Since the start of his season in the KHL, Ivan Demidov has been watched very closely by all analysts and fans of the Montreal Canadiens.
We all want to see him perform with SKA Saint Petersburg, but it’s really not easy for the young Russian prospect, when he has no control over his performances.
Indeed, his head coach, Roman Rotenberg, has continued to yo-yo with Demidov’s playing time since the start of the season.
No pun intended, it’s truly a horrible roller coaster that the CH hope goes through, while he never knows what to expect in each match.
After being in the good graces of his coach for around ten matches, Demidov seems to be back on his coach’s “black list”.
Indeed, in his match of the day, Demidov was the 13th attacker for SKA Saint Petersburg against Amur, the worst team in the KHL.
We could therefore expect a fairly low ice time for Demidov, but we could never have imagined that he would not play even a second.
Yes, you read correctly, the CH hope did not even have the right to a single presence today.
It’s simply ridiculous, when it’s the first time this season that Demidov hasn’t played a second in a match. His worst ice time was recorded at 3:17 on October 10.
So the Montreal Canadiens’ top prospect, as well as one of the best young Russian players in the world, was benched for 60 minutes against the worst team in the KHL.
SKA won 7-5, as Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was often the center of Demidov’s line, had a goal and three assists.
Note that in the defeat, a certain Alex Galchenyuk scored three goals against his former team.
In short, Roman Rotenberg decided today to give Demidov no presence, while his club faced the worst team in the KHL.
Instead of giving his 18-year-old a good chance to get back into his coach’s good graces, Rotenberg decided to punish him again.
Let’s say that Rotenberg’s credibility takes another hit.
Seriously, the situation is starting to get absolutely ridiculous.
How can a coach play yo-yo with a young player like that? Especially considering that Demidov is playing well under the circumstances, as he has 20 points, including six goals, in 31 games so far.
Evolution of Ivan Demidov’s playing time this season:
- Games #1 to 9: average ice time of 13:04
- Games #10 to 15: average ice time of 5:06
- Games #16 to 26: average ice time of 13:26
- Games #27 to 32: average ice time of 7:27
This roller coaster in Demidov’s playing time is really not ideal for his development, and let’s just say that it really doesn’t please CH fans, and I can’t even imagine how CH management (Kent Hughes, Jeff Gorton and even Nick Bobrov) feel.
It’s real stupidity, and it’s starting to get heavy.
The CH must really try to bring Demidov to North America as quickly as possible, if they want to have any control over his development.
Demidov is probably the best NHL prospect in Europe, and even defenseman Alexander Nikishin, Demidov’s teammate, admits that, even though he himself is one of the best prospects in Europe.
In short, this situation remains to be monitored closely.
In Burst
– Wow!
– Ouch.
– The Bruins’ power play isn’t working.
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