NHL analyst bluntly compares newly signed Montreal Canadiens Ivan Demidov to $45,000,000 Minnesota Wild superstar

The hockey world got a surprise on Tuesday afternoon with the news that Ivan Demidov would be leaving the KHL to join the Montreal Canadiens.

Soon after the original report, the Canadiens officially announced that they had signed Demidov to a three-year, $2,822,499 entry-level contract. He'll join the team for a potential playoff run down the stretch of the 2024-25 season.

Demidov was the fifth overall pick in the 2024 draft and is one of, if not the most highly touted, NHL-affiliated prospect in hockey. One NHL analyst went as far as to compare the rookie to Minnesota Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov.

Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects shared on X (formerly Twitter) what he sees in Ivan Demidov.

"Many of you know I hate making player comps. But everyone else loves hearing them. And so, Ivan Demidov has shades of Kirill Kaprizov. And no, it's not just because they're both Russian. It's because they're both so incredibly good," Robinson wrote.

A very complimentary comparison for Ivan Demidov. Kirill Kaprizov is widely regarded as one of the best players in the NHL, and has put up the 10th highest points-per-game of anyone since entering the league in 2020-21. The superstar winger is in the fourth season of a five-year, $45,000,000 contract signed with the Wild back in 2021.

Ivan Demidov was very productive in the KHL

At just 19 years old, Ivan Demidov was producing at an elite rate in the KHL (Russian Professional Hockey League).

He finished with 49 points (19 goals, 30 assists) in 65 games for St. Petersburg SKA this year. This ranked among the top 30 point scorers in the entire KHL. It also broke the record for most points in a season by a player under 20 years old in the KHL, surpassing the aforementioned Kirill Kaprizov.

TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button also had Demidov as his number one NHL-affiliated prospect in his recent top 50 list from February. Adding him to a young core of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson, and Juraj Slafkovsky could be dangerous for years to come. And expectations are high, especially in a hockey-crazy market like Montreal.

Demidov won't suit up on Tuesday, which puts Friday night's game in Ottawa against the Senators as a possibility for his NHL debut. The puck drops at 7 p.m. EST at the Canadian Tire Centre on Friday.