Every Montreal Canadiens fan has seen Ivan Demidov highlights all season. His game is very highlight-prone, and those highlights are impressive.
But there is more to the game than highlights, and a player’s ability to survive and thrive in the NHL lies in his game behind the highlights. And while many fans watched Demidov’s games religiously all season, most did not.
Don’t feel bad if you are in the majority here, because you are not alone. Kaiden Guhle is part of the club.
He’s also seen the highlights and is also impressed by them, but that’s as far as it goes.
“It’s highlights and stuff, highlight-reel stuff,” Guhle said after the Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. “I don’t really keep a close tab on that stuff. I’m more worried about here, obviously.”
His teammates were also impressed by the highlights, but Demidov’s ability to quickly gain their respect while preparing for this group’s first real foray into the Stanley Cup playoffs will lie in his play behind the highlights, in the details and commitment to what the team is trying to do on the ice, especially when they don’t have the puck.
Martin St. Louis always says he doesn’t coach the guy with the puck, he coaches the other four on the ice, and if they do what they’re supposed to do then the guy with the puck should have an easier time executing.
So, how does Demidov look without the puck? That doesn’t really come through in highlights, because he usually has the puck there, and he’s a magician with the puck on his stick.
I decided to watch his final six games with SKA Saint Petersburg in the KHL playoffs against Dynamo Moscow to see if any trends emerged, how he looked off the puck and what he does to create those highlight-reel moments.
Whenever I go through this process, I feel it’s important to note I’m not a scout or a coach or have any expertise in breaking down video whatsoever.
That said, let me just say what lies beneath the highlights is pretty impressive in its own right.
I cut nearly 30 clips from those six playoff games and separated them into four buckets based on what I was seeing and what kept repeatedly showing up: quick decisions and poise, fearless with the puck, battle and compete, and movement and vibes. I did have a folder called ‘bad defence,’ but it only had one clip in six games by the end of the process, so it wasn’t exactly a trend I noticed repeatedly.
Let’s go through each of my four buckets one by one.
Quick decisions and poise
This is not the first bucket by accident.
Demidov’s ability to make decisions before he has the puck is exceptional and something St. Louis will surely value in his game.
This was perhaps the best example I saw, in overtime of a critical Game 4 with SKA down 2-1 in the series. Demidov (No. 91 in all clips) makes quick decisions twice in this sequence, first when he takes a pass in the right faceoff circle and sends it immediately to a teammate in the slot, and again when the puck is sent right back out to him and he immediately puts it on goal with a mob of traffic arriving there.
SKA ultimately lost this game, but very nearly won it right here.
Demidov is consistently a threat on offensive zone faceoffs because of his lethal shot, but also because of his decisiveness and ability to execute set plays without a moment’s hesitation, as he did here to set up a goal early in Game 5 of the series.
This play in the second period of Game 1 — a game in which Demidov sat on the bench for the entire first period — was a great example of thinking two plays ahead. As Demidov works his way behind the net off the faceoff, anticipating the puck heading there, he lifts the Moscow defender’s stick and in nearly the same motion sends the puck into the slot for a grade-A scoring chance.
This is normal behaviour for Demidov. He often works on moves that are yet to come but he knows are coming and acts in kind. This shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the way he evaluated his own game at the draft in Las Vegas less than a year ago.
“I think I can read the game two or three steps ahead,” Demidov said then.
Confirmed.
The poise category is also important. Demidov does not panic with the puck under pressure. He can make plays under less-than-ideal circumstances. This is not a spectacular play by any stretch, but it required poise in his defensive zone in Game 4.
Fearless with the puck
This is the category that is most complicated under the current circumstances.
Demidov is fearless with the puck. He will try things that get him in trouble at times, things that turn pucks over. That fearlessness needs to be neutered somewhat in the Canadiens’ current context of being as risk-free as possible, but it also needs to be nurtured because it is part of what makes Demidov special.
There were numerous risks Demidov took with the puck that are admirable, but that probably won’t fly in Montreal right now, and he will likely need to tone this aspect of his game down a bit. At least temporarily.
Here is Exhibit A. This type of risk-reward calculation is not likely to be well received by St. Louis.
But in other situations, that calculation is something to be admired, even if it doesn’t work. Like, who even tries this?
And finally, a case where nurturing that fearlessness can pay off and be valuable.
That goal was ultimately ruled a good goal despite it being waved off initially, and it came as a result of Demidov’s fearlessness with the puck.
Finding that balance will probably be an early challenge for both Demidov and St. Louis.
Battle and compete
This is a category that came up regularly — more often in the offensive zone than the defensive zone, but still, it was something we noticed often. For someone as supremely skilled as Demidov, his compete when there’s a puck to be won is admirable and likely to improve as he gets older and stronger.
For instance, many of you probably saw this goal, but the battle and compete that preceded it should jump out.
It began with a trademark wrist shot from the right circle but was followed by Demidov going after the loose puck, securing possession of it, and drifting over to the back post — which is where he often lives, similar to Cole Caufield.
This shoulder to the chest of a Moscow defenceman off an offensive zone draw on the power play ensured SKA would have possession, and seemed to leave that defenceman a bit worse for wear.
And finally, one example of his defensive awareness; not necessarily a strength we observed, but not something that is completely lacking either.
Movement and vibes
I saved this one for last for a reason. Watching Demidov play, two things jump out: One, he is constantly in movement, and two, he just gives off hockey player vibes. The second one is a bit more abstract and is enhanced by video. The first one often works in lockstep with the second in that the constant movement gives off those vibes.
Just the way he skates, the way he uses his edges. There are hockey player vibes here, no?
Demidov’s off-puck activity should be to St. Louis’ liking because it allows him to enter areas at the right moments, not always moving fast — in fact, rarely so — but always moving and reading what’s happening, where to go next. Especially just after he’s gotten rid of the puck. He rarely moves it and watches it move. Instead, he moves.
This is a big part of Demidov’s repertoire, getting the puck near the goal line, moving it to a teammate and driving the front of the net. It is a very NHL-translatable action.
And finally, one just for fun, where even the official can’t stop Demidov from giving off those hockey player vibes.
The conclusion I came to after watching a lot of Demidov’s tape is that there is a lot of substance beneath the highlights. There were moments where the tough coaching he received this season seemed justified and others where it seemed unthinkable to purposely nail a talent like this to your bench.
But in the end, Demidov is still only 19. It’s what makes what he’s already able to do so promising but it also serves as a cautionary tale for what awaits him in Montreal. He is supremely talented, but he is entering an environment in which St. Louis has repeatedly stated that the time for learning is over, it is now time to execute.
Demidov’s ability to execute is exceptional, but he naturally has a lot to learn, especially arriving in a new league at the most important, pressurized time of year.
How the young prodigy and his new coach will navigate that line in the coming days and weeks should be fascinating to watch.
(Photo: Maksim Konstantinov / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images)