With highly touted Philadelphia Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov making his way to the NHL earlier than expected, many Montreal Canadiens fans wonder if the same can be done with fellow Russian youngster Ivan Demidov.
Selected fifth overall by Montreal in the 2024 NHL Draft, Demidov has one season remaining on his contract with KHL club SKA Saint Petersburg. But with so much talent on his team’s roster, plans for the 18-year-old winger KHL’s development seem a little up in the air.
To make matters more complicated, an injury has kept him away from training camp in recent weeks.
To clear the air, Montreal and Saint Petersburg appear to have opened a direct line of communication.
SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg said in a recent interview with Match TV that he has discussed a joint plan for Demidov’s development via a Zoom call with the Habs’ management team.
“I spent an hour and a half on Zoom with representatives of the Montreal Canadiens. Head coach Martin St. Louis was not on the line, but special adviser for hockey operations Vincent Lecavalier, the club president, the general manager and all the executives were there,” he explained.
Rotenberg also commented on the rumours involving the Canadiens trying to bring their prospect over to North America earlier than expected.
“We discussed Demidov, we talked everything over well. We had a very positive conversation about how we would develop Ivan in SKA,” he added. “There was no talk even about him leaving for Canada. It was the ill-wishers who threw in fake news. Maybe it is even Russian journalists who are stirring it up.”
The Russian bench boss reiterated that he expects Demidov, who was reassigned to the MLH (Russia’s premier junior league) last season, to play in the KHL this year.
“The truth is that Montreal and I have a joint plan for Demidov’s development. Our goal is for Ivan to have his best season in the KHL.”
Starting the 2023-24 campaign with SKA, Demidov netted 60 points in 30 games in the MLH, allowing him to rise in the draft rankings.
As for when he could transition to North America, the 2025 KHL playoffs are set to finish in late April, which means he could potentially join the Canadiens for the final games of the upcoming season.
SKA Saint Petersburg will kick off their season on September 5.
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