Copyright yardbarker
Demidov started the season on the Canadiens’ 2nd unit alongside Patrik Laine and Noah Dobson. During the preseason, these three players showed flashes of being a serious threat with Brendan Gallagher and Kirby Dach, but considering that the whole power-play revolved around Demidov getting the puck across the slot to Laine for his famous one-timer, it became too predictable. Not to mention, Laine was dealing with his sports hernia injury. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anybody who could finish Demidov’s passes on the 2nd unit with Laine being banged up. This left that unit much less effective as a whole when they actually got ice time. Oddly, the one player on the top unit that was producing at a decent pace when Demidov wasn’t on the 1st power-play was Zack Bolduc, the guy that was sacrificed down to the 2nd unit to make room for Demidov’s skills on the top unit. Some fans may not understand why he was the one sacrificed for Demidov due to being somewhat productive. The answer is simple: Bolduc is a guy who solely plays from the bumper, which limits the others on the unit’s abilities to be in the places that they are best suited to play.
