Demidov ready to prove he can be a difference-maker for Canadiens
His imminent arrival in La Belle Province has the potential not only to help the Canadiens secure a playoff spot this year but also to turn them into an even more legitimate threat to upset a top contender from a wild-card position.
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MONTREAL — Ivan Demidov is on his way to Montreal.
This was unforeseeable. Even unimaginable, with Demidov’s contract set to expire only on May 31 and SKA Saint Petersburg giving no indication he’d be permitted to buy his way out of it beforehand.
But that changed on Tuesday, and his imminent arrival in La Belle Province has the potential not only to help the Canadiens secure a playoff spot this year but also to turn them into an even more legitimate threat to upset a top contender from a wild-card position.
They’ve been looking like one since the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, posting the third-best points percentage in the NHL (.714) to erase a six-point deficit and build a six-point lead for the second wild-card spot. And even if Demidov won’t be available to help them widen the gap by beating the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday, it appears he will arrive in time to play at least one of their remaining four games thereafter.
“Most likely, I’ll have time to play in the regular season for Montreal,” Demidov said in an interview with RG Media that was released moments before SKA officially announced his departure via X. “My goal for the rest of the season is to adapt to this new style of hockey as quickly as possible and show what I’m capable of.”
If the 19-year-old accomplishes that — and there’s little reason to believe he won’t — he could turn the Canadiens from playoff hopefuls into a team others won’t want to face in the playoffs.
We’re talking about a lethal offensive weapon. A player who, earlier this year, broke Minnesota Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov’s record for the most productive season a player under 20 has ever authored in the KHL.
That Demidov broke it by seven points, recorded 19 goals and 49 points, led SKA in scoring despite playing less than 10 minutes in 21 of his 65 games, and was named the KHL’s rookie of the month three times says a lot about his potential.
He was drafted fifth overall by the Canadiens in 2024 because they believed it was enormous, and he’s only affirmed it since. Demidov’s comments on draft day — that his style could be seen as a mix of Kaprizov’s and that of New Jersey Devils superstar Jack Hughes — have also only been affirmed by the jaw-dropping highlights he’s produced in the months since.
Each post of Demidov’s KHL exploits has been viewed by millions of Canadiens fans who were impatiently awaiting his late-spring arrival. They were resigned to only seeing him in bleu, blanc et rouge next fall.
But Tuesday’s shocking development reduced the wait by months.
To think Demidov could be playing as early as Friday in Ottawa, with a chance for the Canadiens to not only lock down a playoff spot but also reduce the gap between them and the Senators (who are five points up in the first wild-card spot), is no longer a pipedream. If the paperwork gets sorted on time and a work permit is issued by the Canadian government, that’ll be a real possibility.
Demidov’s NHL arrival this season was nothing but a fantasy Tuesday morning.
But now he’s on his way, ready to prove he can be a difference-maker for the Canadiens.
