Canadiens Could Benefit From New KHL Rules and Get Demidov Early

The Montreal Canadiens waited almost a year to draft the player they wanted. Luckily, Ivan Demiodov was available at the fifth overall position in this year’s draft, or all the waiting would’ve been for naught. There was mass excitement from Canadiens’ management and the fans, as Demidov represents the potential for the Habs to have a top-notch scorer shortly.

Canadiens’ Demidov Still Has a Year Left on His Contract

Canadiens’ general manager (GM) Kent Hughes couldn’t wait to get to the podium and have Quebec icon Celine Dion announce the fifth overall selection. Once they realized Demidov was there, the excitement on him and their top scouts, Martin Lapointe and Nic Bobrov was unreal; they had wanted to draft this player since before the 2023 Draft. In 2023, another Russian, Matvei Michkov, was a well-sought-after prospect who fell to the fifth overall position where the Habs were drafting. Still, they passed on him for a defenceman in David Reinbacher. Canadiens fans were not happy with them passing on Michkov, and it was suspected that it was because of the uncertainty of when he could play in North America as he was signed to a three-year contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Demidov is also signed with SKA but has only one year left. If he plays out his contract in the KHL, he will be available to the Canadiens in 2025-26. The fear of not getting your star prospect for three years was never in the cards with Demidov; although the Canadiens say that the Michkov contract wasn’t the reason they didn’t draft him, many still believe it was a massive factor in Michkov falling to seven in the 2023 Draft. We know now that the Philadelphia Flyers won’t need to wait three years, and Michkov will play next season.

KHL Separates From Ice Hockey Federation of Russia and IIHF

For years, the KHL has been part of the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia (IHFR), connected to the International Ice Hockey Federation, which controls the international rulebook and processes international transfers while also presiding over the Olympics and world championships at all levels of men’s and women’s hockey. The KHL is now releasing its league from the IIHF rules so it can govern its league independently but still report to the Ministry of Sport in Russia.

With the KHL moving away from IIHF rules, it could be easier for NHL teams or teams of any league to acquire players. With the new rules, the KHL will no longer have to go through the IIHF for transfers. However, they will respect the validity of contracts in other leagues and not register new contracts until obligations are fulfilled. This new transfer will make it easier for teams to get players they drafted from the KHL and for the KHL to get players into their league. How this will happen is yet to be determined, but if it is anything like the soccer transfer window, teams in other leagues can pay to have a player terminate his contract early and play for their team. For this to work with the NHL, the league would have to change its Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) to allow for paid transfers; as of now, it would be illegal for an NHL team to do this.

Canadiens Open to Try Other Options for Demidov

In his draft presser, Hughes mentioned that they wanted Demidov to have time in the KHL with SKA. He also said that they may have to look at other options if he was sent to the Junior Hockey League (MHL) or Supreme Hockey League (VHL). The MHL is like the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) here, and the VHL is equivalent to the American Hockey League (AHL), but the talent isn’t as good in the Russian leagues compared to the North American ones. In the past, the KHL was notorious for not giving young players going to the NHL ice time with the big club, either keeping them on the team with little to no minutes or sending them down to the lower leagues. Montreal wants Demidov in the KHL for the last year of his contract, and the issue is, unlike Michkov, Demidov can’t be loaned to another KHL team because of just one year left on his contract.

There is little Montreal can control here; in the case of the Flyers and Michkov, according to reports, a mutual agreement between the player, SKA, and Philly had nothing to do with the contract termination but immediately signed him to his entry-level contract (ELC). The only way the Canadiens will be able to get Demidov from SKA this season is to convince St. Petersburg to do the same as they did with Michkov. Hughes insists he is happy with Demidov playing in the KHL, so if he does, he will stay in Russia until next season.

Even if the Canadiens get Demidov over to North America this season, it’s hard to say where he should play. No CHL team has his rights, and he would be wasted playing there anyway, so it would be AHL or NHL. If Hughes is willing to keep him in the KHL, he would rather see him at least start in the AHL and let him get used to the smaller ice. The odds of Demidov coming to Montreal this season are low, but with the changes to the KHL, the odds could be rising between now and the start of the season. Until then, let’s wait and see and be happy. It’s only one season to wait and not more.