Photo credit: Canadiensmtl IG

Several Montreal Canadiens fans were hoping to see Ivan Demidov play in tonight’s game for Martin St-Louis. Well, let’s settle that right away, Martin St-Louis has already confirmed that Demidov will not be in the lineup tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

All the details are here:

That said, contrary to what many believed, the scenario wasn’t entirely impossible.

Marc Denis reveals a scenario where Ivan Demidov would have played tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs, for Martin St-Louis and the Montreal Canadiens

Here’s what was reported by Raphaël Simard:

“The player who will wear number 93 will most likely not play tonight in Toronto, although Marc Denis left open the possibility of him facing the Leafs if Montreal qualified last night, but he could hit the ice during the optional morning skate.”

– DansLesCoulisses

This was written yesterday, of course, but the point still stands.

Basically, had the Canadiens secured a playoff spot with a regulation win last night, then Ivan Demidov would have had a real chance of jumping into the action as early as tonight in Toronto.

It’s an interesting detail to add regarding the Canadiens’ plan for the young phenom.

In the end, as mentioned above, Martin St-Louis has confirmed that Demidov will not play tonight against the Leafs.

However, it’s worth noting that the answer could have been different had the Canadiens secured a regulation win last night in Ottawa.

Here are images of Ivan Demidov at his first practice in Habs gear, he looks sharp and hasn’t missed a beat: