Habs Daily: Ivan Demidov Day, Playoffs On The Horizon, Thorpe

Here are the Montreal Canadiens news items, highlights, and stories you may have missed on a very busy Tuesday.

Montreal Canadiens News

Okay, first thing’s first, everyone overlooked the Tyler Thorpe entry-level contract, and that’s not fair.

Our apologies, Tyler

Thorpe was a fifth-round pick in 2024, which makes his contract somewhat surprising when you consider fifth-round picks rarely make the NHL. That being said, the last guy the Habs picked from the Vancouver Giants in the fifth round ended up being pretty damn good, so maybe we should have expected Thorpe to thrive, despite his late draft status.

The 6’5″ forward had a very impressive development camp, which led a quick climb up the prospect depth chart. Much like Brendan Gallagher, Thorpe loves to outwork his opponents to make things happen. He also has a nose for the net, and an addiction for driving the play that way.

With 27 goals and 25 assists to his credit this season, Thorpe enjoyed a relatively healthy production rate for a 19-year-old in the WHL, but he’s not expected to dominate from an offensive standpoint once he makes his professional hockey debut.

On that note, having Thorpe, Jared Davidson, and Florian Xhekaj on the same team will surely drive any team facing the Laval Rocket up the wall.

The big news of the day was obviously Ivan Demidov’s contract. He was set to sign with the team in the next couple of months, but most expected him to play out the rest of his contract with SKA Saint-Petersburg (May 31).

Rather than send him to the minors, SKA opted to release him a little early, which was clearly the right decision for Demidov’s future.

It’s unclear when Demidov will play, but it’s never too early to start speculating about where he’ll end up playing in the lineup. Once he’s up to speed, the second line seems like the obvious choice, especially if the Habs want to place him in a situation that’s conducive to scoring. [Canadiens Lineup: Welcome to Montreal, Ivan Demidov]

Now that Demidov is officially in the fold, it’s difficult to suggest many other NHL teams have a brighter future than the Habs. They added the top defenceman prospect (Lane Hutson), the top forward prospect (Demidov), and one of the best goaltender prospects (Jacob Fowler) to the mix in less than a year. To make matters more interesting, the Canadiens were already one of the youngest teams in the league prior to signing Demidov.

The rebuild isn’t over, but for now, the stars are aligning when it comes to the team’s long-term rebuild plans. [The Future Is Very Bright In Montreal]

We also discussed the playoff situation prior to Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. If the Habs managed to win in regulation, their playoff odds were set to jump all the way to 96%! [Canadiens Playoffs: Updated Eastern Conference Wild Card Odds]

The Habs sleepwalked through the first half of the game versus the Red Wings, which is far from surprising. I’m honestly not sure if the Canadiens are capable of winning a game unless their opponents score the opening goal. Montreal woke up halfway through the game, which was enough to win in regulation, thus pushing their playoff odds from 84 percent to 96 percent. Cole Caufield scored the first line’s usual goal, but Tuesday’s win was mostly powered by the veterans on the third line. The resurgence from Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson, and Christian Dvorak has been a crucial part of Montreal’s surprise run to the playoffs. [Habs Highlights: Another Exciting Canadiens Comeback Win]

Some fans over at the Habs Subreddit are attempting to track Demidov’s plane. As a reminder, he can’t arrive directly from Russia, as the government has banned all Russian aircraft from entering Canadian airspace due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. This connotes he’s likely to make a stop-over in the United Arab Emirates, or perhaps even Turkey, before making his way to Montreal.

Keep in mind this is all done in (obsessive) fun, and we really don’t know which flight Demidov will take. But the good news is that the end of the story will be a lot more fun than the ‘Shohei Ohtani to Toronto’ fiasco this summer. [Habs Reddit]

Habs fans are crazy 😅

Someone has apparently figured out that Ivan Demidov is on an Emirates plane ✈️ that left St. Petersburg 🇷🇺 this morning for Dubai 🇦🇪, and after a layover, he’s currently on his way to Montreal 🇨🇦 & he’ll land tomorrow morning around 9:00am ET pic.twitter.com/drKLjjrlFN

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) April 9, 2025

National Hockey Now Network

The Colorado Avalanche are hoping to get all of their injured regulars back in action before the playoffs begin. This includes Jonathan Drouin, Martin Necas, Samuel Girard, and Josh Manson. [Colorado Avalanche]

Don’t forget to check out the view from the other side of the rink after Tuesday’s important 4-1 win by the Habs. [Detroit Red Wings]

As the saying goes, there’s a first time for everything, and the Boston Bruins took that in a literal sense on Tuesday night. [Boston Bruins]