According to Roman Rotenberg, Ivan Demidov is developing better in Russia than if he were in Montreal.

Dose
Crédit: SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - 2024/11/07: Ivan Demidov (91) of SKA Hockey Club is seen in action during the hockey match of the Kontinental Hockey League 2024/2025 between SKA Saint Petersburg and Sochi at the Ice Sports Palace. (Final score: SKA Saint Petersburg 2:5 Sochi). (Photo by Maksim Konstantinov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Roman Rotenberg is funny.

A month ago, the coach didn’t want to hear about the idea of giving reasonable playing time to one of his best players, Ivan Demidov.

The hope of the CH – more often than not – was not playing much, even though he had proven himself since the beginning of the season.

Now, as SKA is doing better and Demidov is playing more, Rotenberg claims that his young player is in the best place to progress.

Rotenberg also says that the playing system in Saint Petersburg is “stronger” than in Montreal… And that allows Demidov to improve and develop in the right way.

The Habsolument Fan website also published an article on the subject:

Since December 19 – that is, since Kent Hughes’ trip to Russia – Demidov has had more playing time.

And it’s no coincidence that he has collected 11 points in his last seven games.

Everyone (except Roman Rotenberg) knew he had the talent to be very good, but you can’t help your club when you’re on the bench.

It’s funny, but I don’t feel like the SKA coach would have said the same thing at the beginning of December…

Speaking of Demidov, let’s get right to the point.

Zachary Fucale, who had the chance to face him in the last two years in the KHL, wanted to praise him during an interview with RDS:

Every two days, there is something new about him; new highlights, a new point, another goal. He’s a very special player, there’s no doubt about it. – Zachary Fucale

This says a lot and it’s exciting for the Canadiens organization:

Sergei Samsonov, who played and had success in the NHL, shares the same opinion.

According to him (Responsible Gambling), Demidov will become a star player in the NHL and he even compares him a bit to Alex Ovechkin when he was younger.

All this to say that he is good, the kid!

I mentioned it yesterday, but Kent Hughes’ visit to Russia seems to have really benefited the player.

Ivan Demidov has started producing at an interesting pace since that moment and it must be believed that the increase in his playing time is one of the reasons for all this as well.

In Brief

– Nice.

– The top scorers in the NHL right now are…:

– A second child for the Terry family.

– Yikes.