When SKA St. Petersburg takes to the ice for the KHL's preseason tournament, they'll do it without Ivan Demidov.
When SKA St. Petersburg takes to the ice for the KHL's preseason tournament, they'll do it without Ivan Demidov.
The news that Montreal Canadiens prospect Ivan Demidov will be captaining Team Russia under 23 at the KHL pre-season tournament has been making the rounds this week and there are two ways to look at the situation.
On one hand, he will no doubt be proud to captain the young side and it will be a good experience for him. Furthermore, he will have much more ice time in the Russian lineup than he would have playing with his KHL team.
On the other hand though, he will not be playing with SKA St. Petersburg and you have to wonder if that's indicative of what he can expect this season. In a recent interview, Demidov himself said he was labelled as the team's 13th forward.
Is this an indication of what's to come for the youngster under Roman Rotenberg? At such a crucial point in his development, Demidov needs to see some action. There's only so much you can learn watching from the sidelines or the press gallery.
A loan to an inferior league wouldn't be in his best interest either, in order to progress and be ready to make the jump in the NHL when he comes over to North America, he needs to be challenged.
Although, he spent most of last season in the MHL to being sent down to the VHL, the league immediately below the KHL, would still be a step up, but it wouldn't make him progress as much as if he was playing with the big club.
There's no doubt that the Canadiens' brass is watching these developments closely and if Hughes and co. believe Demidov would be best served by crossing the ocean now, they'll be negotiating his contractual release with the SKA's front office. This is for the Canadiens' GM to worry about though.
In the meantime, the tournament is set to kick off on August 22 and finish on August 29. Four teams will be joining SKA and Russia U23: AK Bars, Severstal, HC Sochi and the Kunlun Red Star.
If you are hungry for more Demidov content though, be aware the Canadiens have released a picture from their upcoming draft video showing Jeff Gorton, Martin Lapointe and Nick Bobrov looking at the Russian prodigy almost in awe. This should be an interesting video to watch. Montreal has only said it will be out next week, no fixed date yet.
Related
Canadiens: The Line of Communication Is Open with SKA St. Petersburg
Canadiens: More About Demidov
Canadiens: Ivan Demidov clears medicals with SKA St Petersburg]
Canadiens: A New Ivan Demidov Interview
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