Demidov leaves SKA, joins Habs on entry-level deal
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Montreal Canadiens top prospect Ivan Demidov has joined the Montreal Canadiens on a three-year, entry-level deal, it was announced Tuesday.
This came shortly after SKA St. Petersburg, Demidov's KHL club, announced he and the team had "taken a joint decision" for him to join the Habs for the stretch run of the 2024-25 season.
"Thank you, Ivan," SKA shared on 'X' on Tuesday afternoon. "SKA and Ivan Demidov have taken a joint decision which will see the forward join the Montreal Canadiens this season. His KHL rights will remain with SKA. He will return to Saint Petersburg if he doesn’t gain a foothold in the NHL.
"Ivan progressed through the entire SKA system from the youngest MHL team to the KHL. He became a winner of the 2024 Kharlamov Cup with SKA-1946, being named the Junior Hockey League’s best player two years in a row. Demidov continued developing with SKA, becoming the top scorer of the 2024/2025 season with 54 (22+32) points in 71 games while setting a league record by being declared the week’s best rookie seven times.
"He won the Hlinka/Gretzky Cup in 2021 with Russia U18, before winning the 2024 Channel One Cup with the senior Russian national team. We have no doubt that Ivan will achieve plenty of victories and lift lots of trophies. Good luck! Montreal, look after our guy."
The Canadiens selected Demidov with the fifth pick in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft.
The 19-year-old, ranked No.1 in Craig Button's annual list of the Top 50 NHL-affiliated prospects, had 19 goals and 49 points in 65 KHL games this season.
The five-foot-11, 181-pound forward said last summer he planned to go to North America after the 2024-25 season when his KHL contract expires on May 31. SKA St. Petersburg was eliminated from the KHL playoffs last Friday, ending their season.