Ivan Demidov Debuting for Montreal Canadiens Against Chicago

The fever pitch surrounding star Montreal Canadiens prospect Ivan Demidov will finally pay off on Monday night at the Bell Centre as the 19-year-old prepares to make his NHL debut against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Demidov just finished his rookie KHL season playing with SKA Saint Petersburg. He put up 49 points (19G, 30A) in 65 games, passing Kirill Kaprizov for the most single-season points ever recorded by a player under the age of 20 in league history.

Montreal took Demidov fifth overall in last year’s draft and there was actually talk he could have gone higher, but teams didn’t know when he would make the move to North America.

Well, the wait is over and Habs fans are finally about to see what Demidov can bring to Montreal’s push to lock up a playoff spot.

This isn’t a scenario of the Canadiens throwing their star prospect a bone and getting him some NHL games under his belt. Remember, Montreal hasn’t officially clinched a playoff spot, so if they’re putting Demidov in the lineup, it’s because they think he will help them win.

Demidov skated on the third line with Alex Newhook and Joel Armia at Monday’s practice and he’s also expected to get some looks on the second power play unit. That means you can likely expect Demidov to get around 15 minutes of ice time, maybe more if Montreal is up big.

Demidov is +100 to record his first NHL point and +230 to score his first NHL goal on Monday. Head coach Martin St. Louis has said he’s not done tinkering with his lines and he might put Demidov with Newhook and Patrik Laine at some point against the Blackhawks, so the Russian sniper should get a lot of offensive opportunities.

Montreal is hoping Demidov can one day be the face of the franchise, so the team is going to put him in the best possible scenario to succeed. I like his chances to score on Monday.