The known facts about Ivan Demidov make him one of the 2024 NHL Draft’s elite players.
How much he’s produced in Russia’s MHL junior league, how much better he is than his peers, how he sees the ice, the type of plays he can make, how he took his game to another level in the playoffs — that’s what we definitively know about Demidov. Because of that, NHL teams, including the Chicago Blackhawks, who have the No. 2 pick, are discussing whether they’ll draft Demidov if he’s available.
But as gifted as he may be, Demidov’s unknowns make teams question him. That’s fair. General managers and scouting staffs pride themselves on trying to know everything about a prospect on and off the ice before deciding to draft them. That isn’t possible with Demidov.
At the top of the list, teams’ inability to see a player in person is a big deal. While teams may have had a scout or two able to get into Russia to watch Demidov, most of the major decision-makers haven’t see him play in person. Information isn’t as readily available about him. If the Blackhawks want to know more about a USHL prospect, they can call the coach, general manager, an opposing coach or someone who works with the player in the offseason. The number of people in Russia interested in helping the Blackhawks learn about Demidov is much smaller.
The lack of information about Demidov has led to inaccuracies and strong opinions about him without much information to back them up.
In hopes of separating the fact from fiction about Demidov, I spoke to a veteran Russian scout about him. The scout was granted anonymity because they aren’t authorized by their NHL team to be interviewed about Demidov. The scout knows the MHL and KHL, has seen Demidov play in person and has spoken with him.
Before we get into the full conversation, one major question about Demidov is whether he will extend his contract with SKA St. Petersburg to remain in the KHL beyond next season.
The scout believes Demidov doesn’t want to extend his contract and will “definitely go overseas after next year,” meaning to North America.
(Note: This Q&A has been lightly edited for clarity.)
How good is the competition in the MHL? The one thing I hear a lot is that teams can’t gauge how good the players are, which puts into question how good a specific player is.
The competition is more or less, but each conference is divided into golden and silver divisions. So the best teams play each other four times a year and play the other teams from the silver division just two times a year. Demidov’s team is the golden division.
Plus, in the playoffs, he was just outstanding. He was producing nearly two points a game. That’s the best competition you can have. That’s a big deal. A lot of those games were decided by him, too. It’d be 0-0, and out of nowhere, he’d do something, create a goal or make an assist. He was doing stuff you’ll remember for years.
People seem to think he’s on the smaller side. I think he’s listed at 5 feet 10 inches, but I also heard an NHL scout say recently that he’s a little taller than Macklin Celebrini, coming in a little over six feet. Do you think his size may be an issue in the NHL?
No, that is wrong. I think he’s got to about 184 (centimeters or 6.04 feet) now, around that. He’s a little taller than me. I think he’ll grow further, too. People usually still grow until they’re 20. I think his father is about 185, something like that. I think he’ll grow.
What do you know about him off the ice and his work ethic?
What impresses me about him is his personality. He’s a great guy; everyone loves him. In the locker room, he’s a true leader. He’s a guy who wants to do everything to get success in hockey. His daily routine is like this: He comes to the rink and has a two-hour warmup, practices, then stays on the rink, maybe sleeps a bit, and then an hour in the gym. If they give it to him, he’ll spend additional time on the ice or he will go off ice and go to the shooting room. He’s very dedicated.
How good do you actually think he is?
I’ve watched a lot of Demidov, and I watched the World Juniors to watch Celebrini. And I thought, who’s better, Celebrini or Demidov? I think Demidov is better just in terms of his creativity, in terms of his skating, in terms of how he thinks the game. He’s a great skater. He’ll have one-minute shifts and never stop, always moving. His legs are always moving and he has great separation speed. He’s a team player first of all. His passes are just marvelous. He can give you a saucer between three sticks. His shot needs improvement, but he’s working on it.
How fearful should an NHL team be that Demidov will extend his contract with SKA to remain in the KHL beyond next season?
He will definitely go overseas after next year. He’s told me that a number of times. He doesn’t want to prolong his contract. But that is a bit of a problem because he should have been playing in the KHL already. His skills should allow him to do that. He’s better than some of the players SKA had in the playoffs. But since he hasn’t extended his contract, they just don’t want to give him chances in the KHL. So maybe he won’t get any chances in the KHL this season, and that’s a problem for him.
I heard a player can’t be loaned out to another KHL team if he’s in the final year of his contract. Is that true?
Yes. If his contract was for two more years, he could be loaned out. He could be loaned out to Sochi and he would play there. He would gain a lot of minutes and all that. But he can’t now because he’s in the final year of his contract.
Do you understand NHL teams’ likely reluctance to draft Demidov?
Yeah, because if you don’t see a player in person, if you don’t go to the rink to see him playing, that could be a problem, for sure. Maybe you don’t trust whoever is telling you about him or you’re not sure how great a prospect he is because he’s playing an easy game or you don’t know how he behaves on the bench and stuff like that.
If you were advising the Blackhawks, would you recommend drafting Demidov?
Yeah, I think so. I’m familiar with (Artyom) Levshunov, too. Not as well as Demidov, but I know Levshunov was recruited by KHL teams, refused and went to the U.S. He’s a pretty good player. But I think Demidov has more talent. He’s a guy who can do it all. If his shot can improve a bit, he’ll be a 50-goal forward, for sure.
(Photo: Maksim Konstantinov / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images)