Will Ivan Demidov finish the season with the Montreal Canadiens this spring? The question is on everyone’s lips and the most concrete answer when composing these few lines is very clear: NO. The KHL and the SKA would not want to know anything about such an avenue, according to my reading…
According to the information collected on the site RG.orgit depends, in part, on head coach Roman Rotenberg:
“Demidov can only leave the NHL this season if Roman Rotenberg agrees to terminate his contract by mutual consent. This is what happened when Vladislav Gavrikov and Nikita Gusev left for the NHL. But in their case, there was a behind-the-scenes agreement that the players would go to the IIHF World Championship as soon as Columbus and Vegas were eliminated from the playoffs.indicated a source close to the matter (to RG).
Still according to the site source RG.orgDemidov’s situation would be “delicate” and complex, compared to that of his compatriots Gavrikov and Gusev.
Note that before signing a pact within the NHL, for a member of the KHL, the agreement of a player playing within this circuit must be terminated or expired, which leaves young Russians at the mercy of their club, since they cannot leave for the NHL before management decides to stamp its OK.
Here is Marco d’Amico’s collection of information on this very complex issue:
“The current agreement between the KHL club and the hockey player may be terminated by mutual agreement at any time. According to Article 33 of the KHL Legal Regulations, in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the contract may be terminated by mutual agreement with or without payment of severance pay or monetary compensation. The contract termination process was described in more detail by the well-placed source, who has extensive knowledge of the KHL and the termination process.”
Here is the sequel that interests us since it concerns Ivan Demidov and the Habs:
“Montreal could only sign Ivan this season if SKA agrees to terminate Demidov’s contract at the end of the KHL season or earlier by mutual consent, in order to retain his rights and allow Ivan to sign with the Canadiens before they play their last game of the season!”
There is, however, a downside attached to this famous “code”: this year, the KHL admitted another element to the process, namely to extend its calendar, which pushed back the date from May 1 to May 31…
Back when the KHL campaign concluded on May 1, clubs were able to release certain prospects so that they could join their team in the NHL. Everything was done in good faith, obviously!
For Demidov to become a member of the blue-white-red team and burn a year of his entry contract, the Canadian will still have to be in the spring waltz on June 1, which is almost impossible… The team could find itself to contend for a playoff spot if things continue this way, but contending that long into the spring is an unlikely situation.
In the end, we can forget Demidov this year with the Sainte-Flanelle, right?
