Ivan Demidov continues to give Canadiens fans good reason to be excited about him.
The 19-year-old forward — selected by the Canadiens with the fifth overall pick at last year’s NHL Draft — picked up an assist Tuesday in SKA St. Petersburg’s 8-3 win over Ak Bars Kazan in KHL action. The assist gave Demidov 19-24-43 totals in 51 games this season, setting a KHL record for most points in a season by a player under age 20. The old record was held by Kirill Kaprizov, who had 20-22-42 totals in 49 games with Salavat Yulaeav Ufa as a 19-year-old during the 2016-17 season.
The Minnesota Wild selected Kaprizov in the fifth round (135th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft. Kaprizov hasn’t played since suffering a lower-body injury during a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 26 that required surgery. Before the injury, Kaprizov had 23-29-52 totals in 37 games this season.
When Jeff Gorton, the Canadiens’ executive vice-president of hockey operations, was a guest recently on The Sick Podcast — The Eye Test with Pierre McGuire and Jimmy Murphy he was asked about Demidov.
“Obivously, very talented,” Gorton said. “We felt that at No. 5 it was an obvious selection for us to get a guy of that kind of calibre. Since we took him to this day nothing’s ever changed. He’s an exciting player. It’s all good there.”
“Our market is very excited about this player,” Gorton added.
Demidov is expected to join the Canadiens next season after his KHL contract expires.