineup versus the New Jersey Devils, with one exception. Defenceman Logan Mailloux, one of the players attempting to earn an NHL job at camp, was given another opportunity to prove his worth. As for the other top defensive prospect in the lineup, David Reinbacher was paired with Mike Matheson. [Canadiens Preview And Lines: Mailloux And Reinbacher In Action]

Speaking of Reinbacher, another young player in the lineup, Juraj Slafkovsky, had some sage advice for the 19-year-old defenceman.

Reporter: “What’s the best advice you have (for David Reinbacher)?”

Juraj Slafkovsky: “I would say ‘be confident.’ I don’t think I was confident enough when I got here & I was like, I don’t know, I wasn’t good. Just be more confident than even that I was & trust yourself, make… pic.twitter.com/SzeYMPM5KB

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) September 24, 2024

Reinbacher was quite calm as he prepared for his preseason debut, not to mention aware that Rome wasn’t built in a day.

“I’m kind of like a breakout defenseman. For sure my first pass has to be there & that’s what I try to do every day…You have way less your time here…but that’s a good challenge for me everyday.”

“I’m still 19, turning 20 in October so there’s still a lot of time. (I just… pic.twitter.com/ntKZFBYQUC

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) September 24, 2024

The Habs are yet to allow a goal against in preseason action. Some of it is due to the excellent play from all four goaltenders involved in the games, but a lot of the credit has to be given to the top defensive prospects, and yes, that obviously includes phenom Lane Hutson. All things considered, Reinbacher and Mailloux played very well on Tuesday night, while Owen Beck made the best of his opportunities in the 3-0 win. It should be noted Michael Pezzetta also had a strong outing, including scoring two of the three goals from the Canadiens. [Canadiens Instant Recap: Reinbacher, Mailloux, And Beck Excel]

National Hockey Now Network

The New Jersey Devils and fans alike got their first glimpse of newly acquired goaltender Jacob Markstrom in game action on Sunday evening against the New York Islanders. [New Jersey Devils]

Filip Zadina undoubtedly hopes to find the net in Switzerland with more frequency than he lit the lamp in the NHL. That hasn’t yet with Zadina boasting one goal in four games with Davos. [New Jersey Devils]

Can Nate Schmidt be this year’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson for the Florida Panthers? There are a lot of similarities in their paths to South Florida. Both are the same age (33), were high-end top-four pairings earlier in their career, and were power-play specialists. Not to mention, their skills earned them lucrative contracts. [Florida Panthers]