The renowned Scott Wheeler has just announced that Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens have hit a true home run with an acquisition.
He, who is probably the world's most renowned expert in terms of evaluating young NHL prospects, has just ranked Ivan Demidov as already one of the top three prospects in the entire National Hockey League!
You read that right! Wow.
Ivan Demidov is the steal of the 2024 draft, confirms Scott Wheeler
What a move by Kent Hughes and his team, once again, and this one will be truly major for the future of the Montreal Canadiens.
Wheeler mentions that with the 5th overall pick, the Canadiens acquired the 2nd best player of the draft without a doubt.
«It's not just his great talent that makes Wheeler rank him high on his list of 2024 draft prospects. His physical maturity, his play without the puck, and the way he battles on the ice are factors to consider.
In fact, in his eyes, Demidov is a star with more skills with the puck than Macklin Celebrini. That doesn't mean he's better, just that with the puck, he is more talented.» - Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Yes, it's exciting.
Wheeler doesn't stop there. He mentions that Ivan Demidov is already one of the top three prospects in the world, along with Macklin Celebrini and Matvei Michkov.
He believes that Demidov is more complete than Michkov, but there are arguments for placing each of these two players ahead of the other.
It will be really interesting to follow over the next few years!
We shouldn't put too much pressure on young Demidov, but at the same time, it's been so long since the Montreal Canadiens had such good young players as they do now, so it's certainly encouraging.
We're talking about elite young talents here! Long live the development of these young talents!