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    Russ Cohen
    Russ Cohen
    Jan 2, 2025, 09:00

    After Lane Hutson yesterday, another member of the Montreal Canadiens' organization was named rookie of the month of December, this time in the KHL.

    After Lane Hutson yesterday, another member of the Montreal Canadiens' organization was named rookie of the month of December, this time in the KHL.

    Ivan Demidov was named the KHL Rookie of the Month. The SKA winger has 10 goals and 16 assists in 36 games. I’ve written about this player before and he keeps getting better and better.

    According to InStat, he is up to 3.9 shots a game and I still think he’s a player who can do both and that makes him a very dangerous forward. Canadiens' fans are tracking his every move and I don’t blame them.

    I like seeing that he’s up to 23% defensive zone starts. That’s good. That shows the team has more confidence in him. Let’s see if his ice time starts to rise.

    He’s currently averaging 11:28 average TOI and that’s not good enough. I would think when the team starts playing again that he will get a bump. If not, then I’ll question it further. I get the team is very good but so is this prospect.

    One more stat for you.Demidov is hitting the net 52% of the time. Michkov had this problem too, it will rise as he gets more ice time, better linemates, and more confidence. It’s a normal progression for a young player in a men’s league.

    It’s all good with Demidov. He’s developing in Russia and at some point he will get into the best league in the world - - the NHL. When that happens, watch out. The amount of Russian talent in the league is approaching the best I’ve seen in years and he will add to that for sure.