People are getting carried away with this. He’s got star potential - something like Kaprizov. I seriously doubt he ever becomes as good as guys like Patrick Kane or Kucherov, and nobody would ever call those two “generational”.
He also is flawed in more ways than one and carries plenty of bust risk, baggage, question marks, etc. I’d personally steer clear. I’m all for swinging for the fences most times, but there are just too many red flags with him that a lot of people on here seem to be ignoring.
We can safely assume that Bedard, Fantilli, and Carlsson are gone at 5th, so I’d take all of Smith, Leonard, and Benson over Michkov. All three are fantastic prospects with tremendous upside, and they don’t come with all the BS and uncertainty that Michkov does. Sure Michkov could end up as the best player out of the 3, but as time goes on, that seems less and less likely.
His stock hasn’t only fallen due to the geopolitical situation; it’s been intrinsic factors as well. A couple years ago, he was being talked about as being in competition with Bedard for 1st overall. That seems ridiculous now. If I’ve learned anything about prospects and scouting, it’s that these “fallers” leading up to a draft rarely end up being good picks.