Top Canadiens Prospect Praises Penguins' Future Hall-Of-Famer

Yahoo

24-04-2025

Apr 8, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) looks on against the Chicago Blackhawks during the first period at PPG Paints Arena. (Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)
If folks have been paying attention to NHL news cycles the past few weeks, young Montreal Canadiens forward prospect Ivan Demidov has garnered quite the buzz.
Although the 19-year-old Russian forward's impressive talent is on display - he had a goal and two points in the two regular-season NHL games he played prior to the Habs' first-round matchup against the Washington Capitals - he made some headlines Saturday because of his words.
Apr 14, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens right wing Ivan Demidov (93) skates on the ice during warm-up before his first career NHL game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Bell Centre. (David Kirouac-Imagn Images)
During a media availability Saturday morning, Demidov was asked about facing Alex Ovechkin in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Someone followed up by asking if Ovechkin was one of his idols growing up.
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His response?
"Probably in NHL," Demidov said. "But I love Malkin much better than Ovi, you know what I mean?"
Yes, Demidov was a big fan of Pittsburgh Penguins future hall-of-fame center Evgeni Malkin, who - along with Ovechkin - is one of the greatest Russian-born players of all-time.
Malkin, like Demidov, is known for his playmaking, and the 38-year-old has amassed 514 goals and 1,346 points in 1,213 NHL games. He was infamously omitted from the NHL's 100 Greatest Players Of All Time list in 2017.
In any case, that's one way for Demidov to spark something before going head-to-head with Ovechkin for the very first time in his NHL career - and in the playoffs, nonetheless.
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You can catch Game 1 between Montreal and Washington on Monday, Apr. 21 at 7:00 p.m. ET.
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