The 2004 NHL Draft is the most successful for Russia in history. Then Alexander Ovechkin went with the first number to the Washington Capitals, and immediately after him Evgeni Malkin went to the Pittsburgh Penguins. This is the first and only time that two Russians were selected in the top 5.

But soon, at the talent fair, which will be held from June 28 to 29 in Paradise, the domestic hockey school is able to repeat its own record for the number of players in the top 5 of the first round draft.

Passport and contracts don’t matter

Last year, the main talent of Russia, Matvey Michkov, was selected by Philadelphia only as number seven. Although it was initially assumed that the Russian would be drafted immediately after the main lot of Connor Bedard. After the talent fair, the North American media suggested that Michkov’s shares had fallen due to his contract with SKA, valid until the end of the 2025/26 season, as well as the difficult nature of the hockey player. In addition, after the situation with goalkeeper Ivan Fedotov, NHL clubs began to worry that players from Russia might not make it to the strongest league in the world. For this reason, team bosses abandoned the idea of ​​spending a high pick on a Russian.

However, things will be different in the upcoming draft. General managers are already saying that they will select the strongest players, regardless of their passports and contracts abroad. Thus, Chicago general manager Kyle Davidson told reporters that there is no reason to ignore Russian striker Ivan Demidov.

In North America, they are delighted with the hockey player’s throw and call him the new Nikita Kucherov. And no one is embarrassed that Demidov has another year on his contract with SKA.

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Last season, Demidov played 11 matches in the KHL for SKA and 30 games (23+37) in the MHL. At the same time, the striker had three injuries, which caused him to miss half of the regular season. But Davidson said the player’s injury history should not be a cause for concern. He admitted that he did not have the opportunity to carefully monitor the forward’s progress, but he fully trusts the Russian Chicago scout Anatoly Semenov, who last year recommended that the American club draft Roman Kantserov.

— Semenov works really well, and there is also a video that you can study. Of course we would have liked to see the player in person, but I think the analytics and process we did before drafting Roman last year was pretty thorough,” Davidson said.

Davidson never said that Chicago was going to spend its second pick on Demidov, but almost all North American experts put our forward right after Canadian McLean Celebrini, the favorite in the upcoming draft. Thus, journalist from The Athletic Scott Wheeler believes that Demidov is guaranteed to go to Chicago. His colleague Corey Pronman also gave the Blackhawks jersey to the forward in absentia, but with the caveat that the American club was in greater need of a defender.

“There is a feeling that the winds are blowing in the direction of Ivan Demidov, but my gut instinct tells me that the team will prefer the large and productive Belarusian defender Artem Levshunov, whom scouts have seen in person for two years,” Pronman wrote.

And this is what the top 5 of the upcoming NHL draft looks like from analyst Craig Button of TSN:

1. San Jose – McLean Celebrini

2. “Chicago” – Ivan Demidov

3. Anaheim – Konsta Helenius

4. Columbus – Tij Iginla

5. Montreal – Kayden Lindstrom

At the same time, Button is almost the only analyst who did not include Torpedo defender Anton Silaev in the top 5. The same Wheeler sends the Russian hockey player to Anaheim.

Anton Silaev / Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV

— The appeal of Silaev lies in the combination of the qualities of a winger like Ivan Demidov with a center like Leo Karlsson or Mason MacTavish. “Silaev will give Anaheim a defensive advantage to offset the offensive qualities of Mintyukov and Zellweger,” Wheeler wrote.

In general, most North American experts believe that both Silaev and Demidov will be included in the top 5 of the upcoming draft, which will repeat the record of the Russian hockey school.