The Silver Lining To Ivan Demidov And His Ridiculous KHL Usage

Much has been made about top Montreal Canadiens prospect Ivan Demidov this season, with many pointing to the confusing and inconsistent usage in the KHL  being a potential drag on his development.

The good news is that despite head coach Roman Rotenberg’s lack of finesse when dealing with his team’s highest-scoring player, Demidov has shown fantastic resilience in the face of adversity.

Ivan Demidov And Confusing Coaching

Let’s make one thing clear, there is no valid reason to treat the most talented player in the lineup as a spare part, but such is life when the head coach had absolutely no hockey experience prior to being given the reins to SKA St. Petersburg.

For the record, SKA is funded by state-controlled energy megacorporation Gazprom, which is run by Boris Rotenberg, Roman’s father, and a childhood friend of Vladimir Putin.

You may point to Martin St-Louis’ lack of professional coaching experience as a counterargument, but that would be comparing apples to a dried raisin box that got stuck under the couch after a rowdy Halloween candy exchange in the mid 80s.

St-Louis earned almost every accolade during his playing time, including the Hart Trophy, the Art Ross Trophy (x2), as well as a Stanley Cup, whereas Rotenberg never even played professional hockey.

But even with St-Louis’ impressive track record as a player, he’s had to make a concerted effort to evolve and improve as a head coach. He’s also done an admirable job trusting his best players, regardless of their age.

For example, St-Louis didn’t just give phenom Lane Hutson more leeway than most rookies, he quickly understood that despite his age, Hutson is his best bet when it comes to winning games, the ultimate goal for any head coach. The confidence instilled by St-Louis has done wonders, seeing as Hutson is in the midst of one of the most impressive rookie defenceman campaigns in league history.

Lane Hutson now has 54 points in 70 games.

– Most points by a rookie defenseman among all active NHL D-men.

– Most points by a rookie defenseman since Nicklas Lidstrom in 1991-1992. pic.twitter.com/yMfEVXNMkY

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) March 26, 2025

Ivan Demidov In The KHL

Demidov is dealing with a polar opposite situation, which includes an archaic strategy that started to provide diminishing returns sometime around Boxing Day, 1991.

Berating players until they perform better simply isn’t a viable coaching method in the modern hockey landscape. If you need further evidence that the pseudo Drill Sergeant act no longer leads to positive results, it’s worth noting that hard-ass John Tortorella was fired by the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.

It’s not a matter of babying players, either, but destroying their confidence in a confusing bid to gain some sort of authority over talented players just don’t fly anymore.

Leaders command respect, they don’t demand it.

By benching his best player on several occasions without cause, or giving him a laughably low amount of ice time, Rotenberg is simply projecting his insecurity as a leader.

It also doesn’t look good  for the KHL, which was once considered the second-best league in the world, but has since dropped significantly due to an exodus of talent.

Truth be told, the KHL would be better off developing talented players properly, rather than punishing them for their NHL aspirations. The former would instill confidence around the hockey landscape, and convince young players that playing in the KHL is the right way forward. The latter makes life miserable for all, while also providing yet another negative argument when it comes to the league’s credibility.

Demidov was given less than eight minutes of ice time for SKA on Thursday during their 3-1 playoff loss to Moscow Dynamo, which would be the equivalent of St-Louis giving Hutson roughly seven shifts in a key playoff matchup.

Fortunately, Demidov has responded with an elite level of maturity whenever his head coach decides it’s a good time to sandbag his best player, and there is definitely some value there.

Montreal is a difficult market, and though Demidov is among the most talented players to ever be drafted by the Canadiens, there will be a learning curve once he arrives in the NHL.

ON TOPIC: Ivan Demidov Breaks Yet Another KHL Record

By dealing with unreasonable adversity in the KHL now, he will be better suited to deal with legitimate adversity if things go wrong in the NHL.

Rest assured, Habs fans, despite the perplexing handling of Demidov in Russia, all signs point to the 19-year-old player having game-breaking talent, and that’s exactly what the doctor ordered for the Montreal Canadiens.