{"id":137847,"date":"2025-09-12T14:12:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T14:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/137847\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T14:12:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T14:12:07","slug":"ivan-demidov-makes-noise-at-canadiens-rookie-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/137847\/","title":{"rendered":"Ivan Demidov makes noise at Canadiens rookie camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

BROSSARD \u2014 Ivan Demidov<\/a>\u2019s name jumped off the page when the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> released their rookie camp roster.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old Russian phenom \u2014 pencilled in for a top-six role in the NHL \u2014 made sure his play popped just as loud once he hit the ice.<\/p>\n

Demidov flew past tryout defenceman Simon Lavigne and buried a wrist shot behind top goalie prospect Jacob Fowler in a one-on-one drill. Then he turned Bryce Pickford inside-out with a silky move.<\/p>\n

And in a scrimmage, he froze goalie Arseni Radkov on a breakaway, selling a deke to the backhand before pulling the puck to his forehand for a cheeky five-hole finish on Thursday at CN Sports Complex.<\/p>\n

\u201cNasty breakaway goal,\u201d said forward Florian Xhekaj<\/a>, who\u2019s skating on Demidov\u2019s line at rookie camp. \u201cHe\u2019s sick out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to give him the puck and give him some space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fowler, a Boston College standout, didn\u2019t envy fellow netminder Radkov on that breakaway chance.<\/p>\n

Demidov, he says, is incredibly difficult to predict.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t really know what\u2019s going to come,\u201d Fowler said of Demidov, who the Canadiens did not make available to reporters on Thursday. \u201cA lot of guys have kind of different tendencies and stuff with that. With him, it\u2019s the way he just reads the game as it comes to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe doesn\u2019t have an idea in his mind of exactly what he\u2019s going to do 10 minutes before he does it. He can read and react.\u201d<\/p>\n

One thing becoming predictable for Canadiens fans is Demidov finding his way onto the highlight reel every time he skates.<\/p>\n

Demidov is the heavy \u2014 and way-too-early \u2014 betting favourite for the Calder Trophy, won last season by shifty Canadiens defenceman Lane Hutson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After leading SKA Saint Petersburg with 49 points in 65 games \u2014 a KHL record for under-20 players \u2014 the 2024 No. 5 pick joined the Canadiens sooner than expected late last season.<\/p>\n

Thousands of fans from one of hockey\u2019s biggest markets tracked his flight overseas. A large group even trekked to Toronto Pearson Airport to welcome the prized prospect.<\/p>\n

He delivered with a beautiful goal and an assist in a memorable debut at the Bell Centre, before adding two assists in five playoff games against Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great when he came over, seeing videos of people tracking his flight,\u201d Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki<\/a> said at the NHL\/NHLPA media tour in Las Vegas this week. \u201cI was like, \u2018Oh, man, this is crazy.\u2019 But that\u2019s how big of a talent he is, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather than escape the hockey craze in Montreal, where Canadiens players continue to make headlines in July and August, the six-foot-one Demidov spent most of his summer in the city, working on his game and acclimating to the culture.<\/p>\n

While Demidov\u2019s place is secure, other rookies will battle for NHL roster spots when the Canadiens host prospect games Saturday against Winnipeg and Sunday versus Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a special player and an even better person off the ice,\u201d Fowler said. \u201cHis talent is some of the highest I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cool to see how good he\u2019s done so far, and that\u2019s only going to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Would you trade Demidov for Crosby? Bryan Hayes, Jeff O’Neill and Jamie McLennan discuss Sidney Crosby’s future in Pittsburgh, what a potential trade package could look like to acquire him and what teams are the best fit for the Penguins captain. <\/p>\n

MOM\u2019S SPAGHETTI<\/p>\n

Florian Xhekaj<\/a>, known for being the younger brother of bruising Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhekaj<\/a>, is looking to make his own mark.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old from Hamilton impressed in his first pro campaign, tallying 24 goals in 69 games with the American Hockey League\u2019s Laval Rocket last season.<\/p>\n

A long shot to crack the Canadiens roster this fall, Xhekaj focused on bulking up over the summer. The six-foot-four forward gained 15 pounds, bringing him to 220.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom\u2019s cooking fed me well,\u201d he said, smiling.<\/p>\n

Xhekaj models his game after power forwards Brady Tkachuk<\/a> and Tom Wilson<\/a>, and hopes he can one day play a similar role in Montreal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey put up big offensive numbers and they\u2019re also big, strong, tough guys,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also draws inspiration from his brother, who unexpectedly made the NHL roster out of camp in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe forced them to put them on the team,\u201d Xhekaj said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m going to try to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

SLIM PICKINS<\/p>\n

When it came time to choose his number, Jacob Fowler learned all about the long lineage of star Canadiens goalies, from Jacques Plante<\/a> and Ken Dryden \u2014 who died last week at age 78 \u2014 to Patrick Roy<\/a> and Carey Price<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Plante\u2019s No. 1, Dryden\u2019s No. 29 and Roy\u2019s No. 33 all hang in the Bell Centre rafters. And Price\u2019s No. 31 could be next.<\/p>\n

Fowler, who wore No. 1 at Boston College, opted for No. 32 \u2014 in part as a nod to American goalie Jonathan Quick<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at every number that a goalie has worn, pretty much all of them are retired. Or if not, going to be retired very soon,\u201d Fowler said. \u201cYou look at the history of this organization, it\u2019s the pinnacle of hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n

— With files from CP hockey reporter Joshua Clipperton.<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2025.<\/p>\n

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BROSSARD \u2014 Ivan Demidov\u2019s name jumped off the page when the Montreal Canadiens released their rookie camp roster.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-137847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}