Habs Daily: Demidov’s Ice Time, Hutson’s Usage, Matheson

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

Montreal Canadiens News

Ivan Demidov played his 17th game of the season in the KHL, lining up on SKA Saint Petersburg’s third line, alongside Evgeny Kuznetsov and Sergei Plotnikov. One of the most important factor when it comes to producing good results is the strength of your teammates, and it’s only fair to say he was put in a pretty healthy situation on Thursday.

On that note, Demidov was used sparingly when the game was close, which limited his usage in the third period. That’s not ideal, but it’s also not abnormal. Martin St-Louis did the same during Juraj Slafkovsky’s first season in the NHL.

In total, Demidov was given 15 shifts in a little over nine minutes of ice time. He also assisted on Plotnikov’s goal in the first period, pushing his season totals to five goals and five assists in 17 games.

Top #GoHabsGo prospect Ivan Demidov earns an assist on this Plotnikov goal. It’s 2-0 SKA.

His line was on the ice for both SKA goals. pic.twitter.com/uWBatGwhRg

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) October 17, 2024

Lane Hutson stole the show on Thursday for the Habs, especially once Mike Matheson had to leave the game. Hutson ended up with over 30 minutes of ice time, and though he was far from perfect, it would be unreasonable to expect a rookie to avoid any manner of mistake. Samuel Montembeault also had a strong outing, despite the loss against the Los Angeles Kings. Overall, the Habs played better than in previous games, but considering the Kings had played and travelled the previous night, it was a disappointing effort level from Martin St-Louis’ team. [Canadiens Instant Recap: Hutson Plays Over 30 Minutes In Loss]

Here’s an interesting statistics regarding Hutson’s performance on Thursday. He had the puck on his blade longer than almost every single NHL player last year. Ideally, you don’t want to put that type of pressure on a rookie, but you’d be hard-pressed to argue Hutson has faltered despite his heavy usage since the start of his career. The key will be regulating his energy, as he’s not used to playing 82 games in a season. The NCAA involves a lot of practice, but roughly half the games that are played in an NHL season.

Lane Hutson had 30:05 of ice time tonight, and had the puck on his stick for 4m16s, per @Sportlogiq

Last season, only 4 players had more possession time in a single game:

1. Q. Hughes 4m58s
2. E. Karlsson 4m36s
3. Barzal 4m27s
4. Makar 4m18s#GoHabsGo

— Billy P. Bertrand (@BillypBertrand) October 18, 2024

The early-season results have been awful from a team perspective. As it stands, the Habs are dead last in a few important statistical categories. It’s been ugly, but it’s still early. From an individual standpoint, Brendan Gallagher, Emil Heineman, Samuel Montembeault, and Arber Xhekaj have stood out from the crowd. [Canadiens Stats Pack: Heineman and Xhekaj Stand Out]

Admittedly, I did not see what took Matheson out of the equation on Thursday, but it was severe enough to keep him out of the rest of the game. Despite the unreasonable level of criticism sent his way, losing Matheson would be a significant blow to the Habs. As it stands, Hutson doesn’t necessarily need a bump in ice time. He’s already playing more than 99.99%* of the rookie defencemen that entered the NHL, but that may be the only solution if Matheson misses a long stretch of games. Jayden Struble’s return to the lineup should also help when it comes to absorbing ice time.

Le défenseur Mike Matheson ne reviendra pas dans le match de ce soir (haut du corps).

Defenseman Mike Matheson will not return to play in tonight’s game (upper body).

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) October 18, 2024

ICYMI: It’s almost time to start publishing the Montreal Canadiens Prospect Power Rankings, but before we start taking a closer look at recent performances from Habs prospects we need to set the initial ranking via a fan vote. The series will begin shortly after the initial list is established.  [Canadiens Prospect Power Rankings: Habs Fan Initial Vote]

National Hockey Now Network

There wasn’t a complete overhaul when New Jersey Devils head coach made lineup changes on Thursday morning. However, they were significant enough that the team looked different as they faced the Ottawa Senators.  [New Jersey Devils]

As the Detroit Red Wings flirt with a nightmarish start to the 2024-25 NHL season, the message is simply that they have to wake up. Despite the emphasis on playing better defence in training camp, the Red Wings have given up four or more goals in three of the first four games. They lost 5-2 to the New York Rangers Thursday to fall to 1-3 going into Saturday’s afternoon game in Nashville. [Detroit Red Wings]

On an unforgettable night in which the Pittsburgh Penguins superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin reached historic milestones, goalie Tristan Jarry had a night that would hammer at even the most obtuse goalie’s confidence.  [Pittsburgh Penguins]

*All percentages used in this edition of the Habs Daily were made up on the spot.