Before the 2024 NHL Draft, the Montreal Canadiens already had one of the better Under-25 cores in the NHL with players such as Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Kaiden Ghule, and Lane Hutson already having firm spots on the team for years to come. To go along with their already rostered players, the Habs also had a deep prospect pool within the organization with recent draft selections of David Reinbacher, Logan Mailloux, Owen Beck, Filip Mesar, and Jacob Fowler expected to all join the big league club over next 1-3 seasons.
With the team improving year after year, this had a chance for this to be the last time for the foreseeable future that Montreal would be picking in the top five, and they for sure luck out.
With the fifth pick, the Canadiens selected Russian sniper Ivan Demidov to finally bring the dynamic goal scorer they needed to help support Cole Caufield in the goal-scoring department when he likely enters the NHL in the 2025-26 after finishing his contract with SKA-1946 in Russia.
Demidov, according to most scouts has the highest ceiling in this draft if he can live up to his potential and has shown shades of similar play to some of the game's brightest stars.
As Matt Larkin stated on Daily Faceoff, "With the fifth pick, Montreal landed a player perceived by most scouts to be worthy of a top-two pick, talent wise – and perhaps even the most purely skilled player in the entire class of 2024. His creative, crafty offensive game has been likened to that of two-time scoring champion Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Demidov sees some Kucherov in himself in terms of hockey IQ, and he described his game Friday as “a bit of Jack Hughes and a bit of Kirill Kaprizov.”
Montreal also on Friday night was able to select Michael Hage 21st overall who helps boost the team's center depth in the farm system while he continues to develop his play at Michigan University starting in the 2024-25 season.
The major boost in offensive talent was much needed for the Habs as they already had one of the best young defense cores in the league, and now with the selections of Hage, and specifically Demidov who has the potential to be the first Canadien to lead the league in goals since Guy Lafleur, Montreal's rebuild is on the cusp of being over. With cap space, top prospects, with already successful NHL players in the likes of Suzuki, and Caufield, the future is bright in Montreal.
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