How Demidov Changes The Power Play For The Better

Demidov started the season on the Canadiens’ 2nd unit alongside Patrik Laine and Noah Dobson. During the preseason, these three players showed flashes of being a serious threat with Brendan Gallagher and Kirby Dach, but considering that the whole power-play revolved around Demidov getting the puck across the slot to Laine for his famous one-timer, it became too predictable. Not to mention, Laine was dealing with his sports hernia injury. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anybody who could finish Demidov’s passes on the 2nd unit with Laine being banged up. This left that unit much less effective as a whole when they actually got ice time.

Oddly, the one player on the top unit that was producing at a decent pace when Demidov wasn’t on the 1st power-play was Zack Bolduc, the guy that was sacrificed down to the 2nd unit to make room for Demidov’s skills on the top unit. Some fans may not understand why he was the one sacrificed for Demidov due to being somewhat productive. The answer is simple: Bolduc is a guy who solely plays from the bumper, which limits the others on the unit’s abilities to be in the places that they are best suited to play. 

Starting with Juraj Slafkovsky, he is best suited around the net and having a shifty player like Demidov moving around the zone with the puck allows him to stay in position and be a more dangerous option around the net. When Bolduc was playing the bumper, Slafkovsky was playing along the boards more, which gave the Habs fewer options around the net. The big power forward was able to be open to receive a great pass by Demidov on the power play last night. The reality is that with Bolduc, that pass wouldn’t have ever been able to come through. Even Nick Suzuki, who is a right shot, wouldn’t have been able to pass it as cleanly as Demidov, considering he is a right-handed shot. Demidov has already proven just how important he can be to the team’s man advantage by being the team’s main distributor for a single game (Thursday doesn’t really count, they got 1 power play).

Then you have Nick Suzuki, who, like Demidov, can be a triple-threat as a passer, shooter or could even deke around the defenders. Having Demidov actually allows Suzuki to be more of a more unexpected shooting threat from the left half wall. His goal last night shows how he was almost forgotten in the traffic in the middle of the slot. So far this season, Demidov is responsible for getting Suzuki the puck for his two goals.

For Hutson, Demidov gives him an easy left-handed option to pass the puck over to, which is something very key for a left-handed PP QB to have, as it’s easier to pass to the right half wall. Sure, Slafkovsky was an option too, but he doesn’t have nearly the vision and even the patience that Demidov has to make things happen. In fact, the thing that makes Demidov so elite on the power play is that he can pull defenders off his teammates by focusing on him, and then get the puck over to his open teammates through the smallest spaces, like he has done on both Suzuki goals this season. 

It may have taken a while to get it going, but the Canadiens’ elite power play seems to have finally been unlocked thanks to the talent of Ivan Demidov. 

How good do you think the Canadiens’ power play can be with the current 5-man unit the Habs will be running?