Ivan Demidov Named NHL Rookie Of The Month

His performance throughout the month allowed Demidov to grab a 3-point lead atop the rookie scoring leaders over Anaheim Ducks forward Beckett Sennecke. The Russian forward enters 2026 with 10 goals and 23 assists for 33 points in 39 games so far this season. Much like Habs defenseman Lane Hutson last year, Demidov seemed to start his NHL breakout during the month of December.

Last season, Hutson started his rookie season looking good but not anything special with 13 assists in his first 24 games of the year. However, in December 2024, Hutson became a star, scoring 2 goals and 11 assists for 13 points in 14 games, doubling his point total for the year in a single month.

While Demidov had much better numbers than Hutson had in his first two months of his rookie season, it wasn’t really until the month of December that he started to truly put up potential superstar numbers. Demidov also hadn’t been able to pull away points-wise from Sennecke or New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer until this past month. It may only be a 3-point lead on the field, but at the current pace that he’s playing at, Demidov could easily eclipse 70 points in his rookie season, which should allow him to keep the rookie lead in points for the season.

A lot of Demidov’s success during the month of December should also be attributed to Juraj Slafkovsky, who has also taken his game to the next level since being placed on a line with Demidov and Oliver Kapanen. Together, Slafkovsky and Demidov have formed a dynamic duo of play drivers, developing incredible chemistry with each other.

Slafkovsky had a good start to the season, serving as a solid forechecker on the top line with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, but he wasn’t producing to the level many were hoping for. It wasn’t until he got a chance to play away from the Habs’ young veterans and be a play driver on his own line that the points started to show up. Slafkovsky proved that he was more than just a big body that can serve as a great complementary piece to a top line. Instead, he showed he had the skills that can make him a solid 200-foot power forward who can create his own offence.

Prior to December, the Habs forward only had 7 goals and 13 points in 24 games. However, in December, thanks to his newfound chemistry with Demidov, he managed to put up 6 goals, 9 assists, and 15 points in 15 games. Slafkovsky has 28 points in 39 games, after being arguably the Habs’ best forward throughout the month of December. He was even honoured on Monday with the 3rd Star of the Week in the NHL for last week’s performances.

Together, Demidov and Slafkovsky have dominated the last few weeks of hockey and will hopefully be continuing to do the same in the New Year. If that is the case, Demidov will have a very good shot of giving the Habs the honour of having back-to-back Calder winners for Rookie of the Year (Hutson won last year). The last time an NHL team had back-to-back Calder winners was the Boston Bruins with Bobby Orr in 1967 and Derek Sanderson in 1968.

Do you think Demidov is now the front-runner for the Calder Trophy after his December performance?