2023-08-25 21:41:14
“Matvei Michkov” is a rather well-known name among CH supporters.
Many, last year, hoped to see the club draft the young Russian striker, during the 2023 auction held in Nashville.
Endowed with undeniable and impressive skills, Michkov had impressed many in 2022-2023, notably by totaling 20 points in 27 games (0.74 points per game) with HC Sochi in the KHL. This ratio is still the best in the history of the circuit for a player playing his draft year.
Among the experts, many of them claimed that Michkov was “the most talented hope of the 2023 vintage following Connor Bedard”.
But the young man’s contractual situation (he is tied to SKA Saint Petersburg until 2026-2027), the fear of having no power over his development and the uncertainty linked to the geopolitical situation in Russia finally made him slipped to seventh, where the Flyers added him to their prospect bank.
Speaking of lack of power over the development of Michkov, we bet that the leaders of the Flyers, Daniel Brière in mind, must be scratching their heads for a few days.
After a strong start to the preparatory calendar where his coaches notably used him in the center, now the skilful hockey player has hit rock bottom, quite recently.
It all started on August 22, when he was only used for eight minutes in a clash once morest Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. Then the next day, following just five minutes of ice time, Michkov was benched by his coach following that blunder once morest HC Sochi.
Michkov played fewer than 8 minutes two games ago, and fewer than five minutes last game, including just one shift in the second period following this turnover. He is not dressed for today’s game. Having little control over development was one of the risks in drafting him. pic.twitter.com/p8rKXJUwUb
— Grant McCagg (@grantmccagg) August 25, 2023
But wait. That’s not all.
SKA returned to action today in a duel once morest Sibir Novosibirsk. How long has the Russian played? No minute. He was left out!
Already, some are associating Michkov’s situation with that of Alexander Romanov who, at the time, was sporadically used in the KHL because his team wanted to put pressure on him to stay in Russia.
Before crying foul, let a few months pass. It is always, in the case of Michkov, only preparatory matches. But in the offices of the Flyers, we would most likely prefer that the teenager touch the ice more often.
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