This was unforeseeable. Even unimaginable, with Demidov’s contract set to run out solely on Might 31 and SKA Saint Petersburg giving no indication he’d be permitted to purchase his approach out of it beforehand.
However that modified on Tuesday, and his imminent arrival in La Belle Province has the potential not solely to assist the Canadiens safe a playoff spot this 12 months but in addition to show them into an much more reliable risk to upset a prime contender from a wild-card place.
They’ve been wanting like one because the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, posting the third-best factors share within the NHL (.714) to erase a six-point deficit and construct a six-point lead for the second wild-card spot. And even when Demidov received’t be accessible to assist them widen the hole by beating the Detroit Crimson Wings on Tuesday, it seems he’ll arrive in time to play not less than one among their remaining 4 video games thereafter.
“Probably, I’ll have time to play within the common season for Montreal,” Demidov mentioned in an interview with RG Media that was launched moments earlier than SKA formally introduced his departure by way of X. “My objective for the remainder of the season is to adapt to this new type of hockey as rapidly as potential and present what I’m able to.”
If the 19-year-old accomplishes that — and there’s little cause to imagine he received’t — he might flip the Canadiens from playoff hopefuls right into a group others received’t need to face within the playoffs.
We’re speaking a few deadly offensive weapon. A participant who, earlier this 12 months, broke Minnesota Wild famous person Kirill Kaprizov’s document for the best season a participant underneath 20 has ever authored within the KHL.
That Demidov broke it by seven factors, recorded 19 targets and 49 factors, led SKA in scoring regardless of enjoying lower than 10 minutes in 21 of his 65 video games, and was named the KHL’s rookie of the month thrice says lots about his potential.
He was drafted fifth total by the Canadiens in 2024 as a result of they believed it was monumental, and he’s solely affirmed it since. Demidov’s feedback on draft day — that his type could possibly be seen as a mixture of Kaprizov’s and that of New Jersey Devils famous person Jack Hughes — have additionally solely been affirmed by the jaw-dropping highlights he’s produced within the months since.
Every put up of Demidov’s KHL exploits has been seen by thousands and thousands of Canadiens followers who have been impatiently awaiting his late-spring arrival. They have been resigned to solely seeing him in bleu, blanc et rouge subsequent fall.
However Tuesday’s stunning improvement decreased the wait by months.
To suppose Demidov could possibly be enjoying as early as Friday in Ottawa, with an opportunity for the Canadiens to not solely lock down a playoff spot but in addition cut back the hole between them and the Senators (who’re 5 factors up within the first wild-card spot), is now not a pipedream. If the paperwork will get sorted on time and a piece allow is issued by the Canadian authorities, that’ll be an actual risk.
Demidov’s NHL arrival this season was nothing however a fantasy Tuesday morning.
However now he’s on his approach, able to show he is usually a difference-maker for the Canadiens.
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