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Habs Prospect Report: Hage Dominant, Demidov Decreasing TOI

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montreal canadiens draft pick michael hage credit to Club de Hockey Canadien

Most of the attention following the 2024 NHL Entry Draft focused on the Canadiens prospect who was picked fifth overall, rather than Michael Hage, who ended up joining the Canadiens with the 21st overall pick.



And while Ivan Demidov’s potential is bordering on elite, Hage falling to the Habs is an early candidate for the steal of the draft, as evidenced by his fantastic start in the NCAA.

Before we get going with the report, I’d like to take a moment to point out we often use the prospect videos uploaded on YouTube by HarryHood1919. It’s a fantastic resource for Canadiens fans, and I strongly suggest subscribing to the channel to support their excellent work.

Blistering NCAA Start For The Canadiens Prospect

Hage’s first career NCAA game was a disappointment from a team standpoint. The University of Michigan dropped their season opener 5-2 to Minnesota State, although Hage still managed to standout, assisting on both Michigan goals.

Not only did he provide the primary assists, but he clearly did not look out of place, a reassuring situation given the jump from the USHL to the NCAA is quite difficult, regardless of the talent a player may possess. Even with the loss, it was a dream start for the Mississauga native.

His speed in transition was particularly noticeable, which confirms the pre-draft scouting reports that suggests he can become a dominant player on the rush. Skating fast is important, and great puck handling is crucial, but it’s only when you combine the two that you have the necessary ingredients to one day ascend to the NHL as an impact player.

We’re far removed from that day, but suffice it to say, Hage’s NCAA start was just about as encouraging as possible.

 

The 18-year-old centre followed up his great performance by scoring his first goal in the NCAA in just the second game of the season. It also happened to be the game-winning goal for Michigan, as they avenged their opening-day loss to Minnesota State with a 4-1 win.

The video embedded below is timestamped to his goal, but even if we slow down the play to evaluate frame-by-frame, it’s a little difficult to see exactly what Hage did to score. Believe it or not, he did end up taking a shot with his forehand, despite carrying the puck on his backhand until the very last moment. It was the perfect example of Hage’s greatest strength; his speed of execution in transition. The goal was actually Hage’s second point of the game, as he once again provided the primary assist for Michigan’s opening goal.

There’s a lot of hockey left to play, but it’s hard not to pay close attention when a freshman produces a goal and three primary assists in the opening-weekend of the season.

Classic Kontinental Hockey League

The last time we checked-in on Demidov, he was enjoying a strong start to his professional career despite being given very little ice time. As a rookie, it’s understandable he has to work for his ice time. As Rob Ramage mentioned in a recent media availability, in that situation you need to get better, not bitter.

But now that SKA Saint Petersburg has played almost 20 percent of the schedule, the molehill is starting to become a mountain. Demidov’s ice time decreased significantly in the last few games, culminating with a paltry 3 minutes and 22 seconds TOI in Saturday’s game versus Severstal Cherepovets.

ivan demidov ice time canadiens prospect

Keep in mind, even with the lowered ice time, Demidov is among the team’s top point producers, with four goals and four assists. Now, we have to acknowledge we’re looking at this from a Habs-centric point of view, and every team has reasons why a certain player gets used less often than others. SKA has a very strong lineup, and Demidov is one of the youngest players in the KHL.

That being said, regardless of the strength of the roster, given Demidov’s offensive contributions as a rookie, you’d be hard-pressed to argue he deserves the downtick in usage. It’s also not the first time SKA head coach Roman Rottenburg has focused on a young player as the object of his ire, seeing as Philadelphia Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov was also given very few opportunities in his brief time with SKA.

ON TOPIC: Canadiens Prospect Rankings – Ivan Demidov Is A Game Breaker

Fortunately for Michkov and the Flyers, SKA ended up loaning him to Sochi, where he immediately received an increase in ice time, and predictably, flourished, both offensively and defensively. Unfortunately for Demidov, moving to a team like Sochi is not an option, as KHL teams can’t loan a player when they’re in the last year of their contract.

It’s a little too early to panic when it comes to Demidov’s ice time. However, it’s also fair to suggest that at the moment it’s far from an ideal situation for the top Canadiens prospect.

Other Montreal Canadiens Prospect News And Notes

– After a very solid showing at the Canadiens rookie camp, Vancouver Giants forward Tyler Thorpe has maintained a point-per-game pace in the WHL (5 GP, 1G, 4).

– Vinzenz Rohrer is in the midst of a great Cy Young campaign for Zurich. The hard-working prospect has scored four goals in nine games, and is on pace to produce 23 goals and no assists in 52 games. Those four goals include a fantastic end-to-end effort for the Lions last Sunday.

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GHG55

I didn’t follow him much before so I may be wrong, but from what I’ve seen/read, Hage looked like a top prospect for his draft year until development was derailed by injury and the loss of his father. So this may legit be someone who could’ve gone top 5-10 that we stole at 21… even bobrov said there’s only a 20% chance he’s there at 21 in the draft video they released. If this is the case, my goodness this group is fantastic at drafting (even if it’s not the case, I think they’re great). Say what you want about Michkov/Reinbacher (they passed for a reason, get over it), Hutson at 62, Fowler in the 3rd, Hage at 21, Engstrom, konyushkov, volokhin etc…. It seems like they find so much value by grabbing players who should’ve gone earlier. Demidov and Hage, 2 potential top 6 players in a single draft, slaf and Hutson may end up being the 2 best from their draft, and a bunch of potential top 4 Dmen and middle 6 forwards with great depth too…. They just collect so many assets with draft capital. I’m amazed. The documentary says you should get 1-2 players per draft… they’re looking like they’ll average quite a bit more than that. Such an exciting time.

Too bad rotenberg would rather his team fail than play Demidov, though….. kid is fantastic. Still don’t see any logic in their approach. All it will do is keep young stars away from them and certainly not signing long contracts.

habbernack

Both Demidov and Hage are steals. It was the Ducks pick that led to the Habs getting Demidov

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