One of Ivan Demidov’s countrymen is optimistic the top-five pick will have a strong run of success in Montreal. Former Canadiens winger Alexander Radulov spoke to Sergey Demidov of Responsible Gambling about the 2024 fifth-overall pick and said Demidov will be “having a blast” when he likely begins his NHL career in the closing days of the 2024-25 season.
“Yes, he will be pressured, and he should understand that,” Radulov said. “But he should turn that pressure to his advantage. In Quebec, fans understand hockey. If you give it all, they see it and appreciate it. They even have hockey on their five-dollar bill.”
Radulov, who spent the 2016-17 season in Montreal, will be Demidov’s rival in the Kontinental Hockey League this season as the youngster takes on his first full season of professional hockey. Demidov, 19 in December, had one of the best seasons in Russian junior hockey history last year with SKA St. Petersburg’s U20 club, where he lit up the circuit for 60 points (27 G, 33 A) in just 30 games. He remains on SKA’s main roster two days ahead of their regular season opener, and all signs point to him starting his post-draft season with the main squad.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- Each day that passes without a Sidney Crosby extension means more anxiety for Penguins fans. The face of the franchise is entering the last season of his 12-year, $104.4MM contract and has been eligible to sign an extension since July 1, but there hasn’t been any news despite the two sides being reportedly close for months. Trade speculation will keep heating up the closer we get to training camp, influencing TSN’s Travis Yost to at least break down the likelihood of Crosby being moved at the trade deadline. “Imagine for a moment that the Penguins struggle early,” Yost writes. “It is precisely Crosby’s loyalty to the franchise that would suggest a trade could be fruitful: the returns even for a rental of Crosby would be extraordinary, and under the same assumption that Crosby’s loyalty is unwavering, he would return back to Pittsburgh (with possibly more help rostered as soon as 2025-26) on his retirement deal.“
- Could more teams follow in the Hurricanes’ footsteps and use deferred payments to help get long-term deals across the finish line? It’s at least something to look out for in the case of the Devils and RFA forward Dawson Mercer, posits James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now. New Jersey is down to $4.98MM in projected cap space, per PuckPedia, a figure Mercer’s AAV on a longer-term deal would likely eclipse by a slim margin. Deferring a small percentage of the contract until the end of the agreement would help it get across the finish line, at least from the team’s perspective. Whether Mercer is willing to accept the structure remains to be seen.