Canadiens hype warranted, take a bow CBJ, and 5 other NHL items

Ivan Demidov fever peaked last Thursday when a Montreal-based podcast company livestreamed the Canadiens prospect's North American arrival from Toronto Pearson Airport.

The Twitter stream had a TMZ vibe to it - an exaggerated amount of attention devoted to something ultimately mundane, in this case a 19-year-old athlete and his girlfriend navigating an airport with luggage in tow. The next day, Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher likened the stream to a scene you might see in a documentary about iconic soccer player David Beckham.

Silly or not, people watched. In fact, hundreds of thousands of Canadiens fans tuned in at one point or another. In that sense, the stream was meaningful. The 39-31-10 Habs are relevant again, and Demidov's arrival is gasoline on the fire. The forward will make his NHL debut Monday night, and with a win over Chicago, Montreal can clinch a playoff spot on home ice.

Demidov, the fifth pick in 2024, has superstar potential. He posted 49 points in 65 KHL games this season to become the most productive player under the age of 20 in league history. He's being compared to Lightning dynamo Nikita Kucherov for his similarly sublime vision, creativity, and playmaking.

"Pretty impressive what he did back in Russia, and I hope he can translate everything here to the NHL," forward Juraj Slafkovsky said Friday in Ottawa prior to a 5-2 loss to the Senators.

The hype around Demidov is fine, if not slightly overblown for a player not in the generational-talent tier. The hype around the Canadiens' long-term outlook, on the other hand, is completely fair. They're building a monster.

Not every promising young player is going to pan out, but the sheer number of high-quality forwards, defensemen, and goalies in the system is impressive.

Demidov, Slafkovsky, Lane Hutson, David Reinbacher, Logan Mailloux, Kaiden Guhle, Jakub Dobes, and Jacob Fowler are all on entry-level contracts. Michael Hage, the Canadiens' other 2024 first-round pick, is thriving in college. That's nine players - four defensemen, three forwards, two goalies - with high ceilings and tons of runway to assert themselves.

Again, the odds are at least one of those youngsters won't meet their potential. But there's no denying Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes has given his player development group and coaching staff loads of raw talent to work with. (The club also has two first-rounders at its disposal in June.)

Another layer: Faces of the franchise Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield - aged 25 and 24, respectively - have both leveled up this season. Two-way center Suzuki has the fourth-most points in the NHL since the 4 Nations Face-Off break (35 in 24 games) and sits 15th in league scoring with 87 total points in 80 games. Sniper Caufield, who flirted with the 30-goal mark in the past, is up to 37 tallies. His 26 five-on-five goals trail only Buffalo's Tage Thompson.

Suzuki and Caufield popping off is as important to the Habs' trajectory of the Habs as Demidov's arrival, Hutson's unexpected Calder Trophy-caliber season, or Dobes' emergence between the pipes. Teams consistently finishing at the top of the standings have players of different age groups contributing.

The work is far from over in Montreal. The roster remains under construction, and the group is still learning lessons on the ice. The underlying statistical profile isn't pretty, and the Habs have a minus-18 goal differential in the first period. "Can we bend, not break in the first period?" head coach Martin St. Louis said following the loss in Ottawa. "We haven't been able to do that."

Inconsistent, yes. But get ready. The hype - around what the future might hold, in general, not necessarily Demidov's immediate impact - is warranted.

Take a bow, Blue Jackets

Columbus is still alive in a down-to-the-wire Eastern Conference playoff race thanks to a 4-1 victory over Washington on Sunday night. Clinching the final wild-card spot won't be easy with Montreal three points up and both teams at 80 games played. In fact, it's mathematically unlikely the Blue Jackets get in.

Regardless of outcome, remaining in the hunt for this long is a minor miracle.

Preseason expectations were supremely low for the Jackets. (I grouped them with the Ducks and Blackhawks in Tier 7 of eight in my annual preseason rankings.) One of the youngest squads in the league, Columbus was not only in transition with a new GM and head coach, but it was also grieving the tragic death of beloved star teammate Johnny Gaudreau.

Yet, here we are in the final week, and they've improved by 19 points year over year despite 24th-ranked goaltending and poor special teams. This year's been characterized by tremendous individual skater performances, including:

• Zach Werenski: do-everything Norris Trophy contender
• Kirill Marchenko: 31 total goals, plus-34 rating at five-on-five
• Sean Monahan: point per game despite wrist injury
• Adam Fantilli/Kent Johnson: significant Year 2/3 leaps

2024-25 was dedicated to Johnny, and the fellas have delivered.

Marchand's mental shift

Brad Marchand entered the 2016 World Cup of Hockey as a notable NHLer. A stud performance for Canada - eight points, including the tournament-winning goal - elevated him to legitimate star, and in the next four seasons he posted the highest point totals of his career (85 in 2016-17, then 85, 100, and 87).

The timing wasn't coincidental, Marchand explained in February during the Montreal leg of the 4 Nations Face-Off. The World Cup changed him.

"The mind is such a powerful thing. It can propel you to achieve incredible things, and it can really hinder you and hold you back from accomplishing things," said Marchand, a 15-year Bruins stalwart traded to the Panthers in March.

"At that time, I always viewed guys on tiers. You look across the league, and you've got your McDavids and your Crosbys and your MacKinnons and all of that. And then you've got mid-tier guys. I always viewed myself as looking at those (top-tier) guys as the best in the world. They were untouchables. When I got to play as part of that team, I realized that one of the biggest things is that they know and believe that every time they step on the ice, they are the best."

Performing well on a big stage, against the elite of the elite, gave Marchand a previously unreached level of self-belief. "Whether it was true or not, I would tell myself I was the best player," he said. "I had that mindset - a little bit of an internal arrogance and confidence - and it helped me get to another level."

I've been thinking about those comments ever since 4 Nations wrapped, trying to put my finger on who might be Marchand 2.0. Which somewhat under-the-radar player proved to themselves that they could hang with the best and has used the experience as a springboard to new heights?

It's hard to tell two months later. But Sweden's Rasmus Dahlin is one guess.

Like Marchand, Dahlin was a well-established player prior to the best-on-best competition. He was the first pick in the 2018 draft and has earned three All-Star selections, plus the captaincy in Buffalo. However, as a seven-year pro playing for a Sabres franchise with zero playoff appearances over the past 14 years, Dahlin's NHL resume is light on high-stakes, measuring-stick games.

Like Marchand, Dahlin's playing some of the finest hockey of his career following the event. His points-per-game rate and underlying metrics have improved in the second half, and to my eye, he looks extra confident and assertive. His full body of work is deserving of down-ballot Norris Trophy love.

Quick hits

Lots of Pasta: Boston's post-trade deadline plummet has created a comically large gap between its best player and everyone else. David Pastrnak's up to 104 points through 81 games, which is 48 more than the next Bruin (Morgan Geekie, 56 points). The Bruins, 5-11-1 since the deadline and 33-39-9 overall, sit last in the Eastern Conference. They've scored 218 times in 2024-25, which means Pastrnak's earned a point on 47.7% of all goals. The wilder stat: With 42 goals and 44 primary assists, Pastrnak's been directly responsible for 39.4% of Boston's total offensive output. Think about that for a second. One guy, who plays only a third of the game, has been either the last or second-last player to touch the puck on four out of every 10 goals.

See ya soon, Pat: After 848 games for eight NHL teams, Pat Maroon is retiring on his own terms. "Big Rig" slowed down significantly in his final few years, but the rugged forward will be remembered for being a respected teammate and three-time Stanley Cup champion (2019 with the Blues; 2020 and 2021 with the Lightning). Maroon, who turns 37 later this month, is a future media star. Expect him to end up on a major TV network ASAP. The St. Louis native is genuine and funny, and he can tap into an endless supply of stories. Expect also to hear about Maroon's 16-year-old son. Anthony Thomas-Maroon, a 5-foot-11 playmaking forward who played for the Long Island Gulls U16 AAA squad this year, is eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft.

Helle for Hart?: Connor Hellebuyck is the no-brainer choice for the Vezina Trophy, which is voted on by NHL GMs. Hockey writers vote on the Hart, and the Jets netminder will definitely be high on my ballot - potentially No. 1. Hellebuyck's brilliance is layered. He owns a .924 save percentage during a season in which the league average SV% is .900. He's first in the league in goalie categories heavily influenced by team quality - wins (46), shutouts (eight), and goals-against average (2.02). He's a few minutes behind Andrei Vasilevskiy for the lead in total crease time. Most importantly, he's outplayed his environment by a significant margin, recording a "quality start" in 42 of 61 starts while accumulating 39.6 goals saved above expected. (Vasilevskiy is the only other goalie with 30 GSAE or more.) Long story short, Hellebuyck's the MVP for the President's Trophy team and, depending on who you ask, full marks for NHL MVP. The burning question is if this is all worth it. Will the heavy workload come back to haunt Hellebuyck and the Jets in the playoffs?

Big blow: Hobey Baker Award winner Isaac Howard has chosen to return to Michigan State instead of turning pro with the Lightning. Howard and Tampa Bay reportedly don't see eye to eye on the 21-year-old forward's immediate fit within the organization. Returning for a fourth NCAA season paves the way for unrestricted free agency, with the 2022 first-round pick's draft rights expiring next August. Howard is the Lightning's only first-rounder of the 2020s and, following win-now trades, the longtime contenders don't own a first until 2028. While GM Julien BriseBois can recoup assets by moving Howard's rights, this development undoubtedly stings. Most of Tampa's depth over the past few years has been patchwork. Howard, who racked up 52 points in 37 games this year, was supposed to be a breath of fresh air - a rare needle-moving homegrown talent attached to a cheap, entry-level contract.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).