Was Ivan Demidov benched because he refused a contract extension from SKA St. Petersburg three times last month? At least that’s what a source close to the Montreal Canadiens hopeful’s entourage reports behind the scenes.
“Ivan refused all three times,” our source said over the phone. He doesn’t want anything to do with another year with SKA.”
One of the offers submitted by the SKA would be for two years and with an average value of 40 million rubles, which represents approximately $560,000 Canadian. “With bonuses that can exceed the value of the annual salary,” we were told.
Our speaker, who has worked in the KHL and even for an NHL team over the years, assures that the decline in the young forward’s playing time is directly linked to his contractual situation with the SKA.
“It’s not like he was playing badly,” he stressed. He was very good, especially for an 18-year-old player. He does fantastic things on the ice. Moreover, Evgeny Kuznetsov praised him. Kuznetsov wanted to have a linemate like him, who allowed him to play the style of game he liked. He and Demidov have chemistry.
“For head coach Roman Rotenberg, the contractual situation is a very important issue.”
And Demidov, who our source says he has regular contact with, apparently knew what to expect before the KHL season even started. When he was drafted by the Canadian, his intentions to land in North America in 2025-2026 were known.
“He knew it would be difficult,” our source said.
Moreover, Demidov’s agent, Dan Milstein, refuses to make the slightest comment about his client as long as the latter plays in the KHL. We certainly understand his motives.
Like Romanov back then
What doesn’t add up a priori in this story is: why this blackmail? How can SKA deduce that this approach will make Demidov want to stay with the team longer than expected?
“You’re wasting your time trying to find logic,” our source replied. Rotenberg has done the stunt to several other players in the past. He doesn’t understand that you need to go about things in other ways to convince a player with his potential to stay.
Blackmail is actually a common strategy with young KHL players; a practice that is certainly not exclusive to Demidov’s case. During an interview in April 2020, the Canadian’s former draft guru, Trevor Timmins, explained to the media that the decline in Alexander Romanov’s playing time with CSKA Moscow was directly linked to his desire to play in the NHL soon.
In fact, within the SKA alone, there are numerous examples in recent history. Here are four.
October 2020, the Canucks Army blog headlines: “Why Vasili Podkolzin is benched in Russia”. Vancouver Canucks’ 2019 first-round pick, 10e in total, finds himself left aside by SKA after a promising start to the season. He was removed from the lineup during the matches of October 19, 22 and 26. The following year, he arrived in North America.
2021-2022 season: forward Ivan Morozov, second-round pick of the Vegas Golden Knights (61e in total) in 2022, is used profusely by the SKA. His playing time even reached the 20-minute mark on two occasions. However, on November 25 and 29, he was content with 13 and 10 minutes respectively against Ak Bars and Severstal before being loaned to Sochi. Once Sochi’s season ended, Morozov joined the Vegas Golden Knights’ American Hockey League affiliate.
This same season, Kirill Marchenko started it in good style with the SKA. After eight games, he has seven points, including five goals. But from October 13 to 29, he played seven consecutive games under 10 minutes. SKA continued to use him sporadically, but he nevertheless finished the season with 20 points in 39 matches. The following year, he joined the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Again in 2021-2022, Yaroslav Askarov, the most promising goalkeeper in Russia, is content with six appearances with SKA and allows on average less than two goals per game. It was in the VHL, the second Russian level, that he spent most of the campaign before signing his entry-level contract in the National League with the Nashville Predators in May.
VHL, an option?
Still according to our source, Demidov would be open to the idea of playing in Russia’s second tier, the VHL: “He would be comfortable with that if it means playing 20 minutes per game.”
It would be surprising if Demidov was demoted, however.
“Roman feels pressure from the media and outside to give Ivan more playing time, because Ivan is excellent when he gets on the ice. When he plays three to five minutes, each of his presences is incredible, he makes creative plays.
“He can’t demote him, since Ivan is too good.”
The pressure of playing Demidov is likely starting to weigh on Rotenberg. In Tuesday’s match against Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, Rotenberg entrusted more than 13 minutes of play to Demidov for the first time since September 27.
Coach at heart, really?
Rotenberg’s credibility as a die-hard coach is a matter of debate. When he took Valeri Bragin’s place behind the SKA bench in 2020, he had no experience as a coach or player at the professional level.
“He’s more of a manager [qu’un coach]illustrated our source. He assembles the formation and deploys the players during the match, but SKA training is supervised by his deputies.
We can also wonder whether Rotenberg created within his team a climate conducive to introspection.
“He hates criticism,” said our speaker. He only wants to hear good things about him. His staff members are like that too.”
Son of oligarch and childhood friend of Vladimir Putin Boris Rotenberg, Roman exercises a lot of influence within the Russian hockey federation. He helped make SKA the richest team in the KHL, but also the closest to the Kremlin.
His comments over the years have sometimes undermined his credibility. Among other things, he compared himself to José Mourinho, boasted of having watched 800 hockey matches since 2014 (a valuable experience, he said) and used a dubious metaphor with the end of the siege of Leningrad. after SKA ended a losing streak.
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