NHL

Ivan Demidov Has Been Torching The KHL Since Canadiens GM Visit

Ivan Demidov Has Been Torching The KHL Since Canadiens GM Visit

Ivan Demidov has 17 points over his last 11 games as he has taken his game to a new level, leaving Montreal Canadiens fans as excited as ever.

Jan 22, 2025 by Chris Peters
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On Dec. 19, Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes, head scout Nick Bobrov and senior advisor Kent Hughes made the trip to St. Petersburg, Russia to get their eyes on No. 5 overall pick Ivan Demidov.

It was the first time Hughes had seen the player he invested so much draft capital in play in person. Bobrov, who is a native of St. Petersburg and former executive with Demidov’s club SKA, had been the only person on the staff to have gotten the most in-person views of the player prior to picking him. It was also an opportunity to see the player face-to-face for the first time since the draft.

In the 12 games prior to that visit, Demidov had one assist and saw his minutes fluctuate. On the night of the visit, however -- a 6-4 win for SKA over Torpedo -- Demidov scored his first goal since Oct. 30. 

In the 11 games from the Montreal brass visit to Jan. 21, Demidov has been on an absolute tear in the KHL.

He has scored 10 goals and put up 17 total points. Demidov has also directed 38 shots on goal in that 11-game span, more than a third of his season total of 101 over 45 games.

As a result, his ice time is going up. Demidov is averaging 12:15 a game, but over the last 11 games he has averaged 15 or more minutes of ice time in eight contests. In his last two games, he played 22:06 and 19:51, season highs for the 19-year-old.

In 45 games this season, Demidov has now accounted for 37 points including 16 goals. He is 16th in the KHL in total points. 

How Does Demidov's Season Stack Up Historically?

Demidov appears destined to become the highest-scoring U20 player in KHL history as he trails current record-holder Kirill Kaprizov by just five points. Only four players have a higher U20 points-per-game mark than Demidov’s 0.82 so far. Kaprizov averaged 0.86 points per game, Matvei Michkov and Nikita Filatov came in at 0.85 and Evgeni Kuznetsov had 0.84 points. 

When Kaprizov became the KHL’s single-season U20 scoring leader, he still had three more years left in the KHL before he would even be able to come to the Minnesota Wild. When he finally did come to the NHL, Kaprizov had 51 points as a rookie and won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year.

Michkov, who finished right behind Kaprizov with 41 points as a U20 player in the KHL last season, was not due to come to the United States for two more years until SKA allowed him out of his KHL contract early – something that was previously not thought possible.

Michkov has 33 points in 45 games with Philly and is among the players under consideration to be a Calder Trophy finalist.

Demidov will essentially be the same age as Michkov at the start of next season.

When you look at the top U20 scorers in the KHL's history, especially when it comes to points per game, the vast majority of players towards the top of that list became or are on track to become NHL regulars. Many of them went on to become or are in the process of becoming NHL stars. Success at Demidov's age in the KHL has traditionally been a good indicator of future NHL success.

Demidov Answering All The Pre-Draft Questions

As Demidov lights it up this year, it's easy to forget about all of the questions scouts and NHL executives had going into the 2024 NHL Draft, which were many. There were a few, however, that stood out.

Any draft is as much a risk assessment as it is a player evaluation. That is especially true of Russian-based players. The quicker those questions can be answered, the more comforting it can be for the NHL team selecting the player. So let's look back at the key questions that allowed Demidov to "slip" to fifth overall.

Demidov had just one year left on his KHL contract, which made him a bit different from some of the top Russian players of years past. Many previous players had reached extensions with their club that left years between when they were drafted and when they’d actually be available to their NHL club.

Demidov has maintained his plan is to come over to North America as soon as possible and to date, no contract extension has been reached, nor does one appear likely. You never know until it's done, but it appears everyone was satisfied with the player's answers on that front.

The next question was one that was harder to answer. Could we truly know how good Demidov was with such little opportunities against quality competition last season?

Demidov was so clearly dominant in Russia's U20 level. He had averaged two points per game in the regular season and was equally impressive during the postseason for SKA-1946 in the MHL. Demidov could not stop scoring.

The quality of the MHL has dipped enough in recent years that evaluating a player based on performances in that league has become a bit more tenuous, though. There was no question, he was operating on a different plane than his peers in that league, but you can't know how a player will transition to pro until he's getting regular minutes against pros.

During Demidov's draft season, he had played in just four KHL games in the regular season and barely played enough to get a solid evaluation on him against stronger competition. Meanwhile, the ongoing ban of Russian national teams at IIHF events meant no opportunities to compare and contrast with his high-performing peers beyond a Hlinka-Gretzky Cup two years before he was even draft-eligible.

Which brought us to the next question, which was even harder to answer at the time of the draft. Given how little they used him in the KHL last season, how would SKA deploy him this year, in one of the most critical years of his development? That was especially true given that he had made it clear he was leaving after this season. What incentive did SKA have to deploy him appropriately?

As this year began, Demidov’s deployment became almost a daily topic of conversation. Especially when he was playing under or around five minutes per game in early October, when SKA got into the meatier part of its schedule. I'm not sure how much of Montreal fans criticism reached SKA coach Roman Rotenberg, or how much it would matter, but there was plenty to be critical of.

Those are the kinds of things that can make an NHL organization nervous. With players in Russia, the NHL team has next to no control over the player’s situation and zero influence on their deployment. 

But Demidov began forcing the issue on his own with his play. He was proving, repeatedly, that he deserved to play more and if SKA wanted to be more competitive, they needed to give more minutes to one of their most talented players. 

Now he’s playing top-six minutes, seeing regular ice time and regular power play deployment. Unsurprisingly, with more opportunity has come more points. It almost makes you wonder how high the point total would be if he had been deployed like this all along.

What's Next For Ivan Demidov?

You do have to give the Canadiens credit. While so many believed that Demidov did have the talent to be among the special players in the 2024 NHL Draft class, the risk assessment for some teams made them wary of the player.

The way he has played this season has made him look like no worse than the second best prospect in the 2024 class. Time will tell if that's where he lands after reaching the NHL. He'll have new challenges to tackle and high expectations to deliver upon in one of the markets where the lights shine brightest on its players.

Habs fans can take comfort in many of those pre-draft questions that were being asked last year pre-draft have been answered more than adequately. All that is left to do now is count down the months until his KHL contract expires (late in the spring) and get him to North America ASAP.

One should always temper expectations about prospects to a certain extent. There are so many factors between when a player is a prospect and when they ultimately become a NHL regular. Montreal fans have seen that with many of their own prospects who have needed the time to find their game, especially former No. 1 pick Juraj Slafkovsky.

That’s not to say you can’t get excited about them. And based on what Demidov is doing right now, you will have to forgive Habs fans if they’re very, very, very, very – one more for good measure – very excited. 

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