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Martin St-Louis shuffled his deck, and Ivan Demidov paid the price.
Tuesday in Boston, the Canadiens were already making headlines before the opening faceoff.
The decision that drew attention was Demidov being placed on the second power-play unit, while Zachary Bolduc was promoted to the first.
It’s the kind of choice that gets fans fired up, especially when you’re talking about a 20-year-old rookie who is producing.
Demidov has 30 points in 37 games, and his entry-level contract carries a cap hit of $940,833. When you see that kind of profile, you expect him to be glued to the top players.
Martin St-Louis explained his decision to move Ivan Demidov to the second power-play unit in favor of Zachary Bolduc
The coach essentially brought the discussion back to something simple: getting pucks to the net instead of looking for the perfect play.
Here is what St-Louis had to say to:
“Questioned about using Ivan Demidov on the second unit and Bolduc on the first, Martin St-Louis explained that it was related to the Bruins’ defensive approach.
He wanted two different “looks” on the two units.”
– Patrick Friolet
Along the same lines, a telling stat was brought up: at the time the debate went public, Demidov had just two shots on the power play, while Bolduc had nine, a total that matched Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki.
The real controversy is here: are they protecting Demidov, or are they holding him back?
St-Louis says he wants concrete answers on the ice, but let’s say he’s also creating a few questions, so we’re curious to read your thoughts on this.
Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics