Author: Dose

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Ivan Demidov : the SKA was going to offer him a five-year contract

For the past 48 hours, it’s been Ivan Demidov madness in Montreal. The prospect, who wasn’t expected this season, has finally been released by SKA and is currently on his way to join the Habs in Toronto.

Let’s recall that he will set foot on Canadian soil in about two hours.

That being said, seeing SKA change its mind and release him is really something special. Roman Rotenberg, his coach in Russia, justified it all by saying he wanted to respect the kid’s wishes… and that a series with Ovechkin-Demidov would be big talk in Russia.

However, this morning, a high-ranking SKA official also admitted that the reality of the salary cap in the KHL worked against the team in its attempt to keep Demidov.

And what we’re learning now is that SKA had intended to offer Demidov a contract extension that would have made him the team’s highest-paid player…

And that contract would have been for a duration of five years.

By reading the article from MatchTV (a Russian media outlet that is the source of this information), we understand that the salary cap ultimately worked against SKA. In fact, what needs to be understood is that Demidov’s salary would not have counted towards the team’s payroll next season due to his age, but beyond 2025-26, it would have.

Let’s recall that in Russia, the details of player contracts are extremely difficult to find. We don’t know what Demidov’s salary would have been for such a contract (because we don’t know what the highest-paid player on SKA is currently earning)… but in any case, he risks making a lot more money on his second contract, which will start in 2027-28.

Imagine the reaction in Montreal if Demidov had accepted such an offer. The team would have been deprived of its best prospect for the next five years… and who knows if he would have ever made the jump.

Luckily, the kid dreams of the NHL… and luckily, the salary cap worked against SKA in all this. Because if the announcement of Demidov’s arrival has brought a ton of happiness to Habs fans over the past two days, the opposite would have been true if he had decided to extend his stay in Russia for five more years…

Overtime

– Hello, Lane.

– Will he be able to convince Sidney Crosby to go with him?

– News about the Habs’ most popular European prospect at the moment, hehe.

– Good news.

– Notable.

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The Canadiens do not seem to be missing Kirby Dach right now

Kirby Dach’s last game this season was on February 22.

The forward of the Habs was operated on the knee a few days later (on February 28) and at that time, the Habs announced that the player would miss the rest of the season.

Dach should be ready to return to play at the beginning of the next campaign. It must be difficult for him on a moral level because he also missed the entirety of the 23-24 season due to a serious knee injury…

But in reality, the Habs do not seem to be missing the player who was playing as the 2nd center before his injury.

And I say that for a reason: since Dach’s injury, the Habs have a record of 13 wins, four losses in regulation, and four more losses in overtime.

The Habs are playing at a .714 pace since February 23.

And at that level, only the Blues, Avalanche, and Stars are doing better in the entire NHL…

(Credit: LNH.com)

I’m not suggesting that Kirby Dach was hurting the Habs before he got injured.

But, in reality, things are going better since he’s no longer in the lineup for reason X, and that’s noticeable.

The Habs don’t seem to be missing him at the moment, and I wonder how much the organization is taking notes on that right now.

Because we must not forget one thing: Kent Hughes is evaluating the players he has on hand right now because he wants to go get a quality player for his top-6 this summer.

For that to happen, he will have to pay a high price… and we can question whether Dach can be part of a similar transaction, given that the club is really capable of managing without him.

Dach has the potential to be good, but will the Habs want to be patient with him, especially with Ivan Demidov arriving in town? It’s going to be tough for Dach at the beginning of the next season because he will be coming back from a long way – just like it was at the beginning of the current campaign.

Will the Habs want to give him the time to regain his form? Again, with Demidov arriving, expectations will change…

All of this to say that the Habs are one of the best teams in the league since #77 went down.

It’s maybe just a coincidence, but still. If that’s the case, it’s a pretty big coincidence…

In overtime

– There will be many jerseys with the #93 in Montreal!

– I love the energy.

– Oh well.

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Pressure: Carey Price developed an eating disorder early in his career in Montreal

Carey Price did not have it easy when he arrived in the NHL.

He had to prove himself and it was difficult because in front of him, there was Jaroslav Halak who seemed to be on the point of becoming one of the best goalies in the National League.

Obviously, this added pressure on Price’s shoulders – already a lot – and it’s maybe also why we had to wait a little longer to see him bloom as one of the best goalies in the world.

But at some point, it started to be so intense for Price that he developed an eating disorder.

Martin Leclerc talked about it in the recent episode of the Tellement Hockey podcast:

Clearly, there are links to be made with Ivan Demidov.

The Habs prospect arrives in town while all eyes are on him… and we understand that there will be pressure on him from the moment he puts on the Habs jersey.

I’m eager to see what it will give because at the last draft, Demidov told the Montreal Canadiens management that he loved the pressure.

His agent said the same thing yesterday on the Sick Podcast – The Eye Test: the kid is a guy who runs on big moments and big markets. It’s mainly for this reason that he wanted to be selected by the Habs in the draft.

Because of the pressure, it will be on Ivan Demidov’s shoulders. It’s been almost a year that we’ve been talking about him as the next star of the Habs and we’ve seen him dominate the KHL this season.

There will be pressure… but there will also be expectations.

That being said, the guys are so eager to see him in the locker room that I think Demidov’s adaptation to the group and his new city could be easy.

I really feel that the players will welcome him in the right way… and it will help him get used to the market outside the rink.

He will have to produce on the ice too, of course. But with his girlfriend coming with him and the guys treating him well, he won’t be alone in his world.

Overtime

– Sick.

– Well done.

– The new arrivals!

– Good.

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Head coach in Philadelphia: Renaud Lavoie throws Pascal Vincent’s name in the air

Pascal Vincent is about to complete his first season behind the bench of the Rocket.

And if we talk about his performance, there is only one thing to say: Vincent has been very successful so far since he’s been in Laval.

His team, which has collected 93 points so far with a record of 44-18-5 and has already secured a playoff spot, is ranked first in the American League standings. That’s worth noting.

He’s likely to be a popular candidate this summer among teams looking for a new head coach in the NHL. And at that level, Renaud Lavoie wonders if there’s a world where Pascal Vincent ends up in Philadelphia.

We know the Flyers fired John Tortorella a few weeks ago. Brad Shaw has taken over on an interim basis, but he may not be back as head coach next season.

Vincent’s reputation is at its best right now, as a journalist noted on TVA Sports:

Several coaches support him.

Paul Maurice always speaks well of him. I’m telling you, why not Pascal Vincent? – Renaud Lavoie

Be careful here: this is just speculation.

The TVA Sports journalist didn’t say it because he’s convinced it will happen, but at the same time, a guy like Renaud Lavoie doesn’t often talk for nothing.

There’s no smoke without fire, as they say.

In fact, I think the fit is quite interesting.

The Flyers are in a rebuilding phase and need a coach who can work with young players. Pascal Vincent has proven he can do it, as the Rocket is a young team that relies on several young players.

Beck, Mailloux, Farrell, Davidson, (Florian) Xhekaj, Tuch, Mesar, Kidney… you get the idea.

But what I’m wondering is about Matvei Michkov.

The Flyers need to find a coach who can help him develop. Michkov has all the talent in the world, but it didn’t quite work out with John Tortorella, who has somewhat outdated methods.

Would Pascal Vincent be the ideal candidate to coach Matvei Michkov and the young Flyers, given his more modern mindset? The question arises.

And if the answer is yes, then Pascal Vincent in Philly would make sense.

In Overtime

– Let’s go, Monty!

– Nice photo!

– Stay tuned.

– I love the idea.

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Samuel Montembeault : only five goalies have more wins than him this season

The Canadiens’ season is not over yet: there are still four games left.

Obviously, we should expect to see Samuel Montembeault play a game in Ontario and at least one other next week. The habs’ schedule from now on will also help determine his number of games until the end of the regular season, but I expect to see game #82 given to Jakub Dobes.

This would be logical, at least.

All this to say that he has one, two or three starts left before the playoffs. Montembeault will surely exceed 60 games played, having 59 so far this season.

Only Andrei Vasilevskiy (61) and Connor Hellebuyck (60) have more than him right now. Ilya Sorokin is also at 59.

We must also note that the Quebecer, who was the #3 goalkeeper for Canada at the Four Nations Confrontation, recently collected his 30th win of the season, a personal record.

And looking elsewhere in the NHL, we see that only five goalkeepers have more than 30 wins before the games of April 10.

(Credit: NHL.com)

Only Connor Hellebuyck, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Jake Oettinger, Sergei Bobrovsky and Logan Thompson (of the Capitals, justly… but in only 43 games) have more than him.

Adin Hill and Filip Gustavsson, at the time of writing, are also at 30 wins.

Yes, Monty had ups and downs this season. But he got up in the important moments (he won his last five games) and without him, the Canadiens are not in the mix or on their way to the playoffs.

This is noteworthy, all of this. And we will just have to hope that the playoffs will energize him even more, he who has had a heavy workload this season.

(Credit: ESPN)

Overtime

– A nice photo.

– Wow.

– Game in Ottawa tomorrow: there will be habs fans in large numbers. [BPM Sports]

– Aaron Ekblad can start practicing with the guys again. His suspension has not been lifted yet.

– To note.

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Stock rupture: Ivan Demidov jerseys at Habs Sports are almost all gone

Ivan Demidov, as we now know, will wear the #93 this season in Montreal.

Will this change this summer? I have a feeling it will. I think Oliver Kapanen is not as attached to #91 as Demidov is, and he’ll end up giving it up.

But we’ll see about that in due time.

For the Habs, it wouldn’t be a bad thing. After all, it allows them to sell #93 jerseys now, and maybe people will want to get a #91 later on.

And speaking of #93 jerseys, it’s clear that they’re selling a lot right now.

As the guys from La Puck pointed out on Facebook, on the Tricolore Sports website, the words “out of stock” are very popular when it comes to ordering an Ivan Demidov #93 jersey.

And this is despite the fact that it’s been less than 24 hours since we found out it would be his number.

In fact, on the Tricolore Sports website, there’s now an Ivan Demidov section at the top of the site. And when you click on it, there are two jersey options: a Premium jersey and a Breakaway jersey.

And aside from the small-sized Breakaway jerseys, it’s impossible to order one. For a guy my size, who doesn’t really wear small anymore, buying a Demidov jersey through Tricolore Sports is impossible right now.

(Credit: Tricolore Sports)

This really shows just how much excitement there is around Ivan Demidov right now. The Russian, who will arrive in Toronto tonight, is expected to make his NHL debut next Monday at the Bell Centre.

Have you caught Demidov fever?

Overtime

– Emil Heineman was at practice.

– Worth noting.

– To follow.

– Good news in Laval.

– Unless the Flames win the lottery, the Habs will indeed have their first-round pick in 2025.

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Ivan Demidov will arrive in Toronto tonight

Marco D’Amico has just reported that prospect Ivan Demidov is set to land in Canada tonight.

The one who writes for RG media claims that the Russian, who was in Turkey waiting for his administrative papers to be in order, has settled everything. He can therefore arrive in the country without any problems.

He will arrive in Toronto tonight.

The plan right now is not to have him play in Ontario. He will not be around the club tomorrow night, in Ottawa: it’s rather the team that will join him in Toronto after Friday’s game.

But again: don’t expect to see him on the ice in Ontario on Saturday night, against the Maple Leafs. The plan is still to have him start at home, on Monday against Chicago.

He will therefore have time to get used to his new environment, both in terms of the team and cultural shock or time difference.

The fact that he is arriving in Toronto will prevent Montreal fans from going to see him at the airport. It’s a shame for the fans, but it’s logical for the club so that his transition is more… peaceful.

More details to come….

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Ivan Demidov : the SKA “wouldn’t have been able to keep him” due to the payroll mass

Why did SKA let Ivan Demidov go?

There are several elements to answer this question (we tried to answer it yesterday) in the file. And one of those that comes back most publicly is the fact that the Habs may face Alex Ovechkin’s Capitals in the playoffs. #VisibilitiyInRussia

Feel free to believe that SKA released him just for that, but okay.

This version was stated by Alexander Medvedev (a high-ranking SKA official as chairman of the board) in an interview with the match.tv media in Russia. The Hockey News Hub Twitter account also reported the news.

I understand that it will be good for hockey in Russia, but is it really the main reason for Demidov’s departure?

That being said, it’s not necessarily the most striking part, in my opinion, of what Mr. Medvedev said. In my opinion, what needs to be remembered is his comments on salary cap management and Demidov’s contract.

Here’s what he had to say on the subject.

The salary cap for the next season in the KHL makes it virtually impossible to use financial factors in negotiations with players.

We wouldn’t have been able to keep Ivan Demidov in the future. – Alexander Medvedev

The SKA leader stated that if nobody does anything about the fact that players will play where it’s safest, there will be more and more young players deserting the KHL.

Demidov is a 19-year-old and his goal was to play in the NHL. All young Russian talents who are expected to play in the NHL do so because it’s the best league in the world.

Demidov is no different from the others.

Is it really a salary cap issue? If so, the SKA needs to revise how it manages it, because you can’t lose your best player that way. Otherwise, we can wonder if the SKA is making excuses for not convincing him to stay at least one more year.

Overtime

– Speaking of which.

– Sean Monahan found a way to have fun, even without Johnny Gaudreau. [NYT]

– False. But he remains an excellent GM.

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Ivan Demidov takes pressure off Jacob Fowler, David Reinbacher and the Rocket

Let’s be honest, we don’t want to put too much pressure on Ivan Demidov, but…

But we’re going to say it: he’s the topic of the hour. The Russian is expected in Montreal with high anticipation (we’ll see when he arrives) and everyone is eager to see what he can do on an NHL ice rink.

The answer will come next week, apparently.

Right now, you’ll agree with me that all the sports attention in Quebec is on the Canadiens. The recent wins, the breakthroughs in the standings, and Demidov’s arrival have created a media frenzy. When it smells like playoffs in Montreal, it’s different from elsewhere.

But it’s interesting to remember that last week, when we didn’t think Demidov would be able to finish his season in the NHL, it was Jacob Fowler who was being talked about.

We’re still talking about him, but less so.

Last week, if we had mentioned that Pascal Vincent had opened the door to the idea of playing Fowler in the playoffs, it would have taken up a lot more space in the news.

It’s the same thing for David Reinbacher.

The fact that he’s skating or missing a practice is less talked about than it should be. The updates on his knee are less anticipated due to the Demidov situation.

By the force of circumstances, as Anthony Desaulniers said this morning on BPM Sports, this puts less pressure on the two top prospects of the Canadiens, as well as on their team, the Laval Rocket. Demidov’s presence is shifting the public’s attention away from the Habs fans.

The fact that the Rocket is already qualified also takes away some of the intrigue.

Will the guys in Laval (not just Fowler and Reinbacher, but Pascal Vincent and all the players in general) benefit from the fact that the attention is in Montreal to focus even more easily on the Calder Cup?

It’s perhaps the best of both worlds, since the distractions could be fewer… but the barn will be more than full in the playoffs in Laval, we’ll say it.

on the heels

– Ivan Demidov is special.

– Gavin McKenna in the NCAA?

– Some Quebec in Alex Ovechkin’s sticks. [La Voix De L’Est]

– Good listening.

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The Canadiens can qualify for the playoffs as early as tomorrow night: here’s the path

At this point, it’s pretty much acquired that the Canadiens will qualify for the playoffs. It would take an enormous catastrophe, at the very least, for the Habs not to be in the playoffs in 2025.

We’re now wondering when the Habs will officially clinch their spot… and against which team they’ll play.

When we look at the standings, we see that seven teams have qualified for the playoffs in the East, and Martin St-Louis’ men have an eight-point lead over the other teams in the race, as you know.

(Credit: Sportsnet)

Yesterday, the Rangers’ loss helped the Canadiens qualify.

And did you know, as Guillaume Villemaire said on social media, that the Canadiens even have a chance to qualify for the playoffs as early as tomorrow night if everything goes well?

This would be perfect for resting some guys, including Samuel Montembeault, and for bringing Ivan Demidov into the lineup with less pressure next week.

How can the Habs achieve such a feat? According to Villemaire, they need to win tomorrow night, but they also need the Islanders and Red Wings to lose (either in regulation or not) tonight. The Rangers and Panthers will be the opponents.

If the Red Wings and Islanders (79 points right now) lose tonight and the Habs reach 89 points tomorrow night, Long Island and Detroit won’t have enough points in their four remaining games to catch up to the Canadiens.

If the Canadiens win tomorrow night, the Rangers won’t be able to catch up to them – probably to the great pleasure of Jeff Gorton. To make the playoffs, the Rangers need to win all their games and the Habs need to lose all their remaining games.

And in the case of the Blue Jackets, even if they win tonight, a Canadiens win would mean that their 89 points would represent the maximum number of points the Ohio team could get.

This being said, the Canadiens will have the tiebreaker… on one condition: if Montreal has as many or more regulation wins than the Blue Jackets.

So we add a condition: tonight, the Blue Jackets can’t win in regulation (or the Canadiens must win in regulation tomorrow) if we want the Habs’ qualification to be official tomorrow.

After all, the next tiebreaker (regulation and overtime wins) belongs to the Habs.

Of course, there are several conditions to be met to celebrate tomorrow night in the Canadiens’ locker room. But with a week left, it’s getting more and more imminent: it’s just a matter of days before it’s official.

Note that winning tomorrow in Ottawa, in regulation, would bring the Canadiens within a point of the Senators in the standings.

Overtime

– Blue Jays win.

– Great Sidney Crosby.

– Lane Hutson is still at the top of the league’s rookie scorers despite everything. He has 64 points, two more than Macklin Celebrini.

– Ivan Demidov, the next Guy Lafleur? [TSN 690]

– Canadiens: the arrival of #93 was unexpected.