BOSTON — It’s fitting that top Canadiens prospect Ivan Demidov reportedly is expected to make his NHL debut against the Blackhawks on Monday in Montreal.
The Hawks, after all, were torn between Demidov and Artyom Levshunov for the No. 2 pick in last year’s draft, weighing the pros and cons of a difficult decision for months before deciding to take Levshunov.
Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson even made an unsuccessful attempt to land Demidov with a bold offer to the Blue Jackets for the No. 4 pick.
The Jackets ended up selecting Cayden Lindstrom, who hasn’t played all season because of a back injury, while Demidov — considered the class’ second-best prospect after Macklin Celebrini by analytics-based models — slipped to the Canadiens at No. 5. (The Ducks also passed on Demidov at No. 3, choosing Beckett Sennecke instead.)
Concerns about getting Demidov over to North America from his Russian club, SKA St. Petersburg, contributed to his fall. That ended up being much easier than anyone expected, though.
SKA was eliminated from the KHL playoffs last weekend and promptly agreed to release Demidov, allowing him to sign with the Canadiens. That came after the 19-year-old forward racked up 49 points in 65 KHL games, setting the league record for a teenager and adding to his YouTube highlight reels.
Watching Levshunov and Demidov — the Belarusian and the Russian — face each other could be fascinating. There likely won’t be playoff implications at stake because the Canadiens have pulled away in the Eastern Conference wild-card race. But the Bell Centre will be electric nonetheless.
How their careers progress over the coming years, however, will be more meaningful. They’re extremely talented, but NHL adjustments can be difficult to forecast.
The success of Davidson’s rebuild will be determined by how a great many of his draft decisions pan out, but perhaps none will be more heavily scrutinized than that one. Many Hawks fans were convinced he made the wrong call.
Defensemen typically take longer than forwards to develop, and the Hawks picked Levshunov knowing he was especially raw, so there’s a good chance Demidov looks more impressive at first. But Levshunov’s high rate of growth from October to now is encouraging.
It’s also possible that the situation becomes a win-win — with all parties satisfied — if both players develop into stars that elevate their young teams into contenders. It helps that the Hawks and Canadiens aren’t in the same conference.
Rockford’s race
Speaking of playoff implications, Rockford appears destined for a best-of-three play-in series — against Grand Rapids or the Chicago Wolves — to qualify for the AHL playoffs. They’re 28-30-8 with six games left in the regular season.
Goalie prospect Drew Commesso has been a recent bright spot with a .929 save percentage in 11 appearances since March 1. The rest of the IceHogs’ lineup has been gutted by NHL call-ups, though, so they’re looking forward to the end of the Hawks’ season.
Weird stats
Here’s a statement you wouldn’t expect: The Hawks have been fairly efficient with their shots.
Entering Thursday, 49.6% of their shots have made it on goal — the third-highest percentage in the league, trailing only the Oilers and Golden Knights. And of those shots on goal, 10.9% have gone in — a team shooting percentage that ranks 13th.
The problem is the Hawks have only taken 3,848 shots, more than 500 fewer than any other team and nearly 1,600 fewer than the league-leading Hurricanes.