“Everyone knew Ivan Demidov wanted to be drafted by the Canadiens”

Dose
Crédit: Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

At the 2024 draft, the Habs had a lucky hand in getting Ivan Demidov with the fifth pick. The talented forward was seen by many as the second-best prospect of the auction (behind Macklin Celebrini), but he was the fifth player drafted.

And that, of course, made the Canadiens’ fans very happy.

That said, it’s interesting to try and understand why Demidov fell the way he did. The Russian factor and his contractual situation in the KHL were factors, and it’s conceivable that some teams were put off by his rather unorthodox skating technique.

But on an episode of The Shaun Starr Show, Marco D’Amico talked about Demidov in the 2024 draft… and he mentioned something interesting:

Everyone knew that Ivan Demidov wanted to be drafted by the Canadiens. – Marco D’Amico

We don’t know exactly why Demidov wanted to come to Montreal, but we can assume that he liked the young core that was being built. It’s also likely that Nick Bobrov, who has his ear to the ground in Russia, played a part in all this.

As D’Amico points out, Bobrov gives the Habs a huge advantage when it comes to Russian prospects, since he has a Russian passport and can enter and leave the country at will. There’s a reason Alexander Zharovsky was the Canadiens’ first choice this year, you know.

And according to D’Amico, the fact that Demidov wanted to come to Montreal explains why he fell. The Blackhawks, Ducks and Blue Jackets knew the kid was headed for Montreal, so they looked elsewhere instead.

It’s reminiscent of Matvei Michkov a year earlier: he wanted to go to Philadelphia, so he fell… to the Flyers.

We know that for the past few years, the Habs have been trying to get their hands on guys who want to be in Montreal. This was the case with Noah Dobson recently, but also with Mike Matheson a few years ago.

On the other hand, the club is lining up players who don’t want to be in town. Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling, for example, wanted to leave… and were traded to Pittsburgh.

That said, it’s very cool to see that Demidov wanted to be drafted by the Habs so badly.

And that’s a good sign for the kid’s future: if he wanted to come here, he probably won’t want to leave at the first opportunity he gets.

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