Prospect Info: Round 1, 7th overall: Matvei Michkov, RW, SKA St. Petersburg (KHL)

[BrindamoursNose]

People are so jealous of our draft pick and it's showing

 

[Beef Invictus]

I trust Montreal's judgement as much as I trust the Flyers' judgement.

 

[Boxscore]

I looked and didn't see this posted.

He hates losing. I fail to see the problem here.

 

[Striiker]

The more stupid people bitch about him, the more confident I am that it's not a real problem.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I really appreciate your effort. And i want to believe you but us becoming the oilers with mcdavid is more likely

Possible, and maybe McDavid doesn't get it done with the Oilers, but I think he's going to win one eventually. Michkov too. When this guy says his dream is to win the Stanley Cup, this is a guy I believe that he will be able to do that.

I'm pretty sure he grew up very poor, and the KHL contract extension he signed was to secure his family's future. A little different from a lot of the great hockey players we see in the NHL that were rich kids or at least wholly middle class. He's had all this attention on his game for years as the biggest prodigy from Russia since Ovechkin, and all he's ever done is produce. His father died recently. Very tough for an 18 year old, but I would guess he's the type that a tragic life event like that makes stronger and it drives him even more. For an 18 year old kid, he's had a crazy life to this point. The whole story of the draft was basically "who the f*** is this mystery Russian guy"? He dealt with this the whole year, really, and he was great. He's not like a naturally gifted athlete either with elements like size, speed, and power. Dude is 5'10 and lacks pure speed, so very dissimilar to guys like Ovechkin and McDavid when they were coming up that had natural athletic gifts that would've made them good NHL players, even if they didn't have the other elements. Michkov's become the player he is almost exclusively because of his work with the puck and his mind.

 

[Zine]

Possible, and maybe McDavid doesn't get it done with the Oilers, but I think he's going to win one eventually. Michkov too. When this guy says his dream is to win the Stanley Cup, this is a guy I believe that he will be able to do that.

I'm pretty sure he grew up very poor, and the KHL contract extension he signed was to secure his family's future. A little different from a lot of the great hockey players we see in the NHL that were rich kids or at least wholly middle class. He's had all this attention on his game for years as the biggest prodigy from Russia since Ovechkin, and all he's ever done is produce. His father died recently. Very tough for an 18 year old, but I would guess he's the type that a tragic life event like that makes stronger and it drives him even more. For an 18 year old kid, he's had a crazy life to this point. The whole story of the draft was basically "who the f*** is this mystery Russian guy"? He dealt with this the whole year, really, and he was great. He's not like a naturally gifted athlete either with elements like size, speed, and power. Dude is 5'10 and lacks pure speed, so very dissimilar to guys like Ovechkin and McDavid when they were coming up that had natural athletic gifts that would've made them good NHL players, even if they didn't have the other elements. Michkov's become the player he is almost exclusively because of his work with the puck and his mind.

lol Michkov didn't grow up poor.

Apart from some outliers (Panarin comes to mind), you aren't poor if you have the luxury of playing hockey these days.

 

[BernieParent]

He hates losing. I fail to see the problem here.

For one, the Flyers are going to be doing a lot of losing for the next few years even if Michkov comes over early. I do love the insatiable drive to not only improve personally but to lead the team to success. Michkov doesn't at all look like a stat-padder who will want to get out of town if the team doesn't get competitive right away. But there likely is some maturing to be done about how he is delivering messages. Getting in another player's face about a mistake leading to a loss likely won't garner respect ... not that I am saying he has done so.

Having Michkov as the expected superstar changes the dynamic of team building from here on in. A huge part of the next 1-2 drafts and player movement over the next few seasons will, at least somewhat, be with an eye to finding the right linemates for him. I don't mean to abandon BPA but Brière has to be moving towards building an offensive force at the top of his lineup and the days of spending late 1sts or 2nds on 'safe' vanilla players should be over.

My thought is that the likely most logical or doable way to return to being an actual Cup contender is to get either a 1C or 1 D through the draft and build the right conditions -- assets and cap space -- to get another in an opportunistic trade for the other.

 

[Zine]

I looked and didn't see this posted.

Wow what a great article.

If anything, it shows Michkov cares...maybe too much.
He's a young kid who needed to learn how to focus his intensity and frustration of losing in the right direction.
That's a world of difference from being an entitled prodigy who doesn't listen to coaches, disrespects teammates and is a lockeroom cancer.

 

[Redpath]

I appreciate that Briere is fully capable of going on the radio. So why was Keith Jones hired?

 

[BillDineen]

Danny Briere: "We Never Thought Michkov Would Be There"

The Philadelphia Flyers have fans excited after the 2023 NHL Draft by taking Matvei Michkov & Danny Briere discussed

975thefanatic.com

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

So either Briere is full of shit or Michkov really did not have a lot of back up plans.

Either way, f***ing love he still dropped to us.

 

[Striiker]

Wanting to come to Philly is the only real red flag I’m seeing here.

 

[BillDineen]

Other info from the Briere interview:

- Flyers tried to move up with and without giving up 7

- Would have gone longer with York and Cates. They are betting on themselves

- Torts fully on board with giving younger d a shot

- Probably not another big splash this offseason

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

- Torts fully on board with giving younger d a shot

I'll believe it when I see it, because, man, this is some bullshit right here.

 

[Kermit the Prog]

I'll believe it when I see it, because, man, this is some bullshit right here.

Let's think about what he means by "younger d" - outside of the hockey realm...

That's right - I went there.

 

[Striiker]

Torts probably considers Risto one of the younger D.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Let's think about what he means by "younger d" - outside of the hockey realm...

That's right - I went there.

Torts thinks, "Anyone younger than me is younger D."

 

[AdamParrot]

Other info from the Briere interview:

- Probably not another big splash this offseason

So, our TOP9 at the start of the season:

Atkinson-Couturier-Konecny
Farabee-Frost-Tippett
Laughton-Cates-Foerster

???

Disappointed definitely.

 

[Rebels57]

So, our TOP9 at the start of the season:

Atkinson-Couturier-Konecny
Farabee-Frost-Tippett
Laughton-Cates-Foerster

???

Disappointed definitely.

The defense is trash still but with that forward group, the goaltending, and Torts defensive style, they aren't finishing Bottom 5 again.

Really can't believe Briere didn't move Laughton for that 1st and 2nd. Insane.

 

[pit]

- Probably not another big splash this offseason

Considering this is how most of the other big splashes went this offseason...

It's probably for the best.

 

[ProcessThis]

Really can't believe Briere didn't move Laughton for that 1st and 2nd. Insane.

I have a hard time believing that was ever a serious proposal.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Laughton feels like Simmonds all over again, albeit on a bit lesser scale. They'll trade him at the deadline as he's expiring for an underwhelming return.

 

[Embiid]

For one, the Flyers are going to be doing a lot of losing for the next few years even if Michkov comes over early. I do love the insatiable drive to not only improve personally but to lead the team to success. Michkov doesn't at all look like a stat-padder who will want to get out of town if the team doesn't get competitive right away. But there likely is some maturing to be done about how he is delivering messages. Getting in another player's face about a mistake leading to a loss likely won't garner respect ... not that I am saying he has done so.

Having Michkov as the expected superstar changes the dynamic of team building from here on in. A huge part of the next 1-2 drafts and player movement over the next few seasons will, at least somewhat, be with an eye to finding the right linemates for him. I don't mean to abandon BPA but Brière has to be moving towards building an offensive force at the top of his lineup and the days of spending late 1sts or 2nds on 'safe' vanilla players should be over.

My thought is that the likely most logical or doable way to return to being an actual Cup contender is to get either a 1C or 1 D through the draft and build the right conditions -- assets and cap space -- to get another in an opportunistic trade for the other.

You would hope that Briere understands the importance of complementing Michkov's skills with the proper linemates considering he didn't get that during his Philly stint besides flash in the pan Ville "I collect fancy shoes" Leino. I remember him lamenting this fact when Leino was acquired which was pretty much a luck move by Holmgren that got negated by Michael effin Leighton.

 

[DrinkFightFlyers]

Wanting to come to Philly is the only real red flag I’m seeing here.

Confirmed Russian spy sent by Putin to infiltrate the Flyers to enact posthumous revenge upon Ed Snider. e4

 

[BernieParent]

Confirmed Russian spy sent by Putin to infiltrate the Flyers to enact posthumous revenge upon Ed Snider. e4

I'm expecting more the NHL equivalent of Mean Girls, where Michkov shows up in his street clothes, laughs at the FO for thinking he really wanted to play for the Flyers, and then joins the Rangers with a wink and a nod from Gary Bettman.