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Top Canadiens Prospect Demidov Already Among Best KHL Players

Published

8 months ago

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montreal canadiens ivan demidov

When some members of the Montreal Canadiens media asked Director of Player Development Rob Ramage about the lack of ice time given to top prospect Ivan Demidov in the KHL, the former NHL player had some sound advice for any professional athlete attempting to earn their keep in a professional league.

“You don’t get bitter,” said Ramage. “You get better.”

And while he was certainly right Demidov could not adopt a ‘woe is me’ attitude so early in the season, there comes a point where a reasonable amount of ice time is necessary for any player to improve their play, particularly during the Draft+1 season.  SKA giving Demidov three, four, five, and sometimes six minutes of ice time per game was far from an ideal situation. Simply put, it wasn’t a matter of getting bitter, but rather, it was borderline impossible to get better without reasonable usage.

Fortunately, the situation has improved in recent games, with Demidov’s production forcing the matter. As it stands, he’s the most productive player in the league when evaluating points per 60. Some of that has to do with his limited ice time, but it must be said that Demidov has done as much as anyone could reasonably expect when we consider how many opportunities he has been given.

Demidov continued his solid play on Monday, registering one assist to push his season totals to five goals and 11 assists in 20 games, though he was unlucky not to score seeing as he hit the post twice on the same shot.


Ivan Demidov KHL Situation

That being said, I reject the idea that SKA was purposely punishing Demidov due to his intentions to eventually join the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL. Remember, SKA did not give Matvei Michkov many opportunities, and at the time, he had a three-year contract in place.

A player arriving in the NHL and playing well is a feather in SKA’s cap. A player developing with SKA and then failing miserably in the NHL is a black mark, the worst possible optics for a team, and in this case, a league. The KHL’s image benefits from players like Alex Ovechkin, but they lose prestige whenever a Nail Yakupov situation arises.

Additionally, Demidov is playing with Evgeny Kuznetsov on the third line, which is far from the type of high-end insulation you’d offer an 18-year-old player if you were trying to hold him back. In this case, Occam’s Razor comes into play. It’s probably not a conspiracy, but rather, teams rarely give the best ice time to younger players, and it’s perfectly normal to expect them to fight their way up the lineup. Remember, first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky featured on the third and fourth line for the majority of his rookie season with the Montreal Canadiens, finishing the year with the least average ice time of all regularly used forwards.


Of course, there’s reason to suggest Demidov deserves more time on ice, especially on the powerplay, where most talented players feature when they do a good job capitalizing on their 5v5 ice time. But we also have to remember he’s the youngest player on the team, and SKA has a very talented lineup. We also have to accept that some coaches aren’t quick to react to strong performances, especially when it’s coming from a rookie.

Once again, it may not be fair when we consider his production, but Ivan Demidov will have to force his way onto the powerplay by continuing to go beyond all reasonable expectations placed on his shoulders, just as he forced SKA’s hand to give him more ice time by responding well to the early-season adversity.

Such is life for a rookie playing in a professional setting.

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