Canadiens Prospect Report: Ivan Demidov Finds Scoring Rhythm

Top Montreal Canadiens forward Ivan Demidov faced a significant challenge this year as he made the jump from the MHL directly to the KHL. In North American terms, that would be the equivalent of going directly from the CHL into the NHL.

The first few games of the season served as an introduction to professional hockey for the 18-year-old forward, with SKA Saint Petersburg easing him into the lineup with limited shifts and ice time. That’s par for the course when we consider he’s one of the youngest players in the league, not to mention the strength of SKA’s roster, which has forced him to work his way up the lineup.

But with fewer than 10 games in the bank, it seems that Demidov has already found his scoring rhythm, as evidenced by his fourth goal of the season in SKA’s 8-5 win over Severstal on Friday afternoon. The goal itself featured a nice goal-line redirect by Demidov, but the play that is sure to endear him to his coach was the slick stick lift prior to scoring, as well as his work to recover the loose puck deep in the offensive zone.

Tony DeAngelo ➡ Ivan Demidov 🚨 pic.twitter.com/J1BEmSbOyA

— KHL (@khl_eng) September 27, 2024

Ivan Demidov Scoring Pace

As it stands, Demidov is still playing on SKA’s third line, however, his four goals and three assists in nine games connotes he may be ready for an uptick in usage, as he’s currently SKA’s second-most productive player.

To get a better idea of his early-season value, we can compare his production to under-20 seasons from other top prospects who developed in the KHL.

There are a few things worth noting as we take a (very) early look at his scoring pace. Comparing him to players who had the benefit of playing a whole season is a little unfair toward Demidov. By all logic, his production will increase as he gains experience. There’s also the matter of usage, as Demidov has mostly been relegated to the third and fourth lines since the start of the KHL season. Consequently, he has averaged slightly more than 13 minutes of ice time per game.

He’s 18 years old, but we’re using under-20 comparisons because Demidov will turn 19 in mid-December, yet another factor that works to his disadvantage. We also have to consider some of the other players on the list were given much more ice time. For example, Michkov’s time on ice shot up the moment he was loaned from SKA to Sochi, finishing the season with more than 17 minutes of ice time per game. On that note, Michkov’s team was incredibly weak, whereas SKA is overflowing with talent, and when it comes to producing in professional leagues the quality of teammate (QoT) is much more important than the strength of your opposition, therefore the advantage Michkov had in ice time is mitigated by the lower QoT.

Regardless, the mere fact that Demidov is keeping pace with the most productive U-20 players in league history is a rather encouraging sign, especially when we consider 85 percent of the KHL games are still on the docket, giving him ample opportunities to not just catch up, but perhaps even pass those ahead of him on the list.