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One team is reportedly talking Ivan Demidov down in the draft

SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - 2023/09/12: SKA Hockey Club player, Ivan Demidov (11) seen in action during the Kontinental Hockey League, regular season KHL 2023 - 2024 between SKA Saint Petersburg and Spartak Moscow at the Ice Sports Palace. (Final score; SKA Saint Petersburg 0:3 Spartak Moscow). (Photo by Maksim Konstantinov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Ivan Demidov is a player brimming with talent. The young man is possibly the second most talented player, behind Macklin Celebrini, available at auction.

But does that mean he’ll come in second? Not necessarily.

Some teams may want to go in another direction… mainly to draft a promising defenseman with their first-round pick in the June 28 auction.

But it’s not impossible to think that Demidov could be the third forward claimed next Friday. After all, a club could fall in love with another player, like Cayden Lindstrom…

Or a club could be afraid of Demidov.

The Russian doesn’t have as many red flags as Matvei Michkov did last year, but some teams have to hope Demidov slips a bit to get drafted lower.

And according to Elliotte Friedman, as mentioned in his podcast, the buzz around the NHL is that a club is beading against Demidov to get him lowered in the draft.

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The club is said to be in love with him and would like to see him slide a bit in the draft. The club would say that Demidov isn’t coming to the NHL and that he’s small.

We now know he’s not small, but hey.

Of course, you have to wonder if this club isn’t the Habs. After all, we know how much the Habs love Demidov, and seeing him slip to #5 would surely make management very happy.

But we don’t know if it’s the Habs.

Remember, though, that the Russian is in Florida this week for his agent’s showcase . So he can answer for himself some of the fears that teams have about him.

Friedman reminded us that, around the draft, everyone lies. Keep that in mind.

Overtime

– Really?

– Lane Hutson to his brother’s rescue.

– Oh?