NHL Spoils Canadiens' Surprise With Early Announcement on Monday
Montreal Canadiens forward Ivan Demidov, 19, was selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft and arrived in Canada last week after terminating his contract with SKA St. Petersburg.
Now, just days after he arrived in North America, the NHL has hinted at his imminent debut with the Habs, posting a message on its official account on X.
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"IT'S DEMIDOV DEBUT DAY 🤩" the NHL wrote. "The KHL's all-time single season points leader by a U20 player, Ivan Demidov, will suit up for the Habs tonight!"
Montreal has waited months for this moment, and now top prospect Ivan Demidov will make his NHL debut Monday night at Bell Centre in a must-win game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
He signed a three-year entry-level contract last week, and according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, his debut was always expected to happen on Monday.
The young forward broke Kirill Kaprizov's KHL U20 single-season scoring record with 49 points in 65 games and joined the Canadiens after SKA's playoff elimination.
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Teammate and fellow European forward Patrik Laine removed some hype from Demidov's anticipated debut, saying on Friday, as translated from TVA Sports, that the Habs will welcome Demidov and help ease his adjustment, but he will still need to navigate the transition.
'I don't watch the KHL anymore, but he apparently has good skills,' Laine said. '(The NHL) is the best league in the world, and he's coming in just as the playoffs are about to start. It's not the easiest transition.'
The Canadiens (39-31-10) can clinch a playoff spot with a win over the visiting Blackhawks. After sitting near the bottom of the standings in December, Montreal has gone 28-15-7 since and aims at making the playoffs on home ice.
View of a Montreal Canadiens logo on a jersey worn by a member of the team during warm-up at Bell Centre.David Kirouac-Imagn Images
Coach Martin St. Louis, however, tempered expectations ahead of Demidov's debut.
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'He's not a saviour,' St. Louis said. 'We have a really good team, he's going to be a piece of our really good team—that's the way we see it.'
Touching on Monday's game and its playoff implications, St. Louis described clinching 'on their own' as the ideal scenario, and with Demidov in the lineup, the Bell Centre will surely be bracing for one of its most anticipated games in years.
Related: Ivan Demidov's Canadiens Contract Includes Bold Playoff Bonus
Related: Canadiens' Patrik Laine Sends Blunt Message About Hype Surrounding Ivan Demidov
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