RW Matvei Michkov (2023, 7th, PHI) Part 4

[NatusVincere]

I don’t know if this is a good timing prising Bedards abilities after the game he had yesterday against the Sabres. It’s not like he is setting the league on fire. And imo Bedard has the better linemates to play with. At least no Tippett…

 

[DuklaNation]

Yeah the 19 year old rookie who's clearly been the best player on his team, lmao. The whole teams been awful, he's literally the only bright spot, but I know you typed this because you don't watch the games. Check more box scores and post absolute nonsense, I'm sure your post history is comical.

The best players produce at even strength and on special teams. He isn't there yet and needs time. Stats don't lie.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

The best players produce at even strength and on special teams. He isn't there yet and needs time. Stats don't lie.

OR, and maybe this is hard for you to understand, we are talking about literally 5 games, barely over a full games worth of actual minutes on the ice and at even strength. His xGF/60 at even strength is fifth on the team (fourth amongst forwards). The stats don’t lie, as you say, but not in the direction you seem to believe.

 

[jj cale]

I don’t know if this is a good timing prising Bedards abilities after the game he had yesterday against the Sabres. It’s not like he is setting the league on fire. And imo Bedard has the better linemates to play with. At least no Tippett…

Probably not the best time to praise Michkovs abilities either, especially the " transcendent player talk"

Let's face facts folks........neither of these guys is going to be the next Gretzky. They are 2 of the best young players in the world , nothing more nothing less.

But if we are looking at both of them as something that is going to be above other elite stars currently on display like Mcdavid, Matthews, Etc then we are going to be disappointed.

 

[HeadLiceHatty]

Probably not the best time to praise Michkovs abilities either, especially the " transcendent player talk"

Let's face facts folks........neither of these guys is going to be the next Gretzky. They are 2 of the best young players in the world , nothing more nothing less.

But if we are looking at both of them as something that is going to be above other elite stars currently on display like Mcdavid, Matthews, Etc then we are going to be disappointed.

Who, seriously WHO has said Michkov or Bedard were going to be the next Gretzky, there will never be another Gretzky, or Mario tbh. There may never even be another McDavid.

 

[MNRube]

Who, seriously WHO has said Michkov or Bedard were going to be the next Gretzky, there will never be another Gretzky, or Mario tbh. There may never even be another McDavid.

People haven’t compared him to Gretzky except to say he has that kind of hockey sense. Obviously he’s not close to The Great One’s level. But there haven’t been a lot of guys recently who play like Michkov so it’s hard to compare him

The problem is people here are dumb and say “but he’s a small, slow wing. how can he be good?” And that’s when the Messi & Gretzky comps are useful bc everyone knows those two and what makes them special.

 

[jj cale]

Who, seriously WHO has said Michkov or Bedard were going to be the next Gretzky, there will never be another Gretzky, or Mario tbh. There may never even be another McDavid.

Some people were saying they were going to be A cut above, in other words.......waynes level, because if you can be a cut above players like Mcdavid,matthews, kucerov that is basically what you would be, an all timer elite level top 3-4 player of all time l player. you can see it even in this thread with one guy making a claim michkov was already one of the best players in the world after the 2 goalo game....his 3rd game in the league for gods sake, Another called him " a transcendent talent" I mean, transcendent is a pretty heavy word, a player like Gretzky was transcendent, a player like Orr was transcendent, only a precious few in any sport you name truly are.

I mean, both the haters and the fanboys really need to calm down, there has been some downright awful posts in this thread. Too much of it negative or positive have been off the wall.

 

[wetcoast]

This is your own narrative. I wouldn’t have picked Michkov or Reinbacher at the draft, and I still wouldn’t pick either with hindsight (especially Reinbacher, fwiw). And yes, I prefer Demidov and would still prefer him to Michkov even if the Habs took someone else. Demidov is bigger, faster, stronger, better attitude, and two-way game, and plays more in the dirty areas. Michkov on the other hand, is a small scoring winger who lacks speed. His upside is a smaller, slower, more PP reliant version of Vladimir Tarasenko.

It's funny that Tarasenko has had at the same time a bit of a disappointing career and still a very good one.

The thing is that he played 10 and 24 games in his age 28 & 29 season so that's probably part of that.

For the record I fully except Michkov to have a better statistical resume when it's all said and done.

Imo elite hockey iq presents in how quickly a players reads the play. Watching MM it’s obvious (to people who understand the game) that he has uniquely high hockey iq. Follow him and not the puck. The puck comes to him because he’s reading where it will be faster than all the other players. He sees the game two or three steps ahead of the other players. MM has exceptional hockey iq.

Sure I see that at times on offense but one would think that "elite " hockey IQ would have some defensive recognition as well right?

Or maybe he is like a lot of forwards, somewhat lazy in that department?

 

[phil162888]

Flyers literally have one centermen that can play offensively... 1... Couts is done and Jet shouldn't even be in the league right now....Thats the Flyers problem scoring 5 v 5... Plus Tippett and Konecny have been snake bitten.... that will end soon.... then Michkov will miraculously get some 5 v 5 points lol

 

[DuklaNation]

OR, and maybe this is hard for you to understand, we are talking about literally 5 games, barely over a full games worth of actual minutes on the ice and at even strength. His xGF/60 at even strength is fifth on the team (fourth amongst forwards). The stats don’t lie, as you say, but not in the direction you seem to believe.

Players that need space produce better on the PP than even strength. Its not hard to understand he's a typical 1st year player learning the ropes.

 

[The411]

yes, the lower percentage could explain teams not taking a risk on later picks. Still 4 first round picks from Russia in 2023, as many as any recent year. Interestingly enough, Montreal, a team who passed on Michkov because of supposed Russian factor picked Russian players in round 4 and 5

Chicago picked a Russian in round 2
Arizona picked 2 Russians in Round 1
San Jose picked a Russian in Round 7

Only two teams that passed on Michkov (Anaheim and Columbus) didn't pick a Russian in the 2023 draft.

So, Im not sure I buy the Russian factor.

The 7th rounder the Sharks picked, Rimashevsky has been doing quite well in the KHL at 19.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

The best players produce at even strength and on special teams. He isn't there yet and needs time. Stats don't lie.

Here are his 5v5 on ice totals and rank among flyers forwards:

• 64 shot attempts (1st)
• 30 shots (2nd)
• 26 scoring chances (3rd)
• 9 high danger scoring chances (3rd)
• 2.56 expected goals (1st)

Yet they've scored 0 5v5 goals while he's been on the ice.

How long do you think goalies will continue to save 100% of Flyers shots when he's on the ice?

 

[DuklaNation]

Here are his 5v5 on ice totals and rank among flyers forwards:

• 64 shot attempts (1st)
• 30 shots (2nd)
• 26 scoring chances (3rd)
• 9 high danger scoring chances (3rd)
• 2.56 expected goals (1st)

Yet they've scored 0 5v5 goals while he's been on the ice.

How long do you think goalies will continue to save 100% of Flyers shots when he's on the ice?

These kind of "stats" are useless.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

These kind of "stats" are useless.

Using a 5 game sample is useless in general.

But how long do you think goalies will continue to save 100% of Flyers shots when he's on the ice?

 

[DuklaNation]

Using a 5 game sample is useless in general.

But how long do you think goalies will continue to save 100% of Flyers shots when he's on the ice?

Not long, but that misses the bigger point, which you're ignoring. The end.

 

[Appleyard]

These kind of "stats" are useless.

They are actually better at predicting future goals and points than current goals and points are...

albeit a 5 game sample is very small.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Not long, but that misses the bigger point, which you're ignoring. The end.

The larger point being what? That because he has 0 points at 5v5 through 5 games he "needs more time"?

I guess the same goes for Barzal, Hyman, Konecny, Stamkos, Tippett, Marchessault, RNH, Hertl, and Rust, among others, as they've also been held pointless at 5v5 to start the year.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

One has to appreciate how the goalposts keep on moving in less than three years from "Michkov won't play in the NHL until 2026", to "Michkov will be drafted into the Russian army", to "Michkov doesn't play defense", to "Michkov has character issues", to "Michkov was healthy-scratched by SKA", to "Michkov's KHL production was against lesser teams", to "Michkov is a slow skater", to "Michkov has a low IQ", to "Michkov doesn't have a good shot", to "it's only the NHL preseason", and now onto "all his points are on the PP".

The Flyers love him and his jersey already is the top seller at the WFC pro shop. Kinda silly to keep fighting a battle you've been losing since 2022.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

How can the conversation be anything else but positive he has 2 goals 2 assists in 5 games playing on the flyers. Looks pretty good out there if you caught a game or two of his.

Do the detractors want him to have 11 points in 5 games while having early selkie votes? Why is the conversation here not positive? Am I missing something? Seems like it should be a circle jerk in here , pretty decent start for him.

Is everybody on this site just biased?

 

[ViD]

All the talks about bad line mates should not matter with potentially generational players regardless if they are wingers or centers as it was proven by Ovechkin and Crosby

 

[Garbageyuk]

How can the conversation be anything else but positive he has 2 goals 2 assists in 5 games playing on the flyers. Looks pretty good out there if you caught a game or two of his.

Do the detractors want him to have 11 points in 5 games while having early selkie votes? Why is the conversation here not positive? Am I missing something? Seems like it should be a circle jerk in here , pretty decent start for him.

Is everybody on this site just biased?

We’ve had the word “generational” rammed down our throats for 2 years by Russian fanboys and Habs haters. Reality has set in. You love to see it.

 

[kp61c]

All the talks about bad line mates should not matter with potentially generational players regardless if they are wingers or centers as it was proven by Ovechkin and Crosby

michkov isn't a generational player. playing with chickens without heads like tippett will greatly affect him in a bad way.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

We’ve had the word “generational” rammed down our throats for 2 years by Russian fanboys and Habs haters. Reality has set in. You love to see it.

Michkov might be the best Russian prospect in a generation, but IMO he was never a true generational prospect for the same reason Bedard wasn't, despite what their counting stats might have shown.

Both guys lacked the necessary elite athletic/physical abilities needed to create significant time and space.

That said, he's going to be a fantastic player for a long time. I suspect he's gonna make SJ, Montreal, and Arizona regret passing on him.

 

[BluesyShoes]

Is everybody on this site just biased?

Do you really even need to ask?

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Nah. I've seen it. Gonna have to respectfully disagree.

This thread is three minutes of my life I can never get back. Judging anyone after five games borders on absurd. Even more so when that player is seeing top line minutes as a 19-year-old and scoring at a near PPG pace.