Habs Hebdo | Ivan Demidov is Thriving, but Should We Be Worried About Bogdan Konyushkov?

Welcome to the latest edition of «Habs Hebdo», your weekly column on Montreal Canadiens prospects! For all previous chronicles: Habs Hebdo Section. For the french version: Hebdo CH Section

Ivan Demidov: Habs Prospect of the Week

This week has not been a great offensive harvest for most of the Canadiens’ prospects. It’s Ivan Demidov, with 6 assists in 3 games, who earns the title of Canadiens prospect of the week. Is there a correlation between a reasonable amount of ice time and his production this week? Certainly, but there’s also context to consider. This does not diminish his output, as his contributions had a real impact on the games.

However, SKA faced a relatively easy schedule at the beginning of the week, playing against Vityaz (14th out of 23 teams in the KHL) and Kunlun (21st). They concluded with a matchup against the league’s 4th team, Spartak Moscow. Demidov accumulated most of his points against Kunlun (4 assists). That said, playing against weaker teams seems to have encouraged Roman Rotenberg to utilize his rookie more, and Demidov has responded. No matter which team stood in front of SKA, Demidov seized the opportunity, bringing his total points to 16 in 20 games. The Canadiens prospect is on pace to finish the season with 54 points. In comparison, had Michkov played all 68 regular-season games last year, he would have ended with 59 points while enjoying significantly more ice time than Demidov.

Concerns for Bogdan Konyushkov?

At the start of the season, it took just one game on the third pairing for fans to react negatively to Bogdan Konyushkov’s situation. Interestingly, he was still the most utilized player that game. Currently, it remains the same. Konyushkov continues to be the most used defenseman by his coach. He displays a lot of effectiveness on the ice, but the points aren’t coming. However, he is contributing in all aspects of the game, especially since Slava Voynov’s injury.

Within Torpedo, a prospect drafted by the Hurricanes in the second round is having a breakout season. Nikita Artamonov has accumulated 19 points in 20 games, establishing himself as the team’s top scorer. In contrast, Konyushkov, on defense, has a total of 5 points in 20 games, which ranks him 3rd among defensemen. He is just behind Anton Silayev, who plays less and doesn’t get regular time on the power play. Should we be concerned? No, but it would be nice to see him produce, as maintaining his current pace would result in 11 fewer points than last year.

Aatos Koivu on the Move

The Finnish forward continues to be shuffled around this week. His first game of the week was in the top league before being sent down to the U20 team for a game two days later. Following his U20 game, Koivu was called back up to the Liiga. This lack of stability could start to affect his development. While he can express himself more offensively in the U20 league, playing 3 games in 4 days across two different leagues involves a lot of adjustments, and Koivu’s offensive performance has suffered at the start of the season.

FLASH NEWS

– Yevgeni Volokhin played his first KHL game with Sochi. He didn’t win, and his performance was decent, at best.

– Joshua Roy found his stride with the Rocket over the weekend, scoring 2 goals and adding an assist. Luke Tuch also had a productive weekend with the same contribution. For more on the Rocket’s performance, check out our Laval Rocket section!

– Michael Hage played the hero over the weekend, scoring the winning goal for his team in overtime. To see the play, click HERE.

– With the contributions of players like Jared Davidson, Luke Tuch, and Filip Mesar with the Rocket, it seems Sean Farrell’s name is slipping down the depth chart. Is this the end of Farrell as a quality prospect in the organization? I think so!

Statistics collected from October 21 to October 27 inclusive.

Goalies

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