Ivan Demidov somehow outperforms the hype with two-point first period

Every Montreal Canadiens fan has hyped Ivan Demidov's NHL debut since the team took him with the fifth-overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. It'd be hard for an individual to ever live up to the hype placed upon him by the most hockey-crazed fans in the world, and many wondered how he could ever do it when he made his debut on Monday night against the Chicago Blackhawks. However, Demidov's comments to his coach Roman Rotenberg before he signed with the Canadiens showed us he is ready and willing to embrace the spotlight.

Demidov did more than just embrace the spotlight. He got his first career point on his second shift of the game when he demonstrated his elite edge work to move around the Blackhawks defenseman and find Alex Newhook wide open in the slot. Newhook has some big moments in his hockey career, but scoring on Demidov's first career point might be a fun answer to a trivia question down the road.

Demidov's debut was already a success, but it took just two more shifts for Demidov to hit another milestone with his first career goal. The assist was pretty, but the goal was a demonstration of some of the elite skill that Demidov has to offer. Let's remember that this was his fourth shift, not the patience of a superstar in his seventh career season. If this is what Demidov is doing in his first period, where does he go from here?

Demidov was a factor on every shift in the first period, and it was evident that he will have no problem adjusting to the NHL. There was no way of the Canadiens' front office knowing what would happen, but it's looking like their decision to keep Demidov's debut until this game against the Blackhawks was the right decision.

As Newhook said in his first period intermission interview, "it's been 1 period." However, Demidov stared in the face of all the expectations and brushed them aside like they were nothing. In a market like Montreal, it's a great sign for his future.