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

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Sasso09

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Jan 2, 2009
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Can an American bank give a loan to buy out a KHL contract, I wonder. I don't mean Michkov's situation, but in general, because I'm pretty sure Michkov isn't going to buy out his SKA contract. And why would he wanna do it? To sign a 3 year ELC? Yeah, the dream comes true...
Flyers fans shouldn't want him coming until 24-25' at the earliest. Having him ELC/RFA in his prime during mid rebuild is the perfect scenario.
 

snipes

How cold? I’m ice cold.
Dec 28, 2015
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When is the earliest we realistically will see him in North America?

I’ve followed him pretty closely for years. Him and Bedard had some epic head to head matches internationally as underagers. They were so far head and shoulders the best players while being the youngest players. They were neck and neck with each other. Obviously with recent events I didn’t get to watch him as closely internationally in his draft year.

From a pure sport perspective, I miss seeing Canada and Russia play hockey against each other. I understand there‘s complexities that are going on outside of hockey but I always viewed hockey as a form of diplomacy between our countries. Pretty much at any level it’s always extremely entertaining and the best hockey to watch. Alas, I digress.

Michkov’s game as I said at the time watching him at 16/17 would translate well to the NHL and North American style game. He attacks the middle of the ice really well and has a fantastic shot. Absolutely lethal release and he’s good at finding space in traffic in the high danger scoring areas. Pretty fiesty and competitive too which has always been evident when you watch him play.

He’s a dazzling player and easily the best Russian prospect in decades. Philly got a really good player.
 

JackSlater

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Apr 27, 2010
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I liked the way he carried himself in his interviews at the draft, not that that means anything. Had hoped that Detroit would move up to take him.
 

Our Lady Peace

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Aug 12, 2014
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Unreal that Arizona passed on him. I understand that teams interview players and follow their combine results and they get a better feel for guys within a month of the draft. However sometimes they really get attached to their "guy". They get paid to do what they do for a reason, but there's always some head scratchers each draft.

I see a kid that's got a special pedigree even at his size - who cares if you're waiting 3 years given his contract situation. Ideally most players need that time in other leagues to develop anyway. He wants to win a Stanley Cup. He'll come right in and be an impact player and would have joined a roster of already budding NHL star forwards like Cooley and Guenther.

Taking Michkov at 6 would still have yielded them Simashev on the board at 12. Maybe he's got something that nobody else saw and there's another Seider or Sanderson or whoever in him.

Looking forward to watching Michkov in the KHL this season.
 
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kp61c

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Apr 3, 2012
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His agent said that there were two teams he didn't want to be drafted by - Arizona and Washington. Also Anaheim showed serious interest in him.
 
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NJ DevLolz

The Many Saints of Newark
Sep 30, 2017
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His ceiling is certainly higher than all these guys during their draft years. If I had to bet I'd say he ends up pretty even with Kane and Kuch as a safe projection
What.

Side note- nice to see you back with Bedard and Michkov in the fold!
 

Redpath

Registered User
Sep 30, 2011
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His agent said that there were two teams he didn't want to be drafted by - Arizona and Washington. Also Anaheim showed serious interest in him.

Thank you for sharing. Where did you read these comments?
 

Pavel Buchnevich

"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
Dec 8, 2013
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I'm aware of the reasons, but watching Michkov's slide throughout the season was absolutely astonishing how dumb this league can be at times.

I find it utterly offensive and insulting my intelligence for anyone to tell me he isn't a top 2 prospect from the 2023 draft on talent. The debate on talent was him or Bedard. The draft debate between them only ended with his contract and the war. No slight to Bedard, but the debate over which of them will be the better player hasn't ended and probably didn't shift. Both had great seasons, as you'd expect.

So if you then come to the conclusion that he's a clear top 2 talent and there's that gap after them, how does he get picked 7th? The big, small, center, wing stuff becomes irrelevant when the gap in ability is that big. No disrespect to guys like Smith, Reinbacher, Simashev, those guys aren't that hard to acquire. If Michkov turns into the player he's expected to, he's a top 10 player in the world. No questions asked. Top 10 may be underselling it. He could be better than that. You can acquire 2D's or 3D's or 20-40 range centers. Maybe it's not easy, but it's not the same as trying to acquire a cornerstone player that defines your franchise for a generation. There are teams out there that have been in a malaise and stuck in mediocrity exactly because they have not had the chance to acquire those players. Teams like Columbus and Anaheim actually come to mind. I know why they didn't take him, but I think they'll have big regrets as all of this unfolds over the coming years.

You take that shot at Michkov 100/100. If he gets kidnapped or something else insane that people have hypothesized, you live with the consequences. It's worth the chance at a true cornerstone franchise defining player. You need to take risks to acquire the players needed to build a Stanley Cup winning team. It's not by being risk averse. Teams rarely get the opportunity via draft, trade, free agency to acquire players with Michkov's ability.

Another thing I didn't really understand with all these anti-Michkov arguments was that it's not like the guys picked middle of the top 10 or even 2 or 3 are all elite players in the NHL in their D+2 or D+3. I'm a Rangers fan. Kaapo Kakko was drafted #2 in 2019. We've seen four seasons of him in the NHL, and he just hit his career high of 40 points in his D+4. Yeah, you might swear that it'll be different for Fantilli or Carlsson, but often times it isn't. Most of the players that aren't the generational players (McDavid) or those 1 step down from generational (Matthews, Eichel, MacKinnon, etc.) go from like 30 points to 45 to 60, if things go well. Is it really that important to have the ELC on your roster? Because you are most likely getting a very replaceable player those years that Michkov isn't available due to his contract.

Then he's signing his contract the next year, and probably winning ROY scoring 1PPG+. The "will he sign" argument is a red-herring. All the true star Russian players over like the last 25 years have come to the NHL no later than early/mid 20's.

And really, if you are so worried about Michkov getting kidnapped or being drafted into a war or being banned from the NHL, and any of that starts looking like a real possibility, I think the state of the world has devolved into such an unmanageable state that there are bigger problems for everyone to worry about than if Michkov will play for your NHL team next year.

I'm really fascinated to follow the journey of Michkov compared to the guys drafted 2-6. I'm pretty sure this is going to be the ultimate "what if" scenario for those teams, their management, and their fan-bases over the next 20 years.
 

Kiirin

Registered User
Apr 2, 2023
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Ryan Whitney loves Russian players for sure...

This is not the first time I've read or heard someone speak badly about this kid's attitude and personality problems. This is some major red flags similar to Nail Yakupov. Hopefully, he gets to fix this before coming to the NHL, or else he's well on his path to becoming a major locker room cancer who'll bounce around from team to team and eventually be out of the league in 5 years.
 

FlyguyOX

Registered User
Jun 29, 2018
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Maybe flyers will get michkov over early in return for letting CSKA and the KHL register Fedotov despite him having an NHL contract
 

FlyguyOX

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Jun 29, 2018
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Precedent now for Flyers to bring over Michkov whenever they want since leagues are no longer respecting each others contracts :)

Silver lining in the fedotov situation, really.

LFG
 
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JackSlater

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Apr 27, 2010
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If I was Philadelphia I'd be content to let Michkov stay over in Russia for a bit. Pretty solid track record of Russian forwards developing well in the KHL, not a particularly noteworthy record of player development in Philadelphia. If in two years the team is in a good spot and Michkov looks ready, then by all means go for the early poach at that point.
 
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