Ivan Demidov Is Ahead Of Schedule In His Development

With that being said, Demidov’s performance in front of Kaprizov really showed glimpses of how he may end up being a better player than Kaprizov some day.  In fact, despite not having a goal to go with his 2 assists, Demidov was arguably the most dominant player on the ice all game long, which played a huge factor in giving the Canadiens the win.

Sure, Caufield deserved to be named the first star for a game-winning goal, but it was Demidov that was the best Hab when considering the full game. For his efforts, Demidov was named the 3rd star of the game in the first matchup against the player that the majority of scouts compared him to.

The reality is Demidov has yet to hit a rookie bump and is showing flashes of true superstardom on a nightly basis alongside Juraj Slafkovsky, who has really broken out in his 4th season as the veteran presence on the Habs’ 2nd line. It’s crazy to think with his 11 goals and 32 assists in 50 games so far, he’s still not the favourite to win the Calder Trophy, but Matthew Schaefer’s dominance as a defenseman as an 18-year-old is extremely hard to pass, but the current separation in points that Demidov is creating could be enough to get it done.

Currently, Demidov is now leading Anaheim Ducks forward Beckett Sennecke by 5 points as the gap continues to grow as of recently. Meanwhile, Schaefer is 3rd with 34 points; if Demidov could somehow get 15-20 more points than Schaefer by season’s end, that might be enough to win the Calder.

The fact that he’s yet to have even shown any sign of slowing down shows that he has it in him to get the job done. Schaefer is still showing elite defence, but his offensive game has dipped a bit after a very strong start, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Demidov finish with as much as 20 points more than Schaefer when it’s all said and done. Just in his last 30 games alone, Demidov has scored 28 of his 43 points thus far, as he has only gotten better as the season has gone on.

Even if he doesn’t win Rookie of the Year, Demidov has shown just how special of a player he already is. It’s essentially clear that he will be the best forward on the Habs in 2-3 years as he attempts to help the Canadiens end their 33+ year Stanley Cup drought.

While Demidov will likely finish below the 0.927 points per game that Kaprizov put up in his rookie season. However, the difference is that Demidov’s 0.86 points per game is at 19, turning 20 years old, vs. Kaprizov doing that at 23, turning 24 years old. By the time Demidov is 23 years old, he could very much be a 90-100-point player.

How good do you think Demidov will become?