Habs top prospect is Montreal-bound earlier than anyone thought possible
Ivan Demidov is doing exactly what Montreal Canadiens fans hope every young Russian prospect would do.
Arpon Basu of The Athletic reported on Sunday that Demidov will spend his summer in Montreal again. He's also invited fellow Habs prospect Alexander Zharovsky to join him for training.
Zharovsky is expected to arrive in Montreal next week. He'll train with Demidov for at least part of the summer.
That's the kind of off-season behavior that signals real buy-in. Demidov is choosing Montreal as his summer base. He's also bringing another piece of the franchise's pipeline into the city to develop alongside him.
This is the same Demidov who just finished a 62-point rookie season at age 20. 19 goals. 43 assists. On a $940,833 cap hit. He added 8 more points across 16 playoff games during Montreal's run to the Eastern Conference Final.
Zharovsky is the Habs' fifth-round pick from the 2025 draft. He spent the past season in Russia and is one of the more intriguing development stories inside the Montreal pipeline.
What this off-season pattern says about the Habs' culture
GM Kent Hughes and his staff have spent years building an environment where young Russian prospects feel comfortable basing themselves in Montreal during the off-season. That investment is paying off in real time.
Demidov's commitment to the city extends beyond the regular season schedule. Training in Montreal year-round means closer relationships with team trainers, strength coaches, and skills development staff. The progress curve gets steeper.
Bringing Zharovsky over for training adds another layer. Young players developing together in the team's home market build the kind of internal chemistry that doesn't usually show up until training camp.
Martin St-Louis has been one of the more development-focused head coaches in the league. The culture inside the room has clearly resonated with Demidov enough that he's selling Montreal to the rest of the Russian pipeline himself.
Honestly, this is the kind of behind-the-scenes detail that Habs fans should treasure. Player buy-in at the prospect level is the hardest currency in hockey. Demidov has it. He's now spreading it to others.
The Canadiens finished 6th overall at 48-24-10 with 106 points this season. The Eastern Conference Final run was the proof of concept. The injuries piled up at the end. The pipeline behind the current core gets more important by the week.
Pierre McGuire pushed publicly for Montreal to chase St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas this summer. Marc-Olivier Beaudoin reported Connor McDavid would have the Habs on his short list if he ever leaves Edmonton. The franchise is no longer hiding from the conversation about adding more star power.
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But the foundation matters more than any headline addition. Demidov inviting Zharovsky to train in Montreal is the foundation working exactly how Hughes hoped it would.
The Habs come back to Brossard later this summer for camp. Two of their top Russian pipeline pieces will already have weeks of training together. The work doesn't stop after May.
Demidov's loyalty is showing in every off-season decision he makes. Montreal noticed. So should the rest of the league.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 29, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Taylor Hall | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Logan Stankoven | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jackson Blake | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alexander Nikishin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | - | - | |
| Kirby Dach | - | - | - | |
| Phillip Danault | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||