Russian Hockey Legend Would Have Seen Demidov With Ovechkin At The Olympics

Based on Larionov’s view of the roster, the 20-year-old Demidov would be the youngest player on the hypothetical roster, while the 40-year-old Ovechkin would be the oldest on the roster. While part of the reason for using the 2 forwards together would be a way to also balance the speed, age, and experience on their potential line, a huge part of Larionov wishing he could see Demidov and Ovechkin play at the Olympics together is that he loves the work ethic of the young Habs rookie and could see that combination as very intriguing.

Since both players are wingers, they would need a centre, and this is where it seemed that Larionov was slightly stumped about who could play centre with the future of Russian hockey and their all-time greatest NHLer. Aside from Evgeni Malkin, who would likely be playing on Russia’s top line with Nikita Kucherov and Kirill Kaprizov, Russia is very short on skilled centres in comparison to their wingers. With that being said, to create the best possible lineup, they would likely need to flip a few wingers to play centre. This is why Larionov suggested that he would try Artemi Panarin at centre, as he trusts the newly acquired LA Kings forward’s hockey IQ to adjust to playing up the middle of the ice.

The reality is that this is purely a hypothetical situation, so the centre of a line with Demidov and Ovechkin is not something that really matters at the end of the day. The point being that really it’s about putting Demidov on a line with the greatest goal scorer in NHL history. That fact itself is why playing Demidov and Ovechkin together would likely make for a great fit.

Considering how Demidov is already developing into one of the top passers in the NHL during his rookie season with the Habs, he would surely do a great job setting up Ovechkin at the other side of the ice. This would allow an Ovechkin who has been on the decline at age 40 to focus on getting open in his office from the left half wall while Demidov could get him the puck with his incredible cross-ice passes.

When you look at the possibility of what Demidov and Ovechkin could have been at the Olympics, it makes a lot of sense why Larionov sees the two players at opposite ends of their NHL careers together. It’s a shame we won’t get to see them compete at the Olympics together, but it is fun to speculate just how well a duo of Ovechkin and Demidov could work at the Olympics.

With the team that Russia could have iced, they definitely would have been in contention for a medal in the 2026 Winter Olympics for men’s hockey. Hopefully, in the next Winter Olympics, the sanctions will be removed, and players like Demidov can show what they can do at the Olympics in 2030. For now, all we can do is imagine the possibilities, like Larionov did with the Athletic.