Habs Go Skill, Fans Are Thrilled
July 2, 2024
By Grant McCagg
This time – the Montreal Canadiens got their comrade.
It may have been a year later than most fans preferred but the bleu, blanc, et rouge added high-flying Russian winger Ivan Demidov to the fold with the fifth overall pick in 2024, and his dynamic skill will be a welcome addition to the club when he joins the Canadiens in 2024-25.
“This guy might be better than Celebrini,” said one scout after scouting Demidvo on video in February. “He’s got more scoring punch. Celebrini’s got the motor and all of that but I don’t know if he’s got his dangle and his savvy. That’s crazy. That shorthanded goal he scored in his five-goal game? That was a man playing with boys in that game.”
Demidov spent the majority of the season in the MHL, and he dominated, leading Russian junior in points per game in both the regular season and playoffs, the first player to do that in the history of the league. Suffice it to say that after his terrific preseason performance in the KHL with SKA, he was worthy of a full-time position with the men.
“I know that SKA doesn’t like the young guys,” noted another scout in March. “He was wasting his time in junior. Way too good. This guy is very intriguing. We miss the Russians in international events, it’s just too bad. It would have been great for the scouts to see these guys. speed and skill…and just the touch around the net…holy f**k . A strong skater, with a strong lower body. There’s a good argument there for those two for sure being first overall…him and Celebrini. I know he’s Russian and no one’s seen him live but I don’t know if that’s going to matter this time.”
To the surprise of no one, Macklin Celebrini ended up going first overall to San Jose. What was less certain was where Demidov would land, and when he was still on the board at five, the Canadiens didn’t hesitate to spend a top-five pick on a Russian prospect for the first time since Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin were the top two draft selections in 2004.
At the 2023 NHL Draft, the Canadiens passed on skilled Russian winger Matvei Michkov to take rangy right defenceman David Reinbacher. The scouting staff and management took heat from fans for that decision. Michkov ended up going to Philadelphia at seventh overall.
“If Demidov and Michkov were playing in the same draft, I would feel better taking this guy because of size, skating…that stuff,” noted one scout. “There’s less noise around him too. You never know with these guys. Both are very talented, both very good players but this guy…the gut feelings are better with Demidov. He’s fun to watch.”
The Canadiens had one main objective going into the draft – find two forwards with legitimate top-six upside. The odds were good that they’d succeed in finding one at fifth overall but it was less certain with the 26th pick, and GM Kent Hughes made a calculated decision to move up five spots by dealing his late second-round pick (56th overall) to Los Angeles to move up to 21 and select Michael Hage.
“He was terrific as an underage,” said one scout in April. “When he came back from his injury, I couldn’t believe he hit the ground running so hard, and he was great. I like how he came on at the end of this season too. He can skate, he’s got skill, he can make plays, he can shoot it. All of the talent is there. He is very effective when he heads to the interior. He may be a top-15 pick now.”
Hughes wasn’t getting Hage or Sacha Boisvert at 26th overall, so trading the second-round pick to move up to 21 improved the odds of the Canadiens landing one of the two at 21.
“That was a very good haul for Montreal getting those two guys,” said one scout who had Demidov second overall and Hage in the late teens on his draft list.
“Hage has got size, skill, and offence,” said one scout midway through the season. “He’s on the second-to-worst team in the league. With the puck, he sees it well. I’ve seen him make high-end plays. I think he’s got good timing in the offensive zone but I think defensively it’s pretty poor right now. He loops away from plays and doesn’t get near the puck enough. He’d be a seven for offensive hockey sense and a four for defensive hockey sense. There’s a gap there.”
In his defence, he started the 2023-24 season slowly after tragedy hit his family last summer with the death of his father. Hage finished fourth in USHL scoring, in large part because of his terrific second half. The improvements were noticeable both offensively and defensively. In his last 29 games, he scored 23 goals and 50 points and then added four points in two USHL playoff games. He averaged 2.31 goals against per 60 in his last 30 games after giving up 5.67 goals against per 60 in his first 25 games.
“He’s an excellent skater, has some skill, he can beat guys one-on-one,” noted another scout. “There is a lot of skill and upside there. He’s dynamic in his skating and he’s got some skill.”
Drafting Hage was a heartwarming story but adding Aatos Koivu with the 70th pick also tugged at the heartstrings. His father Saku was a longtime Montreal Canadiens favourite who captained the team and persevered over Burkitt lymphoma, an aggressive type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Koivu blossomed later in his draft year, He started the season in the U18 league and by season’s end, was playing a key role on Finland’s U18 team. He got promoted to the U20 SM-sarja halfway through the season and improved his stats, scoring 16 goals and 31 points in 28 games. He was 60 percent on faceoffs for TPS’s junior team while averaging 17:23 per game. He was on TPS’s first power play unit and the second penalty kill, and showed some flashes of his old man’s skill and intelligence.
“I liked him better at the U18 than I did in Plymouth (Four Nations U18),” noted one scout. “He’s a decent playmaker. I thought he had a lot more jump but his skating is not great. He’s a smart player, good play execution but he’s got to get a lot faster, and be willing to get involved. He’ll go inside but he’s certainly not hard to play against. He was projected to be a late first or early second at one point so he’s fallen off.”
He’s not going to be mistaken for his father when it comes to on-ice vision and agility but he’s got more size and probably shoots the puck harder than Saku. There will be no rush, and the Canadiens will be patient with him.
Logan Sawyer started last season in the AJHL with the Brooks Bandits, one of the Alberta teams that transferred to the BCHL for the second half. He had 59 points in 49 games in the AJHL but his pace slowed down in the tougher BCHL, where Sawyer accumulated 19 points in 20 games. To his credit, he picked things up in the playoffs, finishing tied for fifth in points per game with seven goals and 15 points in 12 games.
Sawyer was featured as Recrutes Prospect of the Week after a superlative performance versus Sweden at the World Junior Hockey Challenge in early January.
“He’s got talent but I don’t know – this guy’s really not a good skater and he’s very slight,” said one scout after the WJHC. “His quickness is not that good. I know with him going the college route you’ve got time with him so he might be a good pick in the third. I didn’t really get a good feel for him.”
Sawyer may need work on his skating but he’s got a decent motor, hockey smarts and great hands. He was well worth a selection at 78th overall, and he will be joining Trevor Connelly and John Mustard in Providence next season.
“He’s a smart player,” added another scout. “If his feet come, he’s actually a good junior.”
Owen Protz was one of the OHL risers in the second half of the season, and the Canadiens grabbed him with the 102nd pick in the draft.
In 38 games with Sudbury, Protz averaged 13:46 per game, playing 52 seconds on the PK. In 35 games after he was traded to Brantford, he averaged 23:13 in ice time, including 3:48 shorthanded. A burly defender who is effective when he uses his brawn. He will need to keep working on his puck skills and agility.
“He’s got some good tools,” noted a scout. “He can be physical. Sometimes it’s there, sometimes it’s not. He can be (careless) out there but he can skate, he can move pucks, he’s physical, and he defends fine. Not a lot of offence but he’s really strong.”
Vancouver Giants winger Tyler Thorpe had 14 points in his first 26 games, and 30 points in his last 25, so there was a definite progression in his offence as the season went along, especially when it came to playmaking. Thorpe had three assists in his first 26 games, and 18 in his final 25. His last game was on Feb. 10, when he had his wrist sliced during a game.
Mikus Vecvanags was the lone goaltender chosen by the Canadiens in this draft, and the 6-3 Riga native backstopped Latvia to a 5-3 upset victory over Slovakia at the U18 Worlds.
Ben Merrill is a long-term project who will be toiling with Penticton in the BCHL next season before attending Harvard. Look for the St. Sebastian’s High School center/winger to use his full five years of development before the Canadiens decide on whether to sign him as his skating needs to substantially improve. He tallied 37 points in 25 games, third-best on his high school team.
Makar Khanin was featured on Recrutes Draftcast as the Prospect of the Week in early February. Passed over in last year’s draft, the slick winger with a heavy shot was promoted to the VHL midway through the campaign and didn’t look out of place in Russia’s second-best pro league. He’s a real longshot to ever play in the NHL but that’s why he lasted until the seventh round. He has NHL-level skill, so he was worth a gamble in the draft’s final round.
Rasmus Bergqvist is a mobile, 6-2 stay-at-home defender who was passed over in last year’s draft. He was a defensive stalwart in Skellefta’s run to the J20 Nationell championship. His goals-against average was a paltry 1.58/60 despite playing on the top PK unit.
Here is the full list of Montreal Canadiens draft picks:
