Speculation growing around Montreal Canadiens first-round pick, Ivan Demidov
Marco D’Amico of RG.org: Montreal Canadiens 2024 first-round pick, Ivan Demidov, had seen his ice time with SKA decrease after Evgeny Kuznetsov went down with an injury, but it’s started to creep up again. Demidov has one year left on his SKA contract. Demidov’s head coach Roman Rotenberg
“We’re considering the opinions of our colleagues , but we are focused on our own needs, our tactics, and how our players are feeling,” Rotenberg said in English. “There are a lot of factors. We are no less interested than Montreal in making sure that Ivan – just like our other young players – develops well. Players like Demidov are the future of Russian hockey.”
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SKA does have a plan for Demidov’s development but there will obviously be some bumps along the way for the 18-year-old.
Demidov’s contract with SKA ends on May 31st, 2025, and as of now, he is committed to play it out.
Nicolas Cloutier of TVA Sports: (through Google translate) A source who is close to Ivan Demidov’s entourage has said that Demidov was benched after he turned down three contract extension offers from SKA St. Peterburg.
“Ivan refused all three times,” our source said on the phone. “He doesn’t want to know anything about another year with SKA.”
One of the offers was believed to be for two years at approximately $560,000 Canadian with potential bonuses of over $560,000 CDN.
Agent Dan Milstein isn’t commenting while Demidov is playing in the KHL. Since he was drafted, Demidov’s plan has been to come to North America for 2025-26.
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The KHL has a history of ‘blackmailing’ young Russian players by cutting their ice in an attempt to get them to stay longer. CSKA did this with Alexander Romanov and SKA did it with Vasili Podkolzin, Kirill Marchenko, and Yaroslav Askarov.