Canadiens Prospect still sees limited ice time in KHL, but is hitting with Nikishin

On November 29, 2024By Pranco

In today’s game against Admiral Vladivostok, Montreal Canadiens prospect Ivan Demidov once again saw limited ice time. Limited to the fourth line, the right winger was on the ice for only eight and a half minutes in the defeat of SKA St. Petersburgh. This is the tenth straight game in which he gets less than ten minutes of ice time.

Even though praise is raining left, right and center for the Canadiens prospect, coach Roman Rotenberg still prefers to use the players who will remain with SKA beyond this season. While this is understandable in the long run, he is depriving his team of the offense it so desperately needs right now.

After Tony DeAngelo threw flowers at Demidov again on the Morning Cuppa Podcast, teammate and Carolina Hurricanes prospects Alexander Nikishin also sang his praises in an interview with RG.org. The promising young blueliner said that he does not see himself as the leading European candidate when it was put to him, and added with a laugh:

We have a young guy on the team, but I won’t mention his name lest he read this.

RG.org reporter Daria Tuboltseva assumed he was talking about Demidov and it is indeed the inference that makes sense.

While seeing so little ice time isn’t ideal for Demidov’s development, it can at least reassure Habs fans that the prospect remains adamant about coming to this side of the pond at the end of his contract with SKA. If he were to give in to the pressure and sign a contract extension, he would spend a lot of time on the ice, but that’s a price he’s not willing to pay, thankfully for the Canadiens.

SKA’s next match is Saturday when they take on Amur Khabarovsk, a side that sits in last place in the Eastern Conference with 15 points to their name. Meanwhile, SKA is fourth in the Western Conference with 39 points.

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