Montreal Canadiens select Ivan Demidov 5th Overall | Michael Hage, a steal? | Day 2 NHL Draft needs

Montreal Canadiens select Ivan Demidov 5th Overall | Michael Hage, a steal? | Day 2 NHL Draft needs

hello everyone and inside the latest lock on Canadians Ivan demidov is a Montreal Canadian you’re locked on Canadians your daily podcast on the Montreal Canadians part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hello everyone and welcome to episode 1,09 9 of locked on Canadians your daily Montreal Canadians podcast and that is 1099 which means our next show is 1100 and guess what you’re getting a live show on Saturday after the NHL draft at 5:00 pm come hang out come get in on the hype I haven’t even introduced myself but first today’s episode is brought to you by fandu will make every moment more because as the playoffs wind down the Sports Stop sportsing like we want them to but this summer FanDuel is hook up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily and that’s right there’s something for everybody all summer long just visit fanduel.com loock on to get started I am one of your hosts I am Scott Mata I am talking so fast because I am so excited because this is so much fun and I keep saying so and enunciating weirdly I am joined as always by my co-host the active stick Laura Saba who handled all of the draft night duties here at lockon uh while I just tweeted and yelled about Selen Deion which we will get to Laura before we launch into everything we’re like at a at like a 17 on the hype scale right now correct we are absolutely hyped like how did this draft happen exactly like you and I wanted it to how did it happen exactly like this it it blows my mind that because we did the lock on mock draft and at fifth overall cuz the lock on mock draft went way different than the first round of this one went and we picked TJ ginlet fifth overall which was still super cool and great and then at 26th at the time picked Michael ha the Montreal Canadians as of tonight are leaving the first round I have you know the the draft is on mute in the background when we record this because we wanted to get this done picked Ivan demidov at fifth overall and then selected Michael ha at 25st overall we’ll talk about ha and getting into 21st overall in our second segment but the biggest thing is here the first round broke down so perfectly for the Montreal Canadians they were getting one of Kaden Lindstrom or Ivan demidov at fifth overall and obviously Columbus picked Kaden Lindstrom we’re very happy for our friends over at lock down Blue Jackets uh super happy for them and then getting to the fifth pick I’m just nervous I’m like what are they gonna do I’ve been Jaded by years of drafting from other GMS and then Kent Hughes gets up there and goes we’d like to bring up a special guest I’m thinking sha Weber just got in the Hockey Hall of Fame Saku kovu’s son is in this draft kri price was a fifth overall pick and they bring out the literal Legend herself Selene Deon with a full like wrestling entrance out of the back in the sphere to announce at fifth overall out of the KHL Ivan demidov and I yelled loud enough to startle the dog my fiance and I’m pretty sure the neighbors I am I am tingly like I am giddy at the thought of this because this is a pick the Habs absolutely needed they needed skill talent gamebreaking talent they have talent in the system but this is this is a different level and I gotta say it’s I have not I Ian B and our group chat said at the best he’s like I don’t think I’ve been this happy since arter linan scored that goal on St Johan Baptist four three years ago and this is it’s a big moment for the Montreal Canadians you have to you have to uh acknowledge that sorry Scott for cutting you off I just I wanted to get into it because you and I we talked about this we talked we’ve you’ve coveted him for longer than I have I think um and the good news is the Montreal Canadians did too so after he was drafted um he obviously uh did a lot of me media and demov spoke to Renault Lavo and Renault confirmed that early in his last season in the uh MHL uh he met with bobov so bobov went to Russia and met with him and then they kept him touch throughout the season which is not unusual like when a scouting staff is interested in a player the scouts will talk to them throughout the season um in this case he said that he had a feeling yesterday and then today he wasn’t sure how it was going to go but he felt pretty certain yesterday that Montreal was going to pick him if he were available at that time and we’ll talk about surprises in a little bit uh but uh but he he seems very very focused on coming to Montreal as soon as his contract is over um and I honestly for me like this is a player that had a lot of skill uh that has a lot of skill he could be one of the most skilled forwards in this draft and the fact that he was available at 5 I think you know we all kind of knew that that um Kay Lindstrom was very much a Columbus Blue Jackets pick like I don’t think the Columbus Blue Jackets hid at all that he was the one they wanted and he was also most likely to be available it was really demidov that was not likely to be available but uh Chicago had fallen in love with their guy and we got really lucky with that and then Anaheim went way off the board and we got it’s not you know I feel bad because we talked about Becka Tena here and we said they should he shouldn’t be picked at fifth like he would be a good pick but just not as high as fifth and then he went third overall and nobody including himself thought that that was going to happen I the Becca senica thing I’m like it’s very funny in the moment but it’s also heartwarming watching it that it’s like that he goes what the f like re like that’s super cool to be that to be have that happen to you it’s like you’re not responsible for a team picking you you could be the the last ranked Prospect in a team pix you first overall it’s it’s stunning uh that set in motion everything for the Canadians and I thank you Anaheim thank you so much for this uh I I’m just so stunned that this actually happened because for years that they would have made the Canadians would have been the ones picking a Becket Sena or maybe reaching on a Carter yakam Chuck uh in this draft and they ended up with a guy that by most Outlets was the second best skater in this draft the lowest I’ve seen him ranked is number three uh based on everything Elite prospects has put together 60 points in 30 MHL games this year uh 23 goals 37 assists he only played Four KHL games there’s some weird politics happening between the club and player here because he said he doesn’t want to sign an extension right uh so the good news is that timeline is moving up now and that you may see the demigod in Montreal sooner rather than later potentially without the whole mitkov mystery here Kent Hughes said when he was asked this is a player we’ve liked for a long time this is a totally different situation than mitov last year they loved this player and I think they saw a lot of what they liked in him and boy when I look at his MHL numbers and everything it’s not hard to to see why and I did want to point out that that 60 points in 30 Games is historic um and I think you know Kent Hughes really I think in this way he he was so calm about it like he was so you know we didn’t hear this time like we did before there were so many Rumblings and rumors and and people talking and then you know the fan base was up in arms we were arguing etc etc we did hear about you know like slavkovsky that before we did hear about Ryan Bacher a little bit earlier than he was drafted but with Montreal like we were all just kind of like how are they going to pull this up how how are they going to pull this off how are they going to pull this off but it really I think it’s just sometimes like a team really falls in love with a guy and that’s their guy and I think they were able to take advantage of that because the guy that they fell in love with was available and I think it’s quite interesting that he was kind of unfl right like he didn’t like he you kept hearing like oh he’s listening to calls on it oh he’s trying to you know do this or make this happen or whatever but at the end of the day like he knew what he was going for he had his eye on the prize he stuck with it and the player himself too like he seems really happy and excited to be a Montreal Canadian and we haven’t even gotten to the point where like where does he fit in this team’s future like now like they have like they’ve got such upside in two of their Wingers that it it really blows my mind it and the biggest thing is here this is extremely something that everyone should know he currently does not have a Canadian visa and he will not be here for development camp and because the KHL season starts earlier he will likely very very likely not be here for rookie Camp as well which is unfortunate but that’s always been a case with the Canadians and players on KHL contracts they’ve been very respectful that we went through this with Romanov and now Bogden koskov that is not unheard of for them so the hype does not stop with Ivan demidov tonight though the Canadians moved up earlier in the day to pick at 21st overall and we’re going to get into that pick coming up next but first as I said off the top of the show today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel and I love sports and I love them so much I never want them to stop I would watch sports all day if I could but the playoffs are winding down and over in many sports and we’ve got fewer games and the sports aren’t sportsing as much as I would like them to but FanDuel lets me keep the sports going whenever I want because all I have to do is open the app and dream up pets any single time I’m in the mood and this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long so head over to fanduel.com lockon and start making the most out of your summer with FanDuel the official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball and us here at lockon we are back and the Canadians kept us busy today and that we weren’t quite sure what was going to happen with everything going on I was out walking the dog this afternoon and what I saw what I immediately saw was the Canadians have made a trade and I went which player have they traded for now they traded 26th overall to the LA Kings for 21st overall in this draft along with their second round pick from I believe it was Colorado 57th overall to move up five spots in this draft and I said that this reeks of they’re going to package this with another player or something or for another player like they’ve done in the past and instead nope the Canadians sat on the pick and they waited and Kent Hugh said this is the guy we targeted and why we moved up to 21st overall and at 21st overall our mock draft picked from 26th overall here in the locked on mock draft from the Chicago steel centerman Michael haage uh a player that I really really really like 75 points in 54 games last year 33 goals 42 assists committed to the University of Michigan starting in 2025 and despite being from Toronto um sorry I should rephrase from Miss aaga I don’t know if they need differentiation on that like a lot of other uh places do he grew up a humongous Montreal Canadians fan because of his father whom he lost earlier this year and because of that this is maybe something that makes it a little bit more special I think for him and for the Canadians as well and it is an emotional pick and I think what’s interesting is that you know as soon as like you said as soon as that that trade happened we thought all right he’s packaging it for something and he was actually like he was on the phone before he made that pick but this was a player that they definitely wanted and I think what I like most about this player is how Dynamic he is he does have that hockey intelligence he does have that ability to shoot and to pass he does you know his skating I know I know some some people don’t think it’s like it’s super um it’s it’s one of his strengths let’s say or one of his major strengths but like you know usually when we talk about a player like this he’s got this game raping game graping whatever graping ising game breaking Talent um and then you know he’s got like this hockey intelligence and the knock on him is always his skating but in this case the skating isn’t so bad no and it’s and like we’re going to have people come on to talk about this because they are actual experts out there uh who can know this but he’s another bet on upside skill and I’m gonna I want to grab a quote here from uh the elite prospects guide like the Bible for this sort of thing ha is a dynamic Rush attacker combining inside drives flashy deakes and give and go playmaking a crossover burst gets Defender feeds moving then he looks for vulnerabilities fakes wide cuts in and accelerates to the net that sounds like a player I want on this team this is a team that is going to get a lot more creative very very quickly here that you’re going to combine him with a slavkovsky who is developing a playmaking talent Joshua who is becoming a very crafty player in his first pro season Coffield and Suzuki who have rounded out their games plus Kirby do and Alex new hook and other players that are coming up into this system plus who knows who else they draft they’re getting Lane Hudson on the blue line with this which is again bets on creativity and upside and it’s I’m just so a struck and the biggest thing is here uh quite literally is none of these guys are small and I’m not against a size thing or a size thing at all in this but I look at this and I go this is a part where other people in this draft can’t complain they couldn’t pick Lindstrom he was picked before them and demidov is just that much better I look at where ha was yeah there might have been big tall defenseman and everything but I don’t we didn’t need that when you have a guy who’s six foot one in his own right almost 200 pounds and is growing and had such a dynamic back half of the season after he had shoulder surgery who wants to be a Canadian Who Wants To Be A Montreal Canadian because of his father yeah and there was a lot of catch up that he had to play but for him to still be in the first round conversation after losing so much time after surgery like I think that that also signifies so much as to his ability to not only be resilient but his ability to catch up right like this is a player that I think he’s somebody that the Canadians can be confident that they made the right decision at this time it I I I’m just kiddy because I’m like I said I’m not used to these kind of things and it’s this reminds me and I’m gonna take a little bit of a reach here uh but go bear with me on this journey a little bit when the Canadians picked Cole Coffield at 15th overall there were a handful of players available at that point that all would have been good picks one of which was Alex new hook and pton Krebs uh we thought maybe cam York might drop into there because Philadelphia would have picked him but they didn’t because they’re stupid which is fine uh where ha was there were guys like Liam Green Tree Andrew Bosa uh Ryder Richie SAA obviously went a little bit before that EJ Emy there were a lot of talented pieces and they still managed to come out of this looking very good all of this I feel like this is just an incredible potential steal for the Canadians here uh there are some things in his game that are going to need work he’s 21st overall he’s not first overall he’s not a finished product yet he’s going to have another year in the USHL and then go on to college following a similar path from a similar team that you had Shan frell playing for not that long ago who went from the Chicago steel into college and then into the professional ranks after a couple of years and I think he could follow that same route I think he’s a really talented piece and I am just smiling ear to ear about this it so many yes to make you smile so our good friend JD of locked on sharks is actually boots on the ground at the draft right now um and he has promised us lots of quotes and clips etc etc and he is at the scrum the Press scrum for uh Michael ha and Michael ha brought up it was 31 I have never loved a prospect more except for uh you know obvious you fall in love with on a regular basis yeah I know it’s uh it’s absolutely I it’s G to be a problem it’s anyone who brings up it’s 31 while being a t uh Ontario born player and a Canadians fan is immediately getting a big big thumb comes up for me we should put out those photos and quotes uh very quickly on Twitter uh we’re not quite done yet I know that this segment’s a little bit shorter I do think that so far this first round and we will do a full you know breakdown on the draft live on Friday Saturday Saturday at 5m live show come hang out we’re gonna have guests we’re gonna have announcements and other stuff we will do a full draft breakdown for the Monday episode as well for all of you we will have experts on and then we know it’s free agent y but there was so much on going on we promis but right now I’m giving this an A+ I have no choice but to do that the Canadians absolutely made the most of their picks and moved up just an outstanding first round Laura your parting thoughts uh no apparently he also speaks French uh as you said perfect French no less apparently yes um so we are excited about Michael ha like he’s somebody that honestly didn’t really come onto our radar until very late this season um and I personally I think uh the Canadians scored an A+ plus plus plus plus on their first round hopefully and I know we’re going to talk about that in a second hopefully they do not um rain all over it tomorrow yes we will talk about the biggest needs still facing this team heading into round two and what the and what you know what players are left and that’s coming up in our final segment so I actually should look at the live running draft for because I obviously have been uh as I as yeah as we’ve been talking talk about what the Canadians have been doing yeah I I do not know who’s been I know that uh apparently Dean lerno has been picked uh the large gargantuan Child by the Boston Bruins which is just so on the nose for them okay let’s keep scrolling down here to the last pick I remember seeing which I think was the Canadians before I started doing other things uh 22nd overall eigor Surin Sten sober goes to the Ducks Co bodan 24th to Utah Dean lerno to the Bruins and that is where we are held up at right now so the first round is not totally over yet but I’m looking at what the Canadians did with their first two picks and they went High skill forwards and everything about it’s exactly what we wanted I’m not upset that they went to high skill forwards had they taken a d at 21st overall I wouldn’t have been upset about it either because they got demidov at fifth overall but I look at what they need now they don’t pick until the third round now because they traded their second round pick to move up to 21st overall this is a team that most definitely right now might look at defense and probably should look at defense heading into the next round here and I’m curious which pieces are going to be left uh Liam green tree with the pick that they got from Montreal went to Los Angeles which is a great value pick for them someone that might have dropped Canadians are going to be waiting a little bit into the third round and my thought is they’re going to try to keep the Good Vibes rolling here and I think they’re going to take atos K Vu with their first pick in the third round just to really get that out of the way and really just plate the entire fan base this week do you think he’ll be available then I absolutely think that he will be uh I his ranking is all over the place uh in that some people see him as like a third fourth round pick which is probably pretty on point 95th 83rd 77 73 104 64 95 91 27th amongst European skaters 8490 118 he would probably be available in that third round I would be stunned if he is not uh based on uh the Canadians pick at 70th overall so it might be a bit of a reach there but I also understand why they might do this just because I mean come on it’s they have to they have to they literally have to like I’m pretty Calgary is really upset that they can dri trade up and get TJ gimma yeah which uh I’m gonna just take a look at defenseman here that were ranked on Elite prospects and see who’s already there were a lot of very good defenseman picked in this draft or that were picked in the first round here but I I think the Canadians have to go defense here here uh you have guys like badinka Bruni that haven’t been picked Danford uh Charlie Eli EJ Emy alons Frey Cole Hudson’s available uh heading into the second round uh Aon Kibby harju Henry Muse Jesse pinan uh Leo Salin wellenius there are good pieces still available that you’re going to have to potentially have to trade up into the second round for which okay not theyve got a lot of picks and they’ve got a lot of prospects like they can do this also for the listeners uh I just got a clip from JD uh of Michael ha so we will be adding it to our episode on Monday so make sure you tune in for that it’s I can’t wait to see what he what he has sent to us here for that oh he sent us that in the email perfect I’m sorry that this isn’t as like coherent and like streamlined because we’re going like lot we are we’re literally rapid reaction this yes because we wanted to get this out for all of you as soon as this is edited I am posting this immediately for all of you to enjoy so you don’t even have to wait you can see our giddiness in this the hype is off the chart and I haven’t even had that much caffeine I’ve been drinking water like a responsible adult because oh my God has this draft made me so very happy and excited and worked up in a lot of ways getting back to what we were talking about uh I think the Canadians are going to go pretty heavy on defense the back half of this draft here I think they might take a swing at they might try to move up for a guy like panin or Ki harju someone that has upside right yes uh and they will I know someone asked about this in the mailbag someone will they will pick a goalie no goalies have been picked yet I don’t think there were any firstr Talent goalies on the board but I absolutely believe the Montreal Canadians are picking a goalie at some point here they might pick them in the third round they have I believe three third round picks one of those will probably become a goalie total left after the trade which cool make the most of it one of those will probably be AOS kivu one of those will probably be a goalie hopefully one of them is DF I just think that that’s the way they’re going to go but if they want to take this entire draft thing like well he’s got flaws defensively but look at all this offensive skill I am absolutely okay with that I’m okay with packaging some of future picks or you know tertiary roster players to move into that second round and something that should be noted in this too with other first- round picks Calgary is looking to move other pieces out Florida is potentially losing both Aaron eblad and um Brandon Montour this off season so that first round pick from Calgary in the Monahan trade seems to be improving that even if Calgary is terrible next year and has a lottery pick Florida’s losing two pillars potentially on their back end because they can’t afford to sign both of them which should make their season worse which is great news for next year’s Canadians and no player trades NIS not traded uh zus not traded mcti hasn’t been traded yet there’s an overnight thing where teams could take a look at where everything is settled and I think that if the Canadians are going to trade for any of these pieces that moves going to happen during free agency and they’re going to move picks and let their draft pick settle and then make moves but I definitely think that it’s out there like this is a thing that’s going to happen at some point I don’t know if it’ll be Montreal but I absolutely believe uh that this is something that’s going to be coming I have talked a lot that I am out of breath uh Laura do you have any parting thoughts for uh night one of the draft here honestly I am just so pleased and we want you all to join us for our live show tomorrow at 5:00 pm or Saturday at 5:00 pm we’ll recap everything that happened uh personally for me like I think what I want to see a lot of um and I just had one thing that was not related to the draft real quick uh what I want to see a lot of with the Montreal Canadians is just not Galaxy braining anything and just you know just solidly picking whatever the best player available is obviously AOS Kovu was like kind of a fairy T thing um the one thing I wanted to add was that I was watching Sydney Crosby’s reaction to being one of the first six players named in that four nations whatever it is that we’re doing next year or you know um and he was talking about um I think he got ass like there’s no goenda there not having Carrie back there and it just brought home to me how the Montreal Canadians have been able to enjoy the prime of one of the best players in history at a position and I think um you know with Montreal the goal tending definitely has to be solidly thought out and welldeveloped I know they’ve got some in the pipeline and I think whoever they pick whatever it is they need to do the right investments in them I am so giddy about what is uh coming up uh by the way I’m G to leave you all with a quote here from an article that our good friend Tony feray wrote for the hockey news this comes from Ivan uh demidov who was a big Kobe Bryant fan and is probably going to wear potentially either eight or 24 in honor him he’s already wearing 24 thanks to this draft I try to take his Mamba mentality he’s ready to be a star in the bright lights here if you’re not giddy about that I don’t know what else to tell you that’s going to do it for our show today you can follow us on Twitter at lorc Canadians lockon Canadians gmail.com if you have big reactions go to our YouTube we have videos up of immediate reactions to these pick that Laura did we have stuff on Twitter that we are going through all night we have a live show tomorrow on YouTube at 5:00 pm come hang out come chill have a good time for day two of the draft we will have new episodes on Monday as we get into free agency with so much going on we have all the content in the world for you you can follow Laura at the AC stick follow myself at Scott Mata we are signing off for the night Ivan demidov is in Montreal Canadian [Music]

Inside the latest Locked on Canadiens

IVAN DEMIDOV IS A MONTREAL CANADIEN

The Montreal Canadiens made a huge statement in the 2024 NHL Draft, selecting Ivan Demidov at fifth overall, and putting the Habs fanbase into a frenzy. Scott and Laura discuss the immediate impact he can make on this organization, and if he is now the definitive top prospect in the pool.

There were rumors that the team might trade their second, first-round pick after moving up in the Draft earlier in the day. Kent Hughes however stood firm, and landed Michael Hage from the Chicago Steel. Hage was this show’s mock draft pick, and apparently the target of the Habs, so the good vibes are off the charts for Montreal fans!

With the first round now settled, Scott and Laura discuss the biggest names left on the board, and the biggest needs facing the team heading into the second day of the NHL Draft

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