Strawman. The "best season evar" is one of the main talking points regarding Michkov even though it is completely meaningless since it is not the best season ever.
Lol… Him playing in a top euro league kinda contradicts what you say… talking about bias. And Michkov was in two games against SKA one of if not the best player on the ice (at least in one game he was). That’s better than everything Bedard, Carlsson or Fantilli had ever to deal with. And about “not good enough for the WC”, Bedard played sommer hockey instead of Hungary. I would have too. Michkov lackrossed the Swedish senior team 16 years old, he doesn’t need to prove him against D-Level competition. Fantilli and Carlsson had to… and looked mediocre. Like they always do on international stage.
I'm not sure how this projects but Rein finished around 110th overall in nl scoring, in a men's league, as an 18 year old defenseman. I haven't been able to apply the so called eye test but if he's a defense first player like you suggest, isnt that all the more impressive?
Matthews finished second in the NHL for goals during his rookie year.
If you can score 40 in the NHL, you can score in the khl.
The issue is that since it is the KHL a 18 year old would like never be "the guy" for a team, he would be playing some middle-six role and good luck getting into the Top 10 with that kind of usage.
Co-director of amateur scouting Nick Bobrov when asked why the Habs opted to draft Reinbacher over Michkov : "We're building a culture; we want certain things that permeate that culture as we keep building this. We felt that this player embodies the type of culture that Jeff, Kent, Marty and the coaching staff are trying to build, and that was not a trivial matter to us. So, culture was an important word."
Lapointe and Bobrov: Culture an important factor at this year's Draft | Montréal Canadiens
The Habs' lead scouts reflected on a busy two days in Tennesseewww.nhl.com
Washington Capitals scout Andrei Nikolishin concerning Matvei Michkov:
"To me, he's first or second in skill [in the draft]. But when it comes to character, to attitude to his teammates, coaching staff, management, fans - the man has now fallen very low in the eyes of all the scouts, all the managers. It has nothing to do with the tragedy. Information about the player is collected - how he talks to his partners, how he talks to the coaches, how he behaves off the ice. And that's where it gets rough for Matvey. There are a lot of nuances that could be revealed. I can show you the correspondence when I wanted to meet with him and, as a scout, ask him some questions and do an interview, how he responds. I've never seen such disrespect in my life for other people"
Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekäläinen when asked if they met with Michkov or whether were planning on having a meeting with him before the draft, his response? : a resounding no
Anonymous SKA Petersburg teammate: "He doesn't listen to anything the veterans tell him, he doesn't listen to the coaches, he doesn't hesitate to laugh at them and send them away. He only does what he wants. We really tried to give him a chance and understand him, but we realized he's just a piece of shit."
Sharks GM Mark Grier why he didn't choose Michkov with the 4th pick :
You can choose to believe what you want but by connecting the dots, it's clear his attitude and major character problems are the reasons why he fell to #7, and it had little to do with his 2026 contract in Russia.
Well since they all are suppressed in some way they can be compared, however I'd definitely factor in the TOI then. Still I don't understand the point of comparing of let's say Ovechkin and Michkov, as those are like totally different environments almost 20 years apart.
What are saying sounds good in theory, it often doesn't really play out that way. Young players just don't get tons of opportunity on their KHL teams and it tends to be stubbornly regimented in terms of progressing up. Players don't really get to skip the line even when they are the greatest junior player ever. Ovechkin a GPG player as a 17 year old at the WJC and being a 15 pt in 40 games in the RSL is kinda the epitome of that.
I don't understand either. 20 points in 30 games is not impressive, nor is 24 points in 53 games or 32 points in 52 games.
