Confirmed with Link: Michael McNiven re-sign (1 year, 2-way 750k/100k, 110k guaranteed)

[Moose Head]

So now the Habs goalie depth:

NHL
Price
Allen

AHL
Primeau
McNiven

ECHL
Poulin

Prospects
Dichow
Dobes
Vrbetik

So Demchenko is gone? You’d think he should get more than 4 games to prove himself. No losses and okay stats.

 

[Treb]

So Demchenko is gone? You’d think he should get more than 4 games to prove himself. No losses and okay stats.

He decided to go back to Russia back in May. My guess is he didn't like the NA experience enough to try and make a name for himself.

 

[Adam Michaels]

So Demchenko is gone? You’d think he should get more than 4 games to prove himself. No losses and okay stats.

Well, unfortunately the way things unfolded in the 2020-21 season, no one thought it would have gone that way. They signed Demchenko in May 2020. On that day, no one knew that:

1- The entire North Division of the ECHL would opt out, among other teams from other divisions, from the 2020-21 season. So there was no place to send anyone in the ECHL, as evidenced by Laval carrying 34 players on the roster, intending to have some sent to the ECHL.

2- That would force Laval to carry 3 goalies, and the plan was always to give Primeau most of the starts.

3- They didn't know that the AHL would only have a 36-game season that would start in February. My guess is that if they played a more full season, Demchenko would have gotten more games in.

4 - Habs didn't have Allen in the picture before September 2nd. So once they acquired him, the goaltending depth chart changed. The Habs had Price, Allen, Lindgren, Primeau, McNiven, and Demchenko.

Adding all that up, the way the season played out in NHL, AHL, and ECHL, Habs didn't know any of that when they signed him. Demchenko obviously preferred to return to the KHL, and I don't blame him. But I don't blame the organization either.