Hockey

Tied chances: Ivan Demidov last in CH lineup against Capitals
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Tied chances: Ivan Demidov last in CH lineup against Capitals
Credit: Getty Images

In 2025-26, Ivan Demidov will play his first full year in the NHL. A month ago, you'd have thought that's when he'd have made his Bettman debut… but in the end, he got to play a few games with the CH at the end of the season.

And there it was: the kid's got talent to spare.

Demidov collected two points (two assists) in five games during the series against the Capitals. His two points came in Game 4… and they came with the man advantage.

And that's interesting, because while Demidov had his moments in the series, most of them came on the power play.

Numbers reported by JFresh on X show something interesting about Demidov: during the series, no CH forward created fewer chances than he did at 5-on-5.

In fact, at 5-on-5, Demidov created a grand total of… 0 chances. And that includes both scoring chances and assist chances.

Obviously, at first glance, all this seems a little worrying. Considering the kid‘s talent, the CH needed to see him create a little more at 5-on-5… but even so, it's really not the end of the world.

After all, Demidov played in that series as a 19-year-old making his Bettman debut. The most important thing for him in that series was to get a taste of what the NHL playoffs are all about, so that he'd be ready to excel in the future, even though he wasn't even supposed to be in the Habs line-up for those games.

Is that disappointing? Yes, but is it worrying? Not necessarily, no.

If the Tricolore was able to give the Capitals a run for their money even without Demidov's 5-on-5 contribution, it suggests that once the kid is better acclimatized to the NHL's playoff style (and, more importantly, once he has better trio-mates), the club can easily go for a second gear it didn't have (yet) this year.

It's a shame the Tricolore were eliminated in five games… but it's a first step forward that's been taken in the last two weeks. And that's the most important thing.


In gossip

– Official: Frederik Andersen signs new contract in Carolina.

– Jack Eichel gives Connor McDavid a hard time.

– Pole for Max Verstappen.

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