As part of the build-up to the first-round playoff series between the Capitals and the Canadiens, we will be looking at some of Montreal’s most important players to know…
Ivan Demidov
#93 | RW
Height: 6’1” | Weight: 192
Born: December 10, 2005
Birthplace: Sergiyev Posad, RUS
Acquired: Drafted by Montreal in the first round (5th overall) in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report:
Demidov is a dexterous, mechanically sound puckhandler with the sort of fast-twitch wrists necessary to bring his ideas to life. Every move serves a purpose, whether improving the quality of his look as a shooter or creating openings in the defense that he can exploit as a distributor. And the same dexterity and touch that makes him so effective as a handler is every bit as present when he’s ready to send the puck elsewhere.
Elite Prospects (2024)
Why You Should Know Who He Is: Until his NHL debut on Monday, he was widely considered the best player not in the NHL, and his two-point debut did nothing to undermine that sentiment. The Canadiens have been a one-line team basically all season, but Demidov is a guy that could in theory single-handedly make the second line a scoring threat. He also adds some more high-end skill to the power play—an area that can swing a playoff series just by getting hot for a week or two. If there’s any reason to revisit the conclusion that the Caps have a big advantage in forward depth, it starts with Demidov.
He’s also going to replace Lane Hutson as “the guy the annoying Habs fans won’t STFU about through the entire series.” They’ve already nicknamed him Demigod, always good to keep expectations reasonable.
How the Caps Can Stop Him: Assuming he’s not dumb enough to fight Ovechkin like another Russian teenage phenom, the answer is “play NHL defense against him.” He’s super talented and will have his moments, but the KHL isn’t known for its defense, and neither are the Chicago Blackhawks.
His assist looked like it came against a passive penalty kill (and we’ll ignore the net-front coverage, because so did the Hawks), but it was even strength. His goal was only slightly less empty net than Ryan Leonard’s first NHL goal. Beautiful hands but the Caps are going to show him tighter checking than he’s ever played against and they need to make him earn everything he gets.