Marc Dumont
Montreal Canadiens fans are rightfully excited when it comes to the potential possessed by top prospect Ivan Demidov.
It’s a perfectly natural reaction to adding someone with his elite skill set to the mix, as it effectively ensured the Habs own one of the strongest prospect pools in the NHL. However, as we all know, development is not linear. Some prospects take longer than others to get going, especially when they’re dealing with a situation that is far from conducive to scoring.
Ivan Demidov In The KHL
If you base your analysis entirely on points, Demidov’s KHL start could seem quite underwhelming. He’s earned one assist in four games, including back-to-back matchups in which SKA Saint Petersburg was shutout. But as we all know, context is key. Demidov went from having one of the most impressive preseasons of any player on the team, to featuring on the fourth line as a winger.
There’s already concern in the air regarding his ice time, which has continued to dwindle. He was given a couple of shifts in the third period on Thursday, though they were definitely of the ‘garbage time’ variety, as SKA was trailing 3-0 in the dying minutes of the game. Demidov came close to scoring before being robbed by former Canadiens goaltending prospect Zachary Fucale, and he did generate a scoring chance in one of his rare shifts earlier in the period, but overall, you’d be hard-pressed to suggest he’s been given a legitimate chance to find his rhythm. He was also quite solid in his own zone, ensuring his penchant for playing in the offensive zone did not prevent him from playing a stalwart brand of defence.
Demiiidov! That was promising!
When speeding towards the Traktor net on the right flank, he lashes a threatening wrist shot wide of the mark! Ivan always makes things happen when on the ice (0:0) #hcSKA
— SKA Ice Hockey Club (@hcSKA_News) September 12, 2024
With that in mind, we have to guard against the bias that comes with cheering for a player rather than a team. SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg is paid to win games, not develop certain players. Unfortunately, he’s doing neither at the moment, but we do have to remember that improving the ice time for an 18-year-old player with little to no professional experience is rarely the avenue taken by coaches looking to spark their team.
If we want to pick some nits, we could say Demidov needs to improve the speed in which he releases his shot, and once in a while he holds onto the puck for a little long, but those types of issues tend to be ironed out with a certain level of professional hockey experience.
None of this justifies the decision-making process that led to a lack of ice time, but it does explain it to a certain extent.
Ivan Demidov Brass Tacks
Demidov doesn’t deserve more ice time because he’s a highly-touted Montreal Canadiens prospect. Demidov deserves more ice time because he’s one of the few SKA forwards who has shown an ability to generate scoring chances on a regular basis, even if he’s been robbed of any semblance of consistency in his usage, making his transition to professional hockey quite difficult to say the least.
We’re still at a very early stage in the season, and Ivan Demidov has hardly reached the starting point of his hockey career. This may end up being just a blip on the radar of his ascension to the NHL, which means a little more patience is in order. But if the situation continues to unfold as it did for top-rated Phialdelphia Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov in previous seasons, we will hit a point of diminishing returns very quickly when it comes to Demidov’s time in Russia, as he cannot be loaned to another KHL team, thus mitigating the options when it comes to finding him a healthy amount of ice time outside SKA’s roster.
