Kshahdoo
Registered User
Best case scenario, he ends up elite like Kucherov and Kaprizov.
Ovechkin and Malkin are different animals. Ovechkin's blend of passion, size, durability, scoring ability, and it factor come along once or twice in a lifetime. The only other who could historically match Ovie is Gordie Howe. Other players of his ilk like Lindros, Neely, Nash, etc. simply didn't possess his level of durability and raw passion. Comparing any Russian prospect -- or any prospect for that matter -- to Ovechkin is doing them a great disservice.
Malkin is also a rare combination of size and skill. He was also blessed to play with one of the likely Top 20 players in hockey history in Crosby. The stars aligned perfectly for Geno, other than his injuries.
That said, if Michkov ends up a blend between Kucherov, Kaprizov and Tarasenko, he'll be an elite player who can complete change a franchise and contend for a scoring title annually. Hard to pass on that kind of player.
Michkov's IQ is probably the best ever amongst Russian players. He's somehow always where he should be to score - we call it goal sense (or sense for goal) in Russian. None of those guys had such a quality. Add to this his elite shot, edge work and stickhandling, and you'll get a pretty unique combination.