Habs Daily: New Powerplay Units, Ivan Demidov Heats Up

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

Montreal Canadiens News

The Habs practiced their powerplay units on Friday, never a bad idea for a team that scores roughly three powerplay goals per season. That’s an exaggeration, of course. I’m fairly certain they only scored two last year.

Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield, Kirby Dach, and Mike Matheson formed the first man-advantage unit, while Alex Newhook, Joshua Roy, Patrik Laine, Brendan Gallagher, and Lane Hutson featured on the second. Fans will undoubtedly want to see Hutson used on the first group, and there’s a high likelihood he forces his way there in the near future due to his surreal skill set, but the fact that he’s already anchoring the second group is encouraging given that he’s yet to play a single regular-season game.

It’s also important to remember that despite all the criticism he faced, Matheson had the most productive season from a Canadiens defenceman on the powerplay since Andrei Markov retired. He’s a rush defenceman, which means he’s not perfectly suited to anchor a powerplay, but the rumours of his man-advantage incompetence have been greatly exaggerated. Not to mention, having Matheson in place until the coaching staff believes Hutson is ready for a promotion is a luxury many teams could not afford.

Voici les deux vagues d’avantage numérique à l’entraînement du CH ce midi :

PP1
Suzuki – Slafkovsky – Caufield – Dach – Matheson

PP2
Newhook – Roy – Laine – Gallagher – Hutson pic.twitter.com/GZsyK5WfTN

— RDS (@RDSca) September 27, 2024

It usually takes a while for young players to adapt to a new league, especially if they make the jump from Junior to professional hockey. That being said, top prospect Ivan Demidov has already started to produce at an impressive rate, among the best in league history for a U20 player.  [Canadiens Prospect Report: Ivan Demidov Finds Scoring Rhythm]

Here’s another angle of Demidov’s fourth goal of the season, which he scored on Friday afternoon for SKA Saint-Petersburg. It happens very quickly, but make sure to keep an eye on the stick lift that turned the sustained offensive zone shift into a goal-scoring play. Some may say those are some nifty mittens.

Here’s a cool angle of Ivan Demidov’s goal 🔥

Winning puck battles, using his great vision to look for a pass then going straight to the net, he’s a dawg 😤 pic.twitter.com/ou8Zlk3ewe

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) September 27, 2024

Seeing as the topic du jour is the possibility prospect Oliver Kapanen will earn a roster spot, it’s worth noting his ELC kicks in no matter where he ends up playing, Canada or Sweden.  [Montreal Canadiens Forward Depth Chart – A Trade Would Help]

He’s 21, so the 9-game rule doesn’t apply. He burns the first year of his ELC regardless of where he plays this season.

He can start the season in MTL and be sent back at any point.

— Marco D’Amico (@mndamico) September 27, 2024

National Hockey Now Network

For the second time in as many days, Erik Haula took to the ice for a morning skate with the New Jersey Devils. He wasn’t the only somewhat new face at the rink, as injured defenceman Brett Pesce joined the group Friday morning as well. [New Jersey Devils]

Detroit goalie Alex Lyon knows this team well enough to appreciate when it is playing the right way. He liked what they saw Friday. [Detroit Red Wings]

When the Florida Panthers called up players for their postseason practice squad once the Charlotte Checkers season ended in the first-round of the playoffs, Zac Dalpe was not among them. At 34 and with a young family waiting for him, Dalpe would be more appreciated at home instead of skating with his Charlotte teammates in South Florida waiting for a chance that would not come. [Florida Panthers]