Matvei Michkov is tearing up the league for the Philadelphia Flyers and one prospect in particular is getting excited.
At the World Juniors training camp for Team Canada, Flyers 2024 first-round pick Jett Luchanko was asked about Michkov and how he has been able to be a point-per-game player as a rookie — something that has barely been done in the modern era. The 18-year-old center for the OHL’s Guelph Storm only had glowing praise for his former and future teammate.
Asked #LetsGoFlyers prospect Jett Luchanko about Matvei Michkov.
— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) December 11, 2024
"He's an unbelievable player to play with. He can find you anywhere. He's really fun to play with so hopefully much more to come."
Luchanko was able to get just a brief taste of being on the same line as the Russian phenom during rookie camp earlier this summer. When the big-boy Flyers training camp started, head coach John Tortorella decided to put Michkov in what is now his current line; with Morgan Frost as his center and Owen Tippett on the left side.
And then, as Luchanko made the Flyers out of training camp as barely an adult, to everyone’s surprise, there was the most casual of passing by one another while on the ice during the center’s first four games in the NHL. Luchanko and Michkov were on the ice together a total of six minutes and 40 seconds in the regular season — and they actually dominated the competition according to all the underlying numbers, but that might have just been an overlapping of shifts carrying through the handful of games.
But even with that minute combination of them on the ice, the 18-year-old center is looking for more and hopefully for years to come.
Right now, Luchanko is just focusing on making Canada’s roster for the upcoming junior tournament we all look forward to exclusively tuning into through the holiday season. Maybe, just maybe, they will see how he is faster than everyone else on the ice and so good around the net that he will have a massive role on a team that could be the tournament favorites.
Through 16 games with the Guelph Storm, after he was sent back to juniors by the Flyers, Luchanko has scored seven goals and 20 points.
