It’s already been just over a month since Ivan Demidov became a member of the Habs. The Russian forward, considered by many to be one of the Bettman circuit’s elite prospects, is one of the most promising youngsters in the Habs’ recent history.
We’re talking about a guy who has the potential to become one of the NHL’s top forwards, after all.
For many, seeing him drop to fifth was almost a surprise. After all, in terms of pure talent, he seems to have a head start on guys drafted before him.
Because clearly, there’s a buzz in the hockey world about Demidov’s offensive potential. We’re talking about a guy who excels on many levels, including his ability to handle the puck.
And in a paper written before the draft (found by the HabsOnReddit account on X), Sebastian High, who works for the Dobber Prospects site (a reference when it comes to prospects) made the following statement:
He’s the best puck-handler we’ve seen in the last three vintages, and that includes Connor Bedard. – Sebastian High
Dobber Prospects’ Sebastian High on Ivan Demidov back in June (pre-NHL draft):
👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/EQKNHLPo6r
– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) August 5, 2024
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Of course, we know that Bedard isn’t exactly a bad player. His main asset is his shot, but we’re talking about a puck handler of very, very high quality.
In junior, when he was spied on by scouts, he had a few sequences where he made opposing players look pretty bad.
Bedard backhand toe between the legs to avoid the secondary defender. Nasty handles pic.twitter.com/fk7xyO4H0M
– Pavel Barber (@HeyBarber) December 5, 2022
And clearly, the experts at Dobber Prospects are thinking big about the Habs prospect’s offensive potential. In addition to talking about his puck-handling skills, they (as with all prospects) gave each player’s offensive potential, as well as a conservative projection.
For Demidov, the conservative projection sees him scoring 30 goals and 70 points in a season… but the more optimistic projection sees him as a guy who can score 50 goals and 120 points in a season. Remember that in the history of the Habs, only Guy Lafleur has ever reached the 120-point plateau, having done so five times.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Demidov will ever reach that plateau. What it does mean, however, is that the hockey world sees in Demidov a guy who, as High says, could be in the top-10 NHL scorers for many seasons to come.
Nothing less.
Overtime
– Great read on David Reinbacher.
We’ve reached the top 5 of our #GoHabsGo summer prospect rankings!
We kick things off with a deep dive into David Reinbacher’s complicated season, which ended on a very encouraging note.
Montreal Canadiens prospectrankings⬇️https://t.co/B0LaQhWbQY
– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) August 5, 2024
– Alex Ovechkin wants to reach the 1,500-game plateau in the NHL.
The one individual accomplishment Alex Ovechkin wants to hit before retirement other than the goals record https://t.co/U05t5fGSOC
– RMNB (@rmnb) July 25, 2024
– It’s the start of the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup.
Quinn Beauchesne scores Canada’s first goal at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup! 🇨🇦#HlinkaGretzky | @HockeyCanada
📺: RDS
📱: https://t.co/eBvnaL7ehA pic.twitter.com/gdoFHLVIKj– RDS (@RDSca) August 6, 2024
– If any Ukrainians win medals in boxing, a big payday awaits.[Reuters]
– He didn’t exactly break the bank with the Dodgers.
Neither did the Blue Jays earlier this season. https://t.co/NDlzpmCeku
– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) August 6, 2024