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

[Fantomas]

I am pretty confident the leash will be long, not infinite, but long.

That said I am also confident that Michkov will get benched at some point this season. However, l doubt it will be a recurring thing. Nor do I think it will be some majorly dramatic situation like PLD, Laine, and Vinny Lecavalier. I think when he is benched it will likely be the mundane reason most players get benched. Which is... sometimes even the best players have bad games. During those times a ride on pine pony is all you can really do for the player and team. When that moment comes, Michkov likely will accept the bench and play better next game. It happened last season in Sochi. Played Awful. Rode Pine. Bounced back better than ever. No drawn out drama

If anyone deserves the bench badly it's Tippett. Michkov's out there blocking shots, doing everything. He's shown up - some of his teammates... not so much. His offensive sense is already beyond most of his teammates. So many of his feeds right on the platter, but not converted. If some chemistry develops there then watch out. But that will take time.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

From age 16 through 18 I think he appeared to be on less of a steep trajectory. His skating and his physique did not improve much.

Nothing is in set in stone, correct, maybe you'l be right that he'll be better. But the point I was making is that how they compared at age 16 at Frisco isn't that relevant. It's not some weird thing if they stop being comparable players.

Homeboy smoked KHL U20 records in consecutive seasons and he’s already improved the Flyer PP exponentially while generational Bedard had the NHL’s 112th-most productive rookie season and on a 23-win team no less.

There is no gap until we actually see one.

 

[ViD]

If anyone deserves the bench badly it's Tippett. Michkov's out there blocking shots, doing everything. He's shown up - some of his teammates... not so much. His offensive sense is already beyond most of his teammates. So many of his feeds right on the platter, but not converted. If some chemistry develops there then watch out. But that will take time.

Tippett is an absolute disaster. Personally, I wouldn’t want a linemate like him, the dude doesn’t pass and takes shots from very bad angles or simply misses the net a lot

 

[Fantomas]

So the question remains — why was there a decrease? Made no sense at the time and more so in retrospect. The anti-Russian rhetoric from the Canadian media, coupled with the CHL and IIHF bans paints a pretty clear picture in my book.

If Canadian teams want to cloud their thinking with anti-Russian politics, I say let them. I think it's funny. They get David Reinbacher and his rickety knees. A complete self-own.

I notice Arizona/Utah was mentioned a few times in this thread. Only God really knows what they were thinking and it doesn't really matter. I think they were just insecure. From what I've heard, they took Simashev because they developed a good rapport with him and his agent; he speaks good English and there were assurances made that he would come over. They were probably terrified Michkov would give them the cold shoulder and never leave the warm embrace of mother Russia. Apparently he never shook their hand and told them that it's his dream to play in Phoenix. Maybe they like insincerity, some people do. Today Michkov is an NHLer while Simashev is still in the KHL. He's a good, stay-at-home player. He will speak good English for them for many years, block lots of shots and he has that charming smile the ladies love.

 

[bwanajamba]

Homeboy smoked KHL U20 records in consecutive seasons and he’s already improved the Flyer PP exponentially while generational Bedard had the NHL’s 112th-most productive rookie season and on a 23-win team no less.

There is no gap until we actually see one.

Quite sad that people feel the need to keep trying to drag Bedard down in this thread to boost Michkov, who is doing just fine without the shade

Put another way, last season Bedard was more productive (both raw totals and per game) than Michkov while playing in a better league at a younger age on a team that scored less often and was worse relative to the competition

When Bedard didn't register a point, including during his injury, the team was literally shut out twice as often as they won. He was the sole focal point of the best defenders in the world night in and night out- Michkov, wonderful as he is, can't claim to have faced that level of competition- and put up the 3rd best points per game rate for his age since the 80s behind only McDavid and Crosby. It's fair to perceive a gap between Michkov and Bedard for now while keeping the possibility open that the gap will close

He did stink defensively as an 18 year old with ridiculous matchups every night but he developed a high end summer training plan with Kyle Davidson (aka shipping out more than a half dozen AHL caliber players and replacing them with actual NHLers so the team isn't constantly chasing the puck) and now he's a net positive defender through five games. Magic