Ivan Demidov’s first full NHL season was certainly a strong one and lived up to the hype. Now, how much of a gain should the Habs expect from him in his sophomore campaign?
2025-26
While there were certainly many who were hoping that Demidov would play a huge role right away, the Canadiens were predictable in his early deployment. Basically, for the first two months, they were managing him carefully. He wasn’t always on the top power play unit and there were times when he wasn’t in the top six. Given how they handled Juraj Slafkovsky, that was a reasonable approach to start.
The difference with Demidov is that he was productive enough within that limited role that he basically forced the coaching staff to play him more. From December on, he was averaging close to three minutes per game more ice time compared to the first two months of the season.
Interestingly enough, it didn’t necessarily result in more production. Outside the second quarter when Demidov, Oliver Kapanen, and Slafkovsky gave the team a strong second line, he was actually a bit more productive in the first quarter when he played less compared to the second half of the season. Meanwhile, there was some demonstrated improvement defensively as the season went on, helping to earn him a longer rope even when the output started to slip.
Come playoff time, teams were keying in on him more. Slafkovsky was back on the top line and Kapanen was faltering so the second line became Demidov and two players who weren’t viewed as big threats to try to defend. His time and space were largely taken away and unsurprisingly, he struggled against tighter checking. Even so, he finished seventh among Montreal forwards in scoring among forwards, a respectable showing for someone in his first full season.
Regular Season Stats: 82 GP, 19-43-62, +3, 34 PIMS, 7 PPG, 4 GWG, 127 shots, 15:30 ATOI
Playoff Stats: 19 GP, 3-6-9, -1, 6 PIMS, 2 PPG, 0 GWG, 35 shots, 17:03 ATOI
2 Year Averages
Considering that Demidov’s first season lasted all of two games, that would drastically skew the numbers so we’ll skip this section.
2026-27 Role
Demidov’s role to start the season shouldn’t be in too much question. He’s going to be the offensive focal point of the second line. The bigger question revolves around who he’ll play with. If the Habs try to balance things out, Slafkovsky could drop to that line again with the hopes that those two can carry a weaker centre, likely one of Kapanen, Kirby Dach, or Alex Newhook. (Yes, Jake Evans played there in the playoffs but that isn’t Plan A to start.) That line will have some real offensive upside.
On the other hand, if they load up the top line again, then Demidov will be asked to really carry the load on this second line. It still could be a combination of those three centres comprising the rest of the line with one of them shifting to the wing while Alexandre Texier and Zach Bolduc would be other candidates to move up.
One of the questions that I have heading into the season is if Martin St. Louis will give Demidov any meaningful five-on-five time with Nick Suzuki. There is some chemistry between the two on the power play that could carry over to even strength, giving the top line a different look and Demidov a bit more potential to produce. I think we’ll see it tried at some point, at least.
Speaking of the power play, there shouldn’t be an effort to balance the two units as there was last season when Patrik Laine was in the mix. Demidov was a fixture on the top group for most of the year and that shouldn’t change. With the extra power play time early on compared to last year, there is a bit of upside for an uptick in production there.
Projected Stats
While there is a natural expectation that Demidov, widely perceived as a star in the making, will take a big leap forward offensively, we’ve also seen plenty of players struggle when they get to their sophomore season. I don’t think that’s going to happen here but at the same time, I’m not projecting a massive jump in his point total either.
For Demidov to take a step toward hovering around a point per game, he needs a second key player on his line. I expect Slafkovsky to spend a lot of time on the top line and while Demidov should get some looks there as well, his primary role will be carrying the second line. While some natural improvement should happen, it also wouldn’t shock me if that’s offset by his line not quite having as much success in terms of goals scored as it did a year ago.
There is some wide variance in Demidov’s ADP depending on the platform being used. His ADP on Yahoo is in the 80s while on ESPN, it’s nearly 180. Realistically, the former seems too early while the latter is way too low. He’s not going to give you extra boosts in many scoring categories but he’s a reasonable bet to pencil in for 70-something points with some power play upside. That’s a pretty valuable piece in pretty much every scoring format.
GP: 82
Goals: 26
Assists: 47
Points: 73
+/-: -5
PIMS: 38
PPG: 8
GWG: 4
Shots: 147