While Alexander Zharovsky was named the rookie of the month in December over in the KHL, on this side of the pond, former KHLer and current Montreal Canadiens standout Ivan Demidov received the same honour in the NHL. In 15 games, the 20-year-old winger gathered 14 points (four goals and 10 assists), more than any other rookie in the month.
Right now, Demidov leads the rookie scoring race with 35 points in 40 games, five points ahead of Anaheim Ducks’ Beckett Sennecke and nine points ahead of New York Islanders’ defenseman Matthew Schaefer, who has 26 points in 41 games. Over the past month, Demidov has begun to separate himself from the competition, scoring at a rapid pace.
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The Russian winger is on pace for 71 points right now, which is more than the last five Calder Trophy winners. Lane Hutson won the honour last year with 66 points; Connor Bedard won it the year before with 61; Matty Beniers won it in 2022-23 with 57; Moritz Seider won it in 2021-2022 with 50; and Kiril Kaprizov, the last Russian to win the award, won it in 2020-21 with 51. Of course, points are not the only thing that comes into consideration, but it’s certainly a factor.
Demidov currently has a five-game point streak, and the chemistry he has developed with fellow rookie Oliver Kapanen (fifth in the rookie scoring race and leading all rookies in goals) and young veteran Juraj Slafkovsky is fantastic to watch.
At the end of last season, when Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes spoke to the media, Gorton noted that a center doesn’t always have to drive a line; some players can do it while playing on the wing. This season, both Demidov and Slafkovsky are showing that they are up to the task. Their passing game is inspiring to watch, and their continued impressive performance is taking some of the attention and pressure off the Habs’ top line.
Demidov started January with a two-point performance in the Canadiens’ 7-5 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night, and he shows no signs of slowing down. While some of his teammates will be representing their countries at the Olympics in February, including linemate Kapanen, the leading rookie scorer will get some well-deserved downtime and rest to finish the season strong. If Russia were allowed to compete in the Olympics, he would likely have been on their roster. The sooner the conflict between his homeland and Ukraine is over, the better for both Demidov and the world.
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