RW Matvei Michkov - HC Sochi, KHL (2023 Draft) - PART 3

[dyldude]

 

[Jabba11]

This kid needs more coverage and more talk. Just watched KHL video of his first practice with Sochi. Kid comes in with great attitude, sayingg how he woke up and found out he was loaned but he is excited for the opportunity with Sochi. Wants to help the team win first, then secondly, wants to score as much as possible and do anything to benefit the team.

He's my favorite prospect of this draft for the last 3 years. And I'm Canadian.

 

[Panteras]

excuse my ignorance, but given everything that’s been going on, what’s the stance towards drafting these Russian prospects my NHL GMs? Take a chance with 6-7th pick type deal? Is the NHL even making these Russian prospects eligible for drafting? Will Russia when allow them to leave? (Guessing this last question might be an unknown).

 

[Vasilevskiy]

excuse my ignorance, but given everything that’s been going on, what’s the stance towards drafting these Russian prospects my NHL GMs? Take a chance with 6-7th pick type deal? Is the NHL even making these Russian prospects eligible for drafting? Will Russia when allow them to leave? (Guessing this last question might be an unknown).

There should be no big issue. Yurov and Miroshnichenko were both drafted and should be in NA when their deals finish. Same for Michkov.

 

[Daximus]

excuse my ignorance, but given everything that’s been going on, what’s the stance towards drafting these Russian prospects my NHL GMs? Take a chance with 6-7th pick type deal? Is the NHL even making these Russian prospects eligible for drafting? Will Russia when allow them to leave? (Guessing this last question might be an unknown).

The only major red flag right now for Michkov is will he even come over to NA when his deal is up or will he resign and stay? Will he play for any team or does he only have a specific group that he will come over for? Lots of questions up in the air. There are some teams who just won't take the risk at all. It's a major gamble and one that could either pay off and make you look amazing or have you wasting a high 1st round pick in a solid draft.

 

[lanky]

The only major red flag right now for Michkov is will he even come over to NA when his deal is up or will he resign and stay? Will he play for any team or does he only have a specific group that he will come over for? Lots of questions up in the air. There are some teams who just won't take the risk at all. It's a major gamble and one that could either pay off and make you look amazing or have you wasting a high 1st round pick in a solid draft.

Has there ever been a player as NHL ready as Michkov will be in 2026 that decided not to go to the NHL?

 

[Daximus]

Has there ever been a player as NHL ready as Michkov will be in 2026 that decided not to go to the NHL?

Not that I know of but he could easily stay home with the current political climate being what it is. Or he could just decide to never come over for your team forcing you to trade his rights to somewhere he deems more favourable.

 

[Daeni10]

Not that I know of but he could easily stay home with the current political climate being what it is. Or he could just decide to never come over for your team forcing you to trade his rights to somewhere he deems more favourable.

But so could every NA prospect. There is no reason to believe that a Russian prospect is more likely to pull a move like that than an NA one yet every Russian prospect gets questions about their character and willignes to move over to NA.

I think that will be talked about in pre draft interviews and I am sure it will all be sorted out quickly.

 

[koteka]

excuse my ignorance, but given everything that’s been going on, what’s the stance towards drafting these Russian prospects my NHL GMs? Take a chance with 6-7th pick type deal? Is the NHL even making these Russian prospects eligible for drafting? Will Russia when allow them to leave? (Guessing this last question might be an unknown).

They can come over. Marchenko came over this season for Columbus.

I think he goes 2nd - 5th spending on which team is drafting where.

#1 is obviously Bedard.

The next 3 picks are likely Fantilli, Michkov, and Carlsson. Michkov is the most skilled, but Fantilli and Carlsson project as high end centers.

But there are teams that won’t pick Michkov. Columbus really needs a center and already has some elite wings. Michkov doesn’t make sense for Columbus. So if Columbus drafts 4th and the draft goes Bedard, Fantilli, Carlsson, Columbus probably grabs their highest rated center (Smith, Dvorsky, Yager), and Michkov falls to #5.

A team that really makes sense for Michkov is San Jose. They can let him play in Russia while they work through their awful contract situation. They can draft at the top of the draft for a few more years. They could have an elite D prospect and a top center prospect (drafted in 24 and 25) and Michkov and Eklund in a few years and develop into a good team. Arizona also makes sense because they can have him come over once the new arena is built and they aren’t bringing an elite player in to play at a university rink.

So let’s say the draft order is Anaheim, Arizona, Chicago, Columbus - then the draft might go Bedard, Michkov, Fantilli, Carlsson and Michkov goes #2.

 

[Zine]

Not that I know of but he could easily stay home with the current political climate being what it is. Or he could just decide to never come over for your team forcing you to trade his rights to somewhere he deems more favourable.

These days the 'Russian factor' is more about a lack of development control than players not going to the NHL.

 

[Daximus]

These days the 'Russian factor' is more about a lack of development control than players not going to the NHL.

Yeah that's also part of it as well. There's a lot of factors at play with drafting Russian talent right now, more so than existed even a few years ago and that complicates things a lot. It's going to be interesting to see how things shake out because there's so much uncertain with drafting a player like Michkov high that it might scare away some teams.

 

[lanky]

These days the 'Russian factor' is more about a lack of development control than players not going to the NHL.

I guess there could be concern that some prospects get stuck with 4th line minutes (or less) in the KHL. Now that Michkov has been loaned to Sochi and he's already scoring goals, I can't see how this concern would apply to him.

His contract length is really the only valid concern that I see.

 

[57special]

I don't think that there is a lot of uncertainty about picking a top pick like Michkov, who would've been #1 in many years, besides the fact that he is signed till 2026. It's more the mid level prospects who NHL teams might have more trouble bringing over.

W/o getting too much into politics, and making generalizations about the Russian people, i would imagine that there is a certain amount of pride seeing Russian players come over to the NHL and excel a la Ovi, Panarin, Kaprizov, etc.. Even the leaders of the country would have to see that as evidence of Russian excellence, and something to be celebrated, rather than something to be prevented.

Don't get me wrong, if Michkov was available to come over in his D +1 year then he would be drafted #2oa for sure, but that might happen anyway.

I guess there could be concern that some prospects get stuck with 4th line minutes (or less) in the KHL. Now that Michkov has been loaned to Sochi and he's already scoring goals, I can't see how this concern would apply to him.

His contract length is really the only valid concern that I see.

Completely valid, in Yurov's case. He is playing about 1 minute per game, recently. I mean, WTF? Who does that? Put him in street clothes, or send him down.

 

[Anardil]

You are mad?



And I’m not talking shit about Bedard. He is head and shoulders above everyone else on Team Canada. He will be for many years the 2nd best player of the world.

Behind McDavid, I agree.

 

[Zine]

I guess there could be concern that some prospects get stuck with 4th line minutes (or less) in the KHL. Now that Michkov has been loaned to Sochi and he's already scoring goals, I can't see how this concern would apply to him.

His contract length is really the only valid concern that I see.

NHL teams' development concerns aren't limited to the possibility of small KHL minutes for their draft picks. It's also the general reluctance of players to play in the AHL (or the AHL for too long); especially for established KHLers.

But this doesn't apply to Michkov, really. Only the extra waiting time for him to arrive should be a deterrence.
If he goes lower than #2 the NHL has lost its mind.

 

[peconcan]

You are mad?



And I’m not talking shit about Bedard. He is head and shoulders above everyone else on Team Canada. He will be for many years the 2nd best player of the world.

Still early to have Bedard being the 2nd best in the world behind McDavid. Matthews Makar and Mackinnon are still all in their primes for 6 or 7 more years

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Still early to have Bedard being the 2nd best in the world behind McDavid. Matthews Makar and Mackinnon are still all in their primes

I think he meant 2nd behind Michkov

 

[peconcan]

I think he meant 2nd behind Michkov

I know that’s what he meant lol

 

[Daximus]

NHL teams' development concerns aren't limited to the possibility of small KHL minutes for their draft picks. It's also the general reluctance of players to play in the AHL (or the AHL for too long); especially for established KHLers.

But this doesn't apply to Michkov, really. Only the extra waiting time for him to arrive should be a deterrence.
If he goes lower than #2 the NHL has lost its mind.

Hard to say. If I look at it from my team, the Jets perspective and we are sitting at #2. Bedard is a huge gamble for us. We don't see him until 2026 at the earliest, there's a really good chance he won't even sign with us and there's an even bigger chance that if he does he's looking for a way out of the Winnipeg fishbowl as fast as possible. When we could take someone like Fantilli or Carlsson, while they may never be as good. We likely get them signed within 2 years, we can develop them in our own system, we don't have to worry at all about what the political climate is like for them and we stand a much bigger chance at keeping them long term.

Factors like that will be at play for a lot of the teams that could end up with the #2 pick.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Plays vs Larionov's Torpedo today. Torpedo usually plays good open hockey so I hope for an interesting game. I bet watching Bedard at the WJC should add Matvei some fire.

 

[alko]

His future is connected with Washington Capitals.

 

[Kshahdoo]

His future is connected with Washington Capitals.

You mean they will trade for him?

 

[alko]

You mean they will trade for him?

Something like this. Or will have some agreement with first teams, then trade for top 10 pick and will take him. Ovie could be a very good mentor for him.

 

[Kshahdoo]

16:47 TOI, 3 shots but no points. Overall his line was the best on Sochi but it's hard to play vs top KHL teams, and Torpedo is one of the fastest if not the fastest team in the league.

It's really impressive what a team Larionov has made out of players who mostly weren't needed by other teams. Kinda like Vegas in its first season.

 

[LetsGoFlyers12]

I've seen 3 full games since joining Sochi, but I have been extremely impressed with Michkov so far. He has driven play up the rink well, has turned the puck over very few times, and has created a lot with the puck on his stick. Areas which some may consider weaknesses have actually looked like strengths. (Forecheck, d-zone awareness). This is even more impressive given Sochi is a dumpster fire, and he is fighting an uphill battle.

If he played these minutes on SKA we would never be mentioning Fantilli or Carlsson in the same breath. He is still my clear 1A in this draft and it's not really close