Ivan Demidov is a walking highlight reel

It takes a lot for TSN to recognize a KHL game happening mid-afternoon in North America. I admittedly wasn't watching the SKA St. Petersburg game today as I toiled through my midday tasks, and I was shocked to see the TSN notification on my iPhone, which talked about Ivan Demidov's day in the KHL.

"MUST SEE: Montreal Canadiens prospect Ivan Demidov makes an incredible move to get around a pair of defenders and caps it off with a smooth finish for St. Petersburg SKA in the KHL. Open for more details."

My immediate reaction was that Demidov must've done something amazing to be featured on a TSN notification. Being a Montreal Canadiens prospect has something to do with that, but they aren't featuring KHL prospects for every Canadian NHL team. It's time for the National media hype to start building for this prospect, and after seeing the goal he scored today, there's no problem to see why.

The skill it takes to pull off that move in the middle of game action is something special. It may be against weaker competition in the KHL, but if Connor McDavid does that move on a defender in the NHL tonight (which isn't possible with his recent suspension), the whole hockey world would explode talking about his skill. Demidov is a rookie in the second-best professional league in the world and he's pulling off those moves, which makes it safe to say Montreal fans could see this bag of tricks after a year or two in the NHL.

There has been plenty of coverage from the national media and our site about the growing superstardom of Demidov, but now is a good time to update you on his pace. He tied the KHL record for most Rookie of the Week Awards recently with his sixth and is scoring at a pace that puts him amongst the league's best. Over his last ten games, Demidov has nine goals and six assists, which doesn't include his performance from earlier today when he had a goal and an assist.

The Demidov hype train is showing no signs of slowing down. SKA St. Petersburg could be doing better as a team, but a lack of success is only even more motivation to give Demidov extra ice-time and to have him come to North America when the disappointing season is over.