Ivan Demidov: Renaud Lavoie is guaranteed to score at least one point per game next year

Raphael Simard
Ivan Demidov: Renaud Lavoie is guaranteed to score at least one point per game next year
Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images

The Canadiens will make the playoffs for the second consecutive season. And, just like last year, Montreal is the underdog.

After all, that's to be expected: Tampa Bay is much more experienced, both in terms of players and coaches. That doesn't mean the Habs don't stand a chance, but players other than those on the first line will need to step up.

I'm thinking of Ivan Demidov, in particular.

In his segment “La Mise en échec” on TVA Sports, Renaud Lavoie said essentially the same thing.

The journalist has immense confidence in the Russian and even predicts he'll score at least 84 points next season—that's at least one point per game. Remember, the NHL is adding two games to its schedule starting next year.

No pressure, kid.

This season, Demidov, who played alongside Alex Newhook and Oliver Kapanen—who haven't been producing much for much of the season—tallied 62 points. Unless Beckett Sennecke scores three points tonight, the Russian will finish as the leading scorer among rookies.

62 points in a season is fantastic. In his rookie season, Connor Bedard won the Calder Trophy with 61 points. There was no Matthew Schaefer that year, however.

And last year, Macklin Celebrini, who currently has 112 points (he wraps up his season tonight), racked up 63 points. Demidov is therefore not far behind these two superstars, and Lavoie predicts an improvement similar to Celebrini's.

Lavoie is aware that they aren't the same types of forwards and that the Habs' prospect isn't likely to break the 110-point mark, but he sees him having a big season offensively, especially if the Habs can land a promising center.

I have nothing against Oliver Kapanen, but he's not a second-line center. To borrow a phrase from Simon Boisvert, “he's a third-line center (at best) on a championship team.”


In brief

– Sunny Mehta signed by New Jersey.

– Stay tuned.

– I imagine so.

– Note to self.

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