Washington Hockey Insider has no direct affiliation to the Washington Capitals, NHL or NHLPA
Washington Capitals rival sign Russian phenom
Photo credit: Daily Faceoff
Ivan Demidov was drafted 5th overall by the Montreal Canadiens at the NHL Draft last summer in Las Vegas.
Russian phenom Ivan Demidov is set to sign an entry level contract with the Montreal Canadiens after SKA Saint Petersburg officially terminated his contract on Tuesday.
Elliotte Friedman of SportsNet took to X to break the news Tuesday afternoon that many Habs fans have been waiting eagerly for.
This is legit. Canadiens are now working to get him signed.
Comments are flooding with fans wondering if he'll be able to join the Canadiens as they continue their fight for the 2nd wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The news comes with a bit of a scare for Capitals fans as it's likely that they'll face the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs scheduled to begin April 19th.
A lot of promise surrounds Ivan Demidov as the elite prospect finished his season with 19 goals and 49 points in 65 games with SKA this season, setting a new KHL record for a U20 player in one season, easily beating out Kirill Kaprizov (42 points in 2016-17), Matvei Michkov (41 points in 2023-24) and former Washington Capital Evgeny Kuznetsov (41 points in 2011-12).
Demidov has added five points in six playoff games for SKA, who were eliminated from the KHL playoffs Sunday.
If the Canadiens can create some real separation in the playoff race, it would be less complicated to integrate Demidov into the lineup before the end of the regular season to at least see if he would be a legitimate option come playoff time.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 8 | 55 ANSWERS Washington Capitals rival sign Russian phenom Will Ivan Demidov join the Canadiens before the end of the season? | ||
| yes | 38 | 69.1 % |
| no | 17 | 30.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
