I understand you think HFFlyers shuts down any attempts at being hopeful, but it's not quite true, outside of one or two people who are really just shit-posting as a coping mechanism and who should be taken with a grain of salt. To a person, the entire fanbase is hopeful about Michkov. I don't follow prospects, but from what I gather if we end up nabbing Catton there will be significantly more optimism on HFFlyers, because you can squint and see the beginnings of something to be hopeful about, including a willingness on the part of the front office to bet on skill. If it's Yakemchuk, you'll probably see more despondency. That may or may not grind gears of some of the more hopeful among us, but it's intellectually honest.
As for Michkov & Torts, I think there's an even money chance that partnership works. Torts can be fickle with his praise and criticism, even downright arbitrary, but I think he may find enough of his fetishes met with Mickhov's game that he gives Matvei the latitude he needs to develop into an impact player, Torts' patented dysfunctional power play notwithstanding.