The Canadiens and SKA St. Petersburg have discussed at length a joint development plan for Ivan Demidov in the KHL.
Fresh news about Demidov out of Russia as the @HabsOnReddit X account reported that Matchtv.ru had published an article (make sure to translate the site to English, unless you speak Russian of course) about the Montreal Canadiens' fifth-overall pick at the last draft Ivan Demidov.
While the Philadelphia Flyers' pick at the 2023 draft Matvei Michkov arrived in Philadelphia yesterday after a deal for his contractual release was negotiated, Demidov is still under contract with his Russian team and head coach Roman Rotenberg seems pretty adamant that he will be playing in Russia this season.
This is not bad news for the Canadiens as the head coach also revealed he had an hour and a half conversation about Demidov's development plan with the Habs' brass. While Martin St-Louis was not on the call, Geoff Molson, Kent Hughes, Jeff Gorton and special adviser Vincent Lecavalier took part in the long discussion.
Rottenberg also added that good players had signed with SKA and it would be beneficial for Demidov to line up alongside them. Nikita Zaitsev, Mikhail Grigorenko, Sergei Plotnikov have all joined the club and the coach believes his veterans will help the Canadiens' prospect to get valuable experience both on and off the ice.
While it would have been nice for the teams and fan alike to manage to find a way to bring Demidov over this year, this is the next best thing. The line of communication is open with his Russian team and there is a joint development plan.