Barring a crazy trade, the Chicago Blackhawks are picking second in the 2024 draft. After Macklin Celebrini, this upcoming draft is a bit of a wild card, with less definitive rankings for who’ll selected after that consensus No. 1 pick. We’ve already covered one of those players, Michigan State blue-liner Artyom Levshunov, arguably the best defenseman in the draft.
Now we’ll take a deeper look at what is so enticing about Russian wunderkind Ivan Demidov, likely the most offensively dynamic forward available in the draft.
Demidov has spent the majority of the last two seasons playing in the MHL — the Russian Junior Hockey League — where he’s been a star. In the 2022-23 season, he put up 62 points (19 G, 23 A) in 41 regular-season games and added another 13 points (5 G, 8 A) in 10 playoff games. Demidov also won a gold medal with Team Russia at the 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, scoring five points (2 G, 3 A) in five games. Then this past season, he took his offense to another level, putting up 60 points (23 G, 37 A) in 30 regular-season games and 28 points (11 G, 17 A) in 17 playoff games. His 1.5 points per game rate led the MHL in the regular season, and his 1.65 PPG lead in the postseason.
The underlying offensive numbers pretty jaw-dropping too:
The first thing you’ll notice when watching Demidov play is how creative and dynamic he is with the puck. As a high-end playmaker with great hockey sense, he’s a high-danger passing machine who is constantly moving the puck into the slot and through traffic to create opportunities for his teammates. His ability to make passing plays in tight is especially impressive, and he often seems to have the puck on a string. Demidov likes to make risky plays and, while they don’t always work out, they’re electrifying when they do and his success rate is higher than practically anyone else in this draft. The caveat here is that he’s predominately played against younger players in his short career so far, but that’s not particularly different from draft-eligible players coming out of the CHL — and he absolutely dominated in that age group.
Additionally, Demidov has an above average shot that he just needs to use more consistently to up his goal production. It’s not as strong a skill as his passing, but his wrist shot is solid and his ability to shoot off of a rush is particularly deadly, especially as his puck handling is already NHL quality. The deceptive nature of his game came into play more and more over the course of the season, such as using opponents as screens and tricking goalies into dropping early to score.
Demidov is also quite adept when it comes to forechecking, when he uses a smart stick and high hockey IQ to strip pucks from opponents and flip the ice the other way. Unlike some offensive players, Demidov is pretty engaged even when he doesn’t have the puck, with a high motor and puck-hound tendencies — attributes the Blackhawks have been enamored with in recent drafts. This doesn’t always translate into a stellar defensive performance, where he’s just so-so usually but can have some highlight moments, but Demidov doesn’t like to give up on plays so the effort is typically there even if there is room for defensive improvement.
Some scouts and prospect analystist have just been raving about Demidov:
[Demidov’s] got the most individual puck skill in the class but I’ve also heard good things about his work ethic on and off the ice and he has developed some layers to his game so that he’s not a one-trick pony as a dancing offensive zone player … [He’s] made more one-on-one skill plays this season (including, unabated, in the postseason) than almost any prospect I’ve scouted for any draft … Demidov’s one of the most purely talented prospects to come out of Russia in recent memory (his game also has more of a pro style, competitiveness and roundedness to it than Matvei Michkov’s had at the same age) and scouts really like him. He profiles as a point-producing star winger and PP specialist.
— Scott Wheeler, The Athletic
If Demidov is arguably the second most skilled player in the 2024 draft, why is there any debate on the Blackhawks selecting him at No. 2? There are three main things people consider knocks against Demidov: his size, his skating, and the Russian factor. None of those should preclude the Blackhawks from selecting such an electrifyingly skilled player, but let’s talk break them down for argument’s sake.
Listed at 5-foot-11 and under 170 pounds at the time of the NHL combine, Demidov is undersized for the NHL — even though the league has been getting smaller over the years, especially when it comes to skilled forwards. However, recently a Russian scout spoke to Scott Powers of The Athletic and noted that Demidov had grown up enough that he’s now over six feet tall and he’ll likely get up to at least 185 pounds — similarly to his father. That’s still on the lighter side for the NHL, but it’s not really something to be concerned about if all other aspects of his game compensate.
The issue for some is that for the Blackhawks, they’re lacking size in their top-six potential forward players and prospects, such as Connor Bedard (5-10, 185), Philipp Kurashev (6-0, 183), Lukas Reichel (6-0, 170), Frank Nazar (5-9, 175), and Oliver Moore (5-11, 188). There have been many successful teams with smaller forward groups — see the 2020 and 2021 Tampa Bay Lightning, who had the smallest top-nine in the playoffs and carried almost all their weight on defense — but it’s something to factor in when drafting.
Still, it’s impossible not to see how well Demidov could slot into the Blackhawks forward group and have a major impact:
As for his skating, the main knock on Demidov is he’s not exactly a speedster and his stride isn’t considered fluid. Many think the Blackhawks’ emphasis on speed may sour them on Demidov, but he still has enough quickness to succeed in the NHL and he’s quite strong on his skates.
Demidov is not a burner. He isn’t the type of forward who will take the puck and fly up the ice effortlessly, beat a defender wide, drive the net, and get a scoring chance. Not with any consistency, at least. But despite that, his shiftiness is pretty strong. His edges serve as his main skating strength, and it allows him to play such a beautiful and fun style. The way Demidov is able to snake his way through traffic with his hands and vision would not be possible without his outstanding edgework … It isn’t about speed for Demidov. It’s utilizing his feet alongside his hands to make people miss. And he does it as well as any prospect in the world.
— Kyle Pereira, FC Hockey
The other thing people question when it comes to Demidov’s skating is his somewhat unorthodox skating mechanics, where he’s known as a “ten-and-two” or “Mohawk” skater. This is a technique that was originally found more in figure skating that helps with edgework and allows players to buy time, create space, and opens up offensive opportunities. It’s a technique that had become more popular in the NHL over the years — even Sidney Crosby uses it to the point he is somewhat synonymous to the phrase “Mohawk turn.” However, Demidov’s pivot can be too wide occasionally, he sometimes overuses the technique, and there is a drawback to it when undersized:
The ten-and-two moves open up his body to assist in his playmaking, but as he moves up to higher levels of play and physicality, he will be basically asking to be hit hard, especially along the walls. This was precisely the case in his one VHL game of the season, where he was outmatched physically when opening up his body.
— Dylan Griffing, EP Rinkside
Any issues with Demidov’s skating is pretty minor when factoring in the rest of his skillset and potential, especially as attributes like stride can be corrected. The most recent Blackhawks success with skating was Alex Vlasic, who was both slower than average and had a wonky stride the season before being drafted but worked to improve it and has become a legit NHL top-four level skater.
The biggest concern, though, is really the so-called Russian Factor: the fear that a Russian prospect either won’t ever come to North America or will be years away, causing NHL teams to skip over these particular players in the draft. The perfect example of this was Matvei Michkov, who was arguably the second most talented player in last year’s draft but fell to No. 7 over concerns related to when he’d arrive in the NHL as he originally had a contract with a KHL team that ran through the 2025-26 season. However, not only should such fears not prevent a team from taking the best player available, it doesn’t often apply to the Russians drafted near the top: there have been no Russian players drafted in the top-five in the last 20-plus years who haven’t eventually made their way to the NHL (whether they succeeded or not is another story). Even Michkov could be coming to the NHL quicker than expected after a report that he’ll be breaking his KHL contract popped up in mid-May.
On top of this, it seems like Demidov is quite motivated to make it to the NHL. There were some rumors that the main reason Demidov was relegated to the MHL was because he refused to sign an extension with his KHL team, and the same Russian scout who talked to Powers alluded to this as well, stating: “He’s better than some of the players SKA had in the playoffs. But since he hasn’t extended his contract, they just don’t want to give him chances in the KHL.”
Ultimately, Demidov is a dynamic, deceptive playmaker with such a robust offensive toolset that he can easily be seen as a cornerstone for many teams. The positives just far outweigh any negatives, and he’d be a great catch if the Blackhawks deem him the best player available at No. 2.