with Evgeny Kuznetsov injured long-term, Ivan Demidov's situation changes

Since the start of the campaign, we have been closely monitoring what is happening with Ivan Demidov in Russia. The CH prospect plays big hockey… but he doesn't get a ton of ice time.

This is mostly due to contract issues rather than his performance, but oh well.

That said, there is still someone who helps a lot kid this season: Evgeny Kuznetsov. The former Capitals forward, who is a star in Russia, loves having Demidov on the wing of his line, which helps the youngster's situation a bit.

However, yesterday, Kuznetsov was the victim of quite a blow borderline…and he was seriously injured.

According to Roman Rotenberg, we are talking about a “long absence”. TIFF, a Russian media, mentions a possible absence of two months, but nothing has been confirmed in this sense at the moment.

All this means that for a good while, SKA will be deprived of Kuznetsov… and in doing so, Demidov's situation changes.

Theoretically, the logical reasoning would be to think that Demidov will be entitled to more ice time given that the club must replace Kuznetsov's offensive production. So, giving more playing time to one of the team's best scorers is an idea that, on paper, makes sense.

But need I remind you that with SKA, logical reasoning is rarely the one favored?

Remember that earlier this season, when Kuznetsov missed a few games, Demidov saw his playing time drop dramatically. He had been demoted to the role of 13th forward (remember that in the KHL, teams can dress a 13th forward), and he was only playing a (small) handful of minutes per game.

The question, therefore, will be to see if the club will change its ways this time. Demidov is playing big hockey these days, but if Kuznetsov is no longer there, one wonders if Rotenberg will take advantage of this to reduce the player's playing time even further. kid.

To be continued, therefore.