Could Demidov come over sooner than expected?
Montreal Canadiens fans are chomping at the bit just thinking about the moment Ivan Demidov will fulfil his contract in Russia and head over to join the team in North America. Technically, the youngster has one more year to go on the contract linking him to the SKA St. Petersburg. However, there has been some changes in the relationship between the Kontinental Hockey League and the Russian Hockey Federation that may change the state of affairs.
The KHL will now be an independent entity from the Russian Hockey Federation meaning it will have more control over its own affairs. As we've all come to learn, the RHF prefers to keep Russian players in Russia. They want them to play in the local league rather than leave for North America.
While the KHL will continue to respect the contracts between Russian players and foreign leagues, its teams will now be able to agree to financial terms freeing a player from their contractual obligations thus allowing an earlier move to North America.
In other words, the Canadiens could conceivably negotiate a deal with SKA to end Demidov's contract now and bring him over to this side of the pond this season. While this is an enticing possibility, it's not a complete certainty that the Habs will attempt to do this.
After all, the Canadiens can take a patient approach with the Russian winger and allow him to progress organically. However, I can see one situation in which the Canadiens would step in. Should the SKA decide to send Demidov back to the MHL (the Russian level equivalent of the QJMHL) instead of keeping him in the KHL, I believe Kent Hughes would step in.
Demidov has got nothing left to prove in the MHL and in order to develop, he needs to play against better players. SKA doesn't have much to gain by giving him a roster spot, since they know he'll be off as soon as his contract is over. Perhaps they'd like to develop a player who will be staying there long term.
Spending another season in the MHL would be like losing a year of development for the young Russian. Which is why I can't see Montreal standing idly by while their prized new prospect is wasting his time in a lower level league.
The other situation which could lead to Demidov coming over early is if SKA decided to initiate discussions rather than sending the winger down to the MHL. I struggle to see how the Canadiens could be unable to meet its demands.
The situation is somewhat reminiscent of what Alexander Romanov went through with the CSKA Moscow. The defenseman was playing in the MHL when the Canadiens shocked the draft by picking him 38th overall at the 2018 Draft. Then, for the following two seasons, he played in the KHL with the Moscow outfit. The Russian team tried to convince him to stay but when he said he wasn't interested, they began using him less and less. Hopefully, this won't be the way Demidov's team deals with him.