The worst-kept secret in Habsland is now officially out in the open: Montreal Canadiens rookie Ivan Demidov will make his NHL debut tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks. Martin St-Louis and his men were on the ice for a morning skate on Monday, and the youngster was skating alongside Alex Newhook and Joel Armia.

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Last week, I wrote that I believed Demidov should be shielded early on and put on a line with Jake Evans and Armia, while others argued that with his talent, he deserved to be in the top six and should be starting alongside Patrik Laine and Newhook. Well, the coach decided to meet us halfway. St-Louis explained that putting him with a defensively responsible forward like Armia made sense, but it doesn’t mean it’s set in stone.

The bench boss explained that this new lineup, featuring Laine playing alongside Evans and Oliver Kapanen, should not be interpreted as the Finnish snipper being demoted. St-Louis made it clear that he has four lines but doesn’t see them as lines one to four before adding that depending on how things go, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that we could see Demidov with Laine and Newhook tonight if the right opportunity presents itself. As for Emil Heineman, the organization reiterated that he is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

The coach is clearly aware of how high the stakes are tonight and what Demidov can bring to the table, but he’s not throwing him into the deep end without a life preserver, and to me, that’s the right approach. My one reservation would be about putting him on the second wave of the power play, but that may not be set in stone either. 

After St-Louis and the players spoke to the press, Kent Hughes met the media for the first time since Demidov landed in Canada. He fielded questions for a few minutes, and once again, he sounded like the voice of reason.

Asked what his expectations were with the young man, the GM explained that this is a 19-year-old kid who’s just arrived in the country. He also mentioned hearing chatter about Ryan Poehling’s debut and said that he expected Demidov to have a significant role with his team for years. As for his expectations for Monday night’s debut or Wednesday night’s game, he said he had none. His answer is exactly what Russ Cohen wrote about when he mentioned reasonable expectations for Demidov; it’s not all about the points right away.

Hughes also explained that the Canadiens never once asked for SKA St. Petersburg to release Demidov earlier in the season. He felt that going over there to meet them and then asking for that would have made their visit look unauthentic.

As for the fact that he arrived this season rather than next, as expected, Hughes believes that two factors came together there: SKA being eliminated earlier than expected and the fact that the Canadiens are competing for a playoff spot.

Hughes also praised Roman Rotenberg’s handling of Demidov over the course of the season, saying he wanted him to do more than just put up points. For Hughes, those little things he was made to work on will make his transition to the NHL easier.

The GM explained that he finds Demidov’s lateral movement to be one of his best skills, given how quickly he can do it and how much ground he can cover. Today, even more than when he drafted him, Hughes believes the young Russian will be an impact player who can be both a goal scorer and a playmaker.

As for the timing of his signing, Hughes explained that they wouldn’t have signed in for this year if they weren’t going to play him in this playoff race. The GM mentioned that this was also his way of reinforcing his team, even though they didn’t move at the trade deadline. With a smile, he even mentioned that when there were rumours about him possibly signing, some of the players came to him asking what the situation was there, so his players were well aware of the kind of player they were getting.

Finally, Hughes also confirmed that David Reinbacher was set to play with the Laval Rocket on Wednesday and there is no structural damage to his knee, the organization is just being overly cautions.  

There you have it Habs fans, the table is set and Demidov is ready to make his NHL debut, the atmosphere at the Bell Centre tonight considering how high the stakes will be should be electric. 

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