Hughes To Negotiate With SKA St. Petersburg Today

Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes wasn't at the Bell Centre to see his latest acquisition score a hat trick last night, he was in Russia. Why? Well, he caught Ivan Demidov's SKA St. Petersburg vs. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl match with special advisor to hockey operations Vincent Lecavalier.

In front of very keen observers, Demidov had over 10 minutes of ice time, took three shots on goal and drew a penalty. He was kept off the scoresheet in SKA's 3-2 defeat. What was most interesting though wasn't what happened on the ice, but what Roman Rotenberg said after the game to a Russian media outlet.

Speaking to Matchtv.ru, SKA's bench boss said he appreciated the Canadiens' brass coming over to watch the youngster. He also added they were in the best arena in the world today, calling the Bell Centre the best arena in the world 20 years ago.

About Demidov, he said they would discuss his development with the Canadiens' representatives and how to improve his implementation. Then, he added they would negotiate tomorrow.

Related: Canadiens: No Easy Way Out For Demidov

Now, it's a well known fact the Canadiens cannot negotiate with SKA to terminate Demidov's contract even though that's what Habs' fans would like to hear. Could Rotenberg mean they'll negotiate about his deployment and ice time? Perhaps, but it's hard to imagine the pilot being told how to use a player he has kept on a tight leash since the start of the season.

Of course, if Demidov was able to terminate his contract like Matvei Michkov did, the organization would probably be over the moon and chances are they've had Mariah Carey's Christmas classic on their mind while watching their prospect...

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