The panel discusses the Canadiens’ decision to put Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky on the fourth line. In today's game against Admiral Vladivostok, Montreal Canadiens' prospect Ivan Demidov once again saw limited ice time. Confined to the fourth line, the right winger only spent eight and a half minutes on the ice in SKA St. Petersburgh's defeat. This marks the 10th consecutive game in which he his given less than 10 minutes of ice time. Even though praises are raining left, right and center for the Canadiens' prospect, coach Roman Rotenberg still prefers to use the players that will remain with SKA beyond this season. While this is understandable for the long term, he is depriving his team of offense it sorely needs in the now. After Tony DeAngelo once again threw flowers at Demidov in the Morning Cuppa Podcast, teammate and Carolina Hurricanes prospect Alexander Nikishin also sang his praises in an interview with RG.org [https://rg.org/news/hockey/hurricanes-prospects-alexander-nikishin-and-nikita-artamonov-shine-in-the-khl]. The promising young blueliner [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/latest-news/alexander-nikishin-wins-multiple-khl-awards] said he doesn't see himself as the greatest European prospect when it was put to him, adding with a laugh: We have a young guy on the team, but I won’t mention his name, or he’ll read this. RG.org reporter Daria Tuboltseva assumed he was talking about Demidov and it is indeed the deduction that makes sense. While it's not ideal for Demidov's development to see so little ice time, it can at least reassure Habs fans' that the prospect remains adamant about coming over to this side of the pond at the end of his contract with SKA. If he yielded to pressure and signed a contract extension, he would be spending a lot of time on the ice, but that's a price he's not willing to pay, fortunately for the Canadiens. SKA's next game is Saturday when they'll take on Amur Khabarovsk a side that is dead last in the Eastern Conference with 15 points to its name. Meanwhile SKA is fourth in the Western Conference with 39 points. Follow Karine on X @KarineHains [https://x.com/KarineHains] Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/karinehains.bsky.social] and Threads @karinehains [https://www.threads.net/@karinehains] Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/] for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens
