Habs Hebdo: Ivan Demidov Impresses This Week!

Welcome to this new edition of Habs hebdo, your weekly column on the Montreal Canadiens’ prospects. For all previous columns: Habs Hebdo Section.

Happy New Year 2025 to all our readers at Toutsurlehockey.com and to our loyal readers/listeners of TSLH Prospects and the TSLH Podcast! With the new year, attention is increasingly turning toward the NHL draft, but I will also take this opportunity to release a first ranking of the Canadiens’ top prospects this month. And at the top of the list, it will not be a surprise to find Ivan Demidov’s name. The Russian forward is our prospect of the week in this first 2025 edition of the Habs Hebdo!

Ivan Demidov: Canadiens’ Prospect of the Week!

A great performance from Ivan Demidov this week in his two games in the KHL. His output earned him not only the title of Rookie of the Week in the KHL, but he was also named Player of the Week. The Canadiens’ prospect concluded his work week with 3 goals, including one that went viral for its spectacular nature. In total, Demidov added 5 points to his record. It is clear that the absence of Evgeny Kuznetsov has forced the SKA head coach to use his young player more. Interestingly, since the visit of Kent Hughes, Nick Bobrov, and Vincent Lecavalier to the SKA offices, Demidov has been getting more offensive opportunities in the SKA lineup.

He now has a total of 31 points in 40 games this season. That’s two points less than Tyler Thorpe, the Canadiens’ prospect. However, Thorpe plays in the WHL, while Demidov is playing in a professional league at a much higher caliber than any junior league. Quite impressive!

Tough Return for Filip Mesar

It’s not been easy for the Laval Rocket forward since his return to play. After being injured in the lower body at the start of the season, the Slovakian forward returned just before the Holidays. However, after a hot start to the season (5 points in 5 games), Mesar has struggled to get on the scoresheet since his return. In the second game of the Rocket’s weekend, he finally found the back of the net. However, it seems he is still lacking explosiveness and his game reading isn’t quite there yet. From the coaching side, they want to test things out but don’t want to rush Mesar in his rehabilitation. He was evaluating himself well in the morning skate before the January 2 game:

“I didn’t feel very comfortable in the last two games. I would say the last two games were probably my worst of the year. I didn’t skate for two months. I’m still trying to get my legs back. Sometimes it feels heavy. No excuses. I have to play game by game and work hard in practice,” he explained to the media (comments quoted via Chris G, journalist for Rocket Sports Media).

A Good WJC for Rasmus Bergqvist

Rasmus Bergqvist was somewhat of an under-the-radar prospect within the Montreal Canadiens’ prospect pool. Just before the WJC, you could count on one hand the number of observers who had seen Bergqvist in action. However, his nomination to the first pairing of Team Sweden made a lot of sense, given that he plays alongside Axel Sandin-Pellikka on a defensive unit at Skelleftea in the SHL. Bergqvist is, however, quite the opposite of Sandin-Pellikka, focusing on defensive efficiency by countering opponents in a smart way. Quickly, he stood out with a beautiful goal in his first game.

For the rest of the tournament, it was not Bergqvist’s offensive play that stood out. The Swedish defenseman was efficient in his decision-making and was able to counter the best opposing trios. Above all, he took care of ASP’s back, who was leading the offensive charge. Overall, it was a very good tournament for this defender who already plays very professionally. However, Bergqvist is very close to his potential ceiling, so it’s not necessary to project this defenseman into the NHL quickly. He remains an interesting 7th-round pick, but there are no big expectations for him.

Mikus Vecvanags Traded to the QMJHL!

Finally! We will remember the day of the draft when Martin Lapointe said that Vecvanags would play in Blainville. He mentioned it just before the CHL import draft. The Titans chose the goaltender before Blainville could speak. In the end, Vecvanags went to the BCHL because he had reached an agreement with the University of Maine in the NCAA. However, with the new rules, he no longer had to stay in the BCHL for fear of losing his NCAA eligibility. Thus, during the Holidays, we learned that Mikus Vecvanags would report to the Titans in the QMJHL. Since then, he has made his first start, which wasn’t bad.

It must be said that with the Brooks Bandits in the BCHL, he had a strong team in front of him and played very little. This will therefore be an adjustment period for him as he serves as a backup with the Titans. He should play more than he did in the BCHL. In his first start, he allowed 5 goals on 36 shots in the loss to the Cape Breton Eagles.

FLASH NEWS

– Aatos Koivu was sent back to the U20 after limited use in Liiga. The forward is recovering from mononucleosis, which kept him off the ice for an entire month.

– Yevgeni Volokhin stepped in for Sergei Ivanov in Sochi’s only game of the week. He performed well, stopping 22 of 23 shots directed at him. However, Sochi lost 5-1 in the game.

– New year, same Michael Hage! The Canadiens’ prospect had a good week with 3 points in 2 games. Where do you think he will rank in my Canadiens prospect ranking?

– Productive week for Tyler Thorpe, who maintains his status as the top point producer among Canadiens prospects. The Vancouver Giants forward accumulated 4 points in 4 games.

– Minor lower-body injury for Florian Xhekaj in Laval. With a surplus of players, they can be patient with him.

Statistics collected from December 30th to January 5th inclusive.

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