The Canadiens' fifth overall pick in this past June's draft has already tallied 19 points in 23 games with SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL, despite sometimes being limited to just a few minutes per game.
That said, the young Russian prospect will come to North America after his season in Russia, and Canadiens fans are undoubtedly eager to see him in action donning the blue, white, and red.
And with the recent comments from Mathias Brunet about Demidov, hockey fans have every reason to be enthusiastic about the young player's arrival in Montreal.
During his daily segment on BPM Sports, Mathias stated that he expects Ivan Demidov to have the same impact on the Canadiens as Kirill Kaprizov did when he joined the Minnesota Wild.
It's worth recalling that Kaprizov, a fifth-round pick by the Wild in 2015, was named Rookie of the Year in his debut NHL season in 2020-2021, marking the point at which the team became competitive.
That puts a lot of pressure on Demidov, but as he mentioned himself during his pre-draft interview with the Montreal Canadiens, he loves pressure.
Challenge accepted!
Kaprizov, 27 years old, has racked up an impressive 27 points in 14 games this season, following a 96-point season last year.
Overall, he has accumulated 357 points in just 292 career games in the NHL. Quite impressive!
He is truly a franchise player for Minnesota.
POLL | ||
Can Ivan Demidov become the next Kirill Kaprizov for the Montreal Canadiens? | ||
Yes | 1226 | 91.4 % |
No | 115 | 8.6 % |
List of polls |