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SKA: with Evgeny Kuznetsov injured long-term, Ivan Demidov’s situation changes.

 Félix Forget
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SKA: with Evgeny Kuznetsov injured long-term, Ivan Demidov’s situation changes.
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Since the beginning of the campaign, we have been closely monitoring what is happening with Ivan Demidov in Russia. The CH prospect is playing big hockey… but he isn’t getting a ton of ice time either.

All of this is mainly due to contract issues rather than his performance, but oh well.

That said, there is someone who is really helping the kid this season: Evgeny Kuznetsov. The former Capitals forward, who is a star in Russia, loves having Demidov on his line, which somewhat helps the young player’s situation.

However, yesterday, Kuznetsov was the victim of a rather borderline hit… and he was seriously injured.

According to Roman Rotenberg, we are talking about a “long absence.” TIFF, a Russian media outlet, mentions a possible absence of two months, but nothing has been confirmed in this regard for the moment.

All of this means that for a good while, SKA will be without Kuznetsov… and as a result, Demidov’s situation will change.

Theoretically, the logical reasoning would be to think that Demidov will get more ice time since the team needs to replace Kuznetsov’s offensive production. Thus, giving more playing time to one of the team’s top scorers is a concept that, on paper, makes sense.

But do I need to remind you that with SKA, logical reasoning is rarely the preferred approach?

Let’s remember that earlier this season, when Kuznetsov missed a few games, Demidov saw his ice time plummet. He had been demoted to the role of 13th forward (let’s recall that in the KHL, teams can dress a 13th forward), and he was only playing a (small) handful of minutes per game.

The question then will be whether the team will change its ways this time. Demidov is playing big hockey these days, but if Kuznetsov is no longer there, one might wonder if Rotenberg will take the opportunity to further reduce the kid’s ice time.

To be continued, therefore.


In Brief

– The only CH hope at the current WJC scores Sweden’s first goal.

It was Dalibor Dvorsky who scored the tournament’s first goal.

– Todd McLellan replaces Derek Lalonde behind the Red Wings’ bench.

– Charlie Lindgren is going to be a dad.

– Phew.

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