In a surprise decision on Tuesday, the best hope of Canadians, Ivan Demidov, ended his contract with Ska St. Petersburg of the KHL before signing with Montreal, the team announced on Tuesday.
The 19 -year -old striker has signed an entry -level contract of three years with the Canadians, who retain the second point of Joker at the Eastern Conference, who would mark the first trip of the team to the playoffs since their surprise to the Stanley Cup final during the 2021 qualifying series in the bubble. Montreal still has five regular season games.
Demidov is eligible to play in the playoffs, confirmed his agent Dan Milstein to Greg Wyshynski in ESPN.
Montreal has selected the striker with choice n ° 5 of the NHL 2024 draft. In a statement published by SKA, the team described this as a “joint decision” to terminate the contract, but said that its KHL rights would remain with the team.
“He will return to Saint Petersburg if he will not take off in the NHL,” said the Ska press release. The Demidov contract was to expire on May 31, 2025, which is deeply in the NHL qualifying series.
Demidov scored 19 goals and 49 points in 65 regular season games to lead SKA this season and is considered one of the most talented perspectives that do not play in the NHL today. The 19 -year -old prospered in one of the best leagues in the world, leading his team in playoffs, with five points in six games before being eliminated by Dynamo Moscow. Although Ska Saint-Petersburg was eliminated, the team could have sent Demidov to their affiliates in the lower leagues, the MHL or the VHL, for the rest of the playoffs.
Demidov was considered one of the most talented players in the 2024 draft, but slipped to No. 5 due to the fears of a team when it could be available to come to North America.
In December, the Canadians sent a contingent of their best brass – including GM Kent Hughes, advisor Vincent Lecavaleir and director of amateur scouting Nick Brobov – to visit Demi -Petersburg and spend time with their best prospect. He was considered one of the first times that the NHL leaders have entered Russia for screening for Ukraine in 2022 in 2022.
