Demidov brings superstar potential to Canadiens team in need of it
We asked Dan Milstein to describe Ivan Demidov in one sentence, and the agent for the young Russian chosen fifth overall in the 2024 NHL Draft immediately fired back two words via text from Las Vegas: “Absolute superstar.”
Demidov was unquestionably the best player available when the Montreal Canadiens stepped up to the podium at the Sphere on Friday evening. We’re talking about an offensive dynamo projected to become a top-line forward in the world’s greatest hockey league, a self-described gamebreaker, and he now belongs to the team that arguably needed him more than any other participating in this draft.
The Canadiens haven’t had a player produce a point-per-game over an entire season since Alex Kovalev put up 84 points in 82 games during the 2007-08 campaign. They haven’t had a forward in possession of such tantalizing skill since Kovalev left to sign with the Ottawa Senators in 2010. And you could argue that no player on their current roster has more potential to change all of that than Demidov.
He’s a human highlight reel — a six-foot, 192-pound winger with the deft touch, pristine skating ability, deceptiveness and hockey sense to embarrass his opponents on any given play — and the Canadiens don’t have another player like him in their arsenal.
Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky and Kirby Dach all have the ability to bring the fans out of their seats on any given night, and they’re all forwards at the core of a flourishing nucleus in Montreal. But it’s debatable any of them possess as many of the offensive tools Demidov ritually displays.
As the first round was wrapping, general manager Kent Hughes was asked by reporters on site where exactly the Canadiens ranked the Russian on their list.
He responded, “No. 1.”
Hughes added that Macklin Celebrini, who went first overall to the San Jose Sharks, obviously wasn’t discussed, and then he said he was somewhat surprised to have Demidov available to the Canadiens, especially with two of the three teams slotted between San Jose and them taking forwards.
The Chicago Blackhawks, who took Connor Bedard first overall in 2023, opted for right-shooting defenceman Artyom Levshunov with the second pick of this draft. Then the Anaheim Ducks took big winger Beckett Sennecke before the Columbus Blue Jackets took centre Cayden Lindstrom.
Perhaps all of them were concerned that Demidov hadn’t played against pros in Russia this past season, or that he hadn’t played in international competition, or that he might be relegated for a third-straight season to Russia’s top junior league because SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL won’t want him with them due to his commitment to leave for the NHL once his one-year contract expires.
Or maybe they were concerned SKA will want Demidov so much that they’ll force him into extending his contract beyond the coming season.
But Hughes said none of that concerned him and the Canadiens as much as the possibility to draft Demidov excited them.
Sitting in a Canadiens sweater, donning their hat for the first time, Demidov told reporters he was “pretty happy to be with Habs,” and that he intends to start with them after his current contract with SKA expires.
The 18-year-old did so with as strong of a command over the English language as possible for someone who began learning it one-and-a-half years ago. He said he classifies himself as a game-breaker because he adopted Kobe Bryant’s mamba mentality and scored many game-winning goals with SKA-1946, posting the highest point total (60 in 30 games) of any player coming out of that league in their draft year.
His two points per game gave him a points percentage that was .59 more than Tampa Bay Lightning superstar Nikita Kucherov had over the 2010-11 season.
Kucherov was one of the players Demidov compared himself to when he was asked on Friday who his models his game after.
The others?
“I think (New Jersey Devils leading scorer) Jack Hughes and (Minnesota Wild leading scorer) Kirill Kaprizov — a combo,” Demidov said.
Kucherov and Kaprizov have both topped 100 points in the NHL, and Hughes (who was taken first overall in 2019) had 99 points in 78 games over the 2022-23 season.
The Canadiens haven’t had a player produce on that level since Vincent Damphousse and Pierre Turgeon scored 94 and 96 points, respectively, in 1995-96. The last time they had a player top 100 was Mats Naslund, who scored 110 points 37 years ago.
It’s not a stretch to think Demidov can one day play at that level, which is exactly why the Canadiens took him.
Hughes said the Canadiens top priority in Las Vegas was to “continue to add offensive firepower to our group,” and qualified Demidov’s availability at five as one of two things that happened to make Friday night go as planned.
The trade the GM made Friday morning — to acquire the 21st-overall pick for picks 26, 57 and 198 in this draft — was the other.
With it, the Canadiens selected six-foot-one centre Michael Hage, who produced 33 goals and 75 points in 54 games this past season with the USHL’s Chicago Steel.
“We had Michael Hage way higher than 21 on our list,” Hughes said. “We hoped he’d fall to us, and we had other plans if he didn’t fall. We talked to a lot of teams and had many options… if he hadn’t fallen, we’d have made a trade.”
The Canadiens explored moving up from fifth, as well, and might have moved down the order had Demidov or some other top forwards on their list not been available to them.
“I would say it fell perfectly,” Hughes said.
He mentioned the Canadiens’ interest in Demidov dated back to last year’s draft, and he told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the floor of the Sphere that the Canadiens’ brass was high on Hage this year for multiple reasons.
“Our guys loved his speed, his skillset, his character, the fact that he’s going to get a couple more years in college to keep getting stronger, and they think he’s going to be a really good player,” Hughes said.
Hage, who dealt with a shoulder injury that cut his 2022-23 season down to just five games and then faced the unthinkable tragedy of losing his father, Alain, in a freak swimming pool accident, hopes to get much better at the University of Michigan next season.
After pulling on a Canadiens jersey for the first time, he told Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek that his father would’ve been so happy to see him in it.
“He did everything for me,” Hage said. “I couldn’t be happier, honestly. Grew up a Habs fans, both my parents are from Montreal, and my dad would be so happy right now. It’s a dream come true for me, honestly.”
He and Demidov are the first of at least 10 players the Canadiens could be coming home with from this draft. It’ll take time to see them play in Montreal but, as Hughes said, the goal is for them to be there for years and years.
Canadiens fans will be extremely eager to see Demidov play his first one as soon as he’s eligible.
Many of them, like Milstein, believe he will be absolute superstar. And they’re not alone.
Canadiens co-scouting director Martin Lapointe said to TVA Sports, “He’s such a multi-dimensional player, and he’s one of the best players, if not the best player in the draft this year.”
The kid made as strong of an impression off the ice, as well.
Hughes, who interviewed Demidov (along with Canadiens executive vice-president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton) for the first time on Wednesday, came away reassured, saying the Russian presented confident without being arrogant, much like Slafkovsky did before he was taken first overall by the club in 2022.
Demidov appeared just the same in his post-draft interview with reporters, after Quebec megastar Celine Dion took to the stage of the Sphere and called out his name.
“Like a movie,” is how Demidov described the moment.
This was the first scene, and it went almost exactly how the Canadiens hoped it would.
Perhaps Hughes would’ve liked to have gotten a bit of help up front for the here and now, like he did in swinging trades for Alex Newhook and Dach over the first rounds of the last two drafts. But he didn’t dispel the possibility he’ll do so via trade over the next 24 hours.
“We will go back, debrief and try to sleep instead of thinking about the next thing,” Hughes said. “But we’re not done trying.”
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