It's a very recent situation and thus very relevant. I think we can both agree that the situation in Russia is very different from the 24th of February, 2022.
When’s the last time a top ten drafted Russian just flat out never came over to North America? I don’t believe it’s something that’s actually happened.
The thing is: There is a "situation" in Russia. This is not as it was 2-20yrs ago. Now there are real concerns about either government or team not releasing said player. I bet you that every GM rather drafts a non-Russian player over a Russian if they are of the same caliber because of this. I hope he comes over and does well, but I`m not 100% sure he will. If he was a Swede, Finn, Czech, Latvian or NA-born I`d be 100%. This is what GM:s think about - "Do I draft Michkov when I`m not 100% sure or do I rather take a bit lesser player I KNOW will be here at camp?"
Exactly. It absolutely makes sense to consider everything when evaluating a potential draft pick. You're just considering the odds, there is nothing 'russophobic' about that, whatever that even means.
I mean yes. Bedard, Fantilli and Carlson go before him but it’ll be because GM’s don’t want to wait not because they legitimately think Russia will refuse to release him.
It`s not about Russia refusing to release him, its about there are a lot on ucertaincys. Different world now than 2yrs ago. Might also be the player that opts to play in the KHL, might be the KHL team that doesnt release, might be new laws coming about conscripts, might be language-barrier etc. Its always about ??? of said player. I expect Michkov to be drafted in the 4-7 range, but I wouldnt be surprised if he fell a bit more. Before March 2022, Michkov was the clear #2.
You are full of doubts, and there is nothing surprising in this. But you forget that any GM has the opportunity to contact Michkov's agent or Matvey himself. All doubts will be dispelled after discussing the details. You guys know too little about the inner workings, so your fears sometimes sound ridiculous.
He wasn't though. Disproved by a russian poster few pages back in this thread.
I think you're just trying to come up with random reasons to justify your opinion. Michkov is not the first Russian in the NHL. Ovechkin, Malkin, Kaprizov, Panarin, Kucherov etc. faced a language barrier, and did it affect their game?
Well now you're just backtracking and saying what I said in more words.
For VIPs it always been much easier than that - frequently you'd just visit the conscription office, make some photos with the officers, sign some autographs and it is done for some time. Worst case would be Bryukvin's couple of weeks at the army (instead of the year and no legal issues so far). And for CSKA players it likely is even easier than that, as info appeared that Russian MoD is actually still the minority owner of CSKA.
He was sent to Severodvinsk which may be slightly south of the arctic circle, but a remote northern White Sea naval port just the same. I think the main point was not scientific accuracy geographically, but that most people would find such deployment punitive. Now that kids can be called up essentially by email also hockey players have a bit more to worry about than before, certainly the less prominent ones do. Someone like Michkov much like Fedotov is either protected or thrown under the bus regardless of how he does or doesn't do his paperwork.
Judging by the reports he spent most of the time not that far away, just 30 minutes away from his home in St.Petersburg, just those reports never made it outside of Russian insider telegram channels for obvious reasons.
Sometimes I get the feeling some posters here are supporting the "situation" and are actively trying to downplay it. All from the same country... Might just be my mind playing with me, but this is what it feels like.
It's funny, Both same height, Similar talents And almost the same amount of letters in the name. Matvei/Connor Michkov/Bedard The extra letter going to MM
Sometimes I get the feeling some posters from different countries are just ignoring everything that doesn't fit the narrative. You can try to explain laws, practices, examples, KHL rules etc. but it just constantly gets ignored... Might just be my mind playing with me, but this is what it feels like.
I know exactly how it goes. The thing is though Russia is making new laws every week now it seems and you cant predict the future. Especially when Russia isnt allowed to participate in most sports GM:s probably are a bit more scared to draft a Russian player if a Canadian of same caliber is available. It`s a business after all and the GM is paid to take as little risk as possible and get the best results. It`s in no way about Michkov. I`m actually sry for the kid as he`s been locked out from showing his potential for over a year now and fallen in the standings. Nothing is certain - If the situation escalates even more there is a small chance government doesnt allow KHL-players to even leave the country... This was exaggeration, but you know what I mean.Sometimes I get the feeling some posters from different countries are just ignoring everything that doesn't fit the narrative. You can try to explain laws, practices, examples, KHL rules etc. but it just constantly gets ignored... Might just be my mind playing with me, but this is what it feels like.
As I already wrote Fedotov's situation is a shitshow, but it had legal grounds, so for Michkov it is important to eliminate those legal grounds, which is not hard to do - usually it is done via becoming a student. Or he can become a father of two kids, but for whatever reason this method is used less frequently. Or getting a serious injury or several concussions - he will be ineligible due to health reasons then, but I somehow doubt it is a good idea.
On paper maybe, but the causality in Fedotov's case was such that someone influential enough wanted to punish him and only then found the legal excuse for it. So there were legal arguments, yes, but they weren't grounds. Similarly Michkov or any other prospect can try to eliminate certain legal arguments that could be used against them, but they can do very little to eliminate the actual grounds. And when the grounds exist also the arguments will be found. I agree that the topic is becoming overblown in the case of Michkov in particular, but more generally speaking it's definitely there and more so than it has been in the last 30 years.
The future is indeed unpredictable, but the risks are everywhere. You're talking about geopolitical risks and anything can happen, but the risks can differ: in theory Fantilli can stay in the NCAA until rights expire, Bedard can go full Daigle, a career threatening injury can happen to someone else etc. I mean I can understand if there would be some insider talks of the process like this, but there are not, so by that logic NHL owners could just sell their franchises, because the nuclear end of the world is also not out of the question - there's also a small chance if we exaggerate a bit further.
Actually that's what I mean, the legal excuse is still required - so some legal grounds should be there and purely from the law point of view everything there is clean. What (if anything) would be done if there wasn't that excuse we can only guess, but clearly something else.
20-21 U18
