Habsent Minded 7.02: When to expect Ivan Demidov in Montreal

We’re now in the dog days of summer for NHL news, but there are still some Montreal Canadiens topics worth a quick discussion on the podcast. Myself and Patrik Bexell got together on Monday to go over a few things, starting with the team’s recent development camp held in Brossard.

Michael Hage, Florian Xhekaj, and Jacob Fowler were the players who stood out the most for us, and we discuss how we feel they performed in the short outing. There were quite a few big names not in attendance, but they’ll instead be getting their chance to shine at rookie camp in September.

One player who wasn’t at development camp, and was never expected to be, was Ivan Demidov. We also know he won’t be at rookie or main camp this year, since his season will have already started in Russia. The question for many fans is when precisely they may see him in North America again, so we try to look at all of the options as to when and how he could find himself in Montreal.

There is a slim possibility, depending on KHL playoff results, that he is available before this season is over. Failing that, we will be waiting at least until next season, but his eventual arrival will remain a hot topic until it actually happens.

And when it happens, we ponder the merit of adding another Russian to the team, be it a player or coach, to help Demidov adjust to North America. Perhaps a very popular option among the fan base would be to try and enlist a certain Russian General to the coaching staff, one with quite a bit of familiarity with the Montreal market.

Click the play button below to listen to the full episode, and don’t forget to subscribe on your preferred platform, as we’ll soon be starting our series for the annual top 25 under 25!

Time Stamps
2:37 – Development camp
3:25 – Michael Hage
7:45 – Jacob Fowler
14:10 – Alexander Zetterberg and the Media Scrums
18:15 – Commercial Break
18:20 – Ivan Demidov, Timeline and which Russian League
32:00 – Should another Russian be added to the team to help Demidov adjust to North America?