....and....you still haven't managed to adress, or even acknowledge, the elephant in the room. The anti-Russian bias against Michkov was so strong that he was drafted behind another Russian
Hey maybe i'm wrong. Dmitri Simashev is not actually Russian. He's actually Latvian? everybody loves Latvians! Has anybody told Simashev that he can't possibly be Russian?
EDIT: Just to add to that. Why do you think NHL ready Zach Benson fell to #13. One spot behind But? Whose from where?
How about Andrew Cristall at #40, or Stankoven at #50 whatever a couple years ago?
We all know nhl scouts and management teams are biased against a certain player type. If a player gets lumped in that category he's going to fall, how far is the only question. Nationality has very little to do with it.
100% correct. We talk endlessly on the boards about biases against small players but when it comes to Michkov's draft day fall, Michkov stans won't mention it at all.
A conventional reason why their player fell on draft day isn't special enough for them. So we focus entirely on the Russian thing, even though he was the second Russian drafted that day.
I also saw him in Frisco at the U18s and it was plain as day he was a transcendent talent. He has that rare rapid processing ability you see from the best athletes.
The Coyotes at the time had Keller, Cooley, Maccelli, Schmaltz and nothing on the blueline. That was surely a factor. As was that franchise’s inferiority complex. And maybe Michkov indicated he didn’t want to land there. Who knows. Doesn’t matter.
Anyone who was paying attention knew he was a superior talent. Similar to Luka Doncic in the NBA. A European prodigy without ideal physical characteristics who was passed over by GMs because their horrible job security makes them risk averse.
There's no doubt that Michkov was held in that regard at that point. He was destroying every international tournament. But prospects mature at different rates and what is said about a kid at 16 doesn't mean a whole lot a couple years later. None of them are NHL ready at that point so how they're developing is the more interesting thing. Shane Wright (not on Michkov's level I know) was a phenom at 16 and people couldn't handle it when he stopped being held in that regard, but he just didn't have that growth trajectory scouts were looking for.
Michkov and Bedard were at the same level at age 16 but Bedard's skating and strength really took off after that in ways that Michkov's did not. There's no reason to expect them to always be kept at the same level in people's minds. It is not some injustice in the world if they follow different development paths.
First they put Michkov at the same tier as Bedard. After they try to find excuses: bad linemates, lack of creativity in the defense.
Yeah, I’m rooting for opinion that this Flyers roster is one of the worst in team history. But it’s still far better than last season Blackhawks. And there was no excuses for Bedard - he played 1C and scored a lot of points, showing really mature plays.
Mich is a good player. Probably in some areas is better than I thought (puck protection for example), but he’s just not the same level as Bedard.
Michkov is playing well so it is indeed wild to see so much needless excuse making. Michkov stans remind me so much of the Laine fan brigade we had here in his early years. Every time Laine had a bad period it was someone else's fault. He was playing on the best PP in the league and it was never good enough for them. When the team finally emerges from their rebuild, look for whoever is on Michkov's line to get tarred and feathered.
