Skip to content
Y
o
u
r
 
d
a
i
l
y
 
d
o
s
e
 
o
f
 
h
o
c
k
e
y
News

Ivan Demidov played more in playoff series in the KHL than yesterday
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Ivan Demidov played more in playoff series in the KHL than yesterday
Credit: Getty Images
This season, Ivan Demidov’s playing time has been talked about a lot.

When he was in the KHL, there were many games where he didn’t play much, which was ridiculous. Roman Rotenberg became a popular name in Quebec in recent months.

He made himself known for the worst and for… the worst.

That’s to say that there were highs and lows in Demidov’s usage, who even started the series as the 13th forward. He eventually earned more playing time and finished the series with five points in six games, but it wasn’t easy.

Here’s his playing time in the six playoff games.

  1. 7:43
  2. 17:36
  3. 9:37
  4. 27:03
  5. 24:12
  6. 16:11
So, despite two games under 10 minutes, Demidov still finished the series with an average of 17:03 per game. And that’s more than his playing time yesterday.

Yesterday, he played for 16:56 – and he didn’t get a chance in the shootout, where he would have been the fourth shooter.

Note that Demidov, in the 2024-2025 regular season in Russia, averaged 13:45 of playing time. That’s three minutes less than in his NHL debut.

In the season, he jumped on the ice 18.3 times per game on average. Yesterday, he did it 21 times – and there was overtime.

I think St-Louis, who hasn’t (logically) done anything to create hype around Demidov, could have used him more if he wanted to, but I also think he did well to spare him in his NHL debut. He had quality chances, but didn’t necessarily play 20 minutes either.

He has to earn his place in the sun (which he did via his big performance) and progressively, the coach will/will want to give him more.

If Demidov had arrived at the start of the season, it would be one thing. But now, St-Louis has to find a balance between giving ice time to an exceptional talent and not taking too much away from the guys who have been there since September and have been fighting for the team for 81 games.

I would give him a little more tomorrow night, against Carolina, but I have no problem with his usage last night. And the more he integrates into the team, the more the guys will “accept” seeing a kid eat up minutes.


in Overtime

– Speaking of the wolf.

– At least, he skates.

– Rocket news. We don’t know if David Reinbacher will play tomorrow.

– He’s coming back to the NHL.

– Owen Power, seriously injured?

– Note.

– As long as we’re at it, ask yourself what impact this will have on LeBron…

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
More Content