Ivan Demidov
SKA Saint Petersburg, KHL, Russia
The Montreal Canadiens prospect was named one of the players of the week in the KHL, and for good reason. His overall play in last week’s games was great on top of the five points, including a hat trick, a shootout winner, and finishing off the week with two assists in the last game. I think that the shootout goal might have been the best bit as Demidov had missed his first two shots but still had the confidence to go in and win it with his third. It also points to Roman Rotenberg having confidence in the young player to give him the opportunity.
Ivan Demidov with the clinching penalty. #GoHabsGo
— Patrik Bexell (@zebhabs.bsky.social) January 30, 2025 at 3:01 PM
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Demidov set up the overtime winner in the last game of the week, an assist that tied Kirill Kaprizov’s record for rookies in the KHL with one more game played. The next record that Demidov is going for is Danila Yurov’s (another Minnesota Wild prospect) under-20 record of 49 points in 62 games from last year. Vladimir Tarasenko had 47 points in 54 games 2012.
Bogdan Konyushkov
Torpedo Nihzny Novgorod, KHL, Russia
Playing against CSKA over the weekend, Konyushkov had his worst game of the season with a -3 rating. He was on the ice for the lone Torpedo goal in a 6-1 loss, however it was a power play goal so it didn’t affect his plus/minus.
Bogdan’s ice time as been stable around 24 minutes, but most notable is the fact that he has been been named captain again (something that happened two weeks ago). If Igor Larionov thinks he is a good leader, I have no doubt that he is one. Montreal Canadiens’ fans will have to wait for Konyushkov another year-and-a-half before he can enter a training camp with the club, as his KHL contract runs until May, 2026.
Yevgeni Volokhin
HC Sochi, KHL
Sochi played three games last week and Volokhin got the start against Kunlun and got his second win in his short professional career. He faced 47 shots on goal and only let two fly past him, giving him an impressive .957 save percentage. Both goals from Kunlun were even-strength goals, and while the first was a tip-in from in front of the net, I think Volokhin would have liked to have the second goal back as it came off a rush and he saw the trailing defenceman’s shot all the way. Still it’s a win and a very solid outing for the rookie, even if it was against a weak team.
Makar Khanin
Dynamo Moscow, KHL / Dynamo Saint Petersburg, VHL / MHK Dynamo Moskva, MHL
Khanin played two games last week in the MHL, both against Atlant. He had no points and his ice time was around 17 minutes.
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Aatos Koivu
TPS Turku, Liiga/ TPS U20, Finland
TPS Turku’s coach Tommi Miettinen uses Koivu sporadically in Liiga and I am quite surprised that he is using Koivu in as many games as he does. I got the impression that next year would be the start of Koivu’s rookie season, however this season will now qualify due to playing more than 20 games. He played one game in Liiga this weekend with five minutes of ice time.
Koivu will suit up for the Finnish U20 team that will play the five nations this week in Chomutov, Czechia, and we will have more information about Koivu after that tournament.
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Oliver Kapanen
Timrå IK, SHL, Sweden
Timrå has lost six games in a row and the international break could not come at a better time, even if Kapanen will suit up for the Finnish Lions. As this tournament is held in Stockholm, it will be a short trip for Kapanen. Finland faces Switzerland on Thursday, Czechia on Saturday, and Sweden on Sunday.
Timrå has only scored two goals in the last three games and Kapanen assisted on one of them as he won the faceoff. Other than him working hard in all games, the good news is that when Timrå scores Kapanen seems to be involved somehow.
Filip Eriksson
Växjö Lakers, SHL, Sweden
Eriksson has been in and out of the lineup in the last month as Växjö tries to find its feet again. The team is up to sixth in the standings, an achievement in itself considering the season, but Eriksson has not been able to find his role. Finding his form will be more of a struggle the less he plays.
Rasmus Bergqvist
Skellefteå AIK, SHL, Sweden
No games for Bergqvist who has sat out two weekends with the U20 team. I haven’t heard anything about injuries from my contacts up north, so most likely it has to do with catching up with school as Bergqvist has missed a bit due to his stint in the SHL and the WJC. It is quite common in Sweden to make sure that U20 players get the chance to finish school and have something to fall back on if hockey doesn’t work out.
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Vinzenz Rohrer
Zürich Lions, National League, Switzerland
Rohrer gets to play anywhere from 14 to 19 minutes a game for Zürich. The team is currently second in the standings and played four games last week (and one on Monday night after this article was written).
There were no points for Rohrer in the four games, but my colleagues and sources in Switzerland continue to be impressed with his work ethic on the ice.
Interestingly, Rohrer isn’t included in Austria’s team for their Four Nations tournament in Norway during the international break.