Ivan Demidov’s season and playoffs as a Montreal Canadiens might have been too short for some Habs fans, but the 19-year-old right winger played a whole other season and playoffs in the KHL before coming over.
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He had a tremendous season in the Russian league, skating for SKA St. Petersburg.Even though he didn’t always get the ice time he would have liked, the youngster never got down on himself and carried on working hard. He ultimately finished the season with 49 points in 65 games and the playoffs with five points in six games.
His 49 points set a new record for the most points in a season by an under-20-year-old. The previous record of 42 points had been set by Russian phenom Kirill Kaprizov in 2016-17. Needless to say, that was an impressive feat—so impressive in fact that the KHL announced him as one of the three nominees for its rookie of the year award.
The second nominee is 18-year-old forward Yegor Surin, who has notched 20 points in 57 games across the regular season and the playoffs so far. His Lokomotiv team has yet to be eliminated, and he’s beaten the record for most points by a young Lokomotiv player in the postseason; he currently has six.
Goaltender Semyon Vyazovoi is the third and final nominee. He has 18 wins in 37 games, a .934 save percentage, a 1.95 goals-against average, and five shutouts. In the playoffs, he became the first netminder in League history to notch two assists in the same game. He was also named the top rookie of the second round.
The winner will be announced on May 29 at the KHL season closing ceremony. Could this be a preview of what Demidov’s first full NHL season has in store for Canadiens’ fans?
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