Kent Hughes reveals reason for drafting Ivan Demidov

The Hlinka Gretzky Cup gave hockey fans something to watch for the past week to help get them through a long August. The hockey season is on the horizon, so TSN took the opportunity with all the scouts and general managers in attendance to interview various GMs from the Canadian teams. Kent Hughes joined the panel in the first intermission of Wednesday night's Canada game and gave a peek into his drafting strategy over the past three years.

Our scouts liked him a lot throughout the year. Obviously, with him being in Russia and not playing international tournaments, management's impressions were more based on video, but one of our scouts saw him live. We interviewed him before the draft and I was blown away by his maturity – no confidence, no arrogance. He was just a very impressive young man.

Hughes compared Demidov to Juraj Slafkovsky, who also won over the general manager in his pre-draft interviews. Slafkovsky was Hughes' first draft choice and is beginning to look like a successful one. Hughes' comments on Wednesday should excite Habs fans looking forward to his growth this upcoming season.

We were confident again after the interview process with him [Slafkovsky], that he just had a maturity, that he's been away from home since he was 14, that he's taking care of himself. Juraj wants to be good. He knows there's room for improvement and he wants to make an impact on the game. It's never about his game, it's about the team's game and that's always going to impress us about him.

Ironically, Hughes made these comments about Demidov and Slafkovsky at the site of their first viewing of the pair. Many Canadiens scouts attended the 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup when Russia defeated Slovakia in the championship game. Demidov played as an underager, while Slafkovsky was heading into his draft year.