In August 2024 this writer decided to accurately predict 39 statistics or events that Matvei Michkov would do for the first time during the 2024-25 season. Well, accurately isn’t quite so accurate. With the first season for the Mad Russian now in the rearview mirror, and his sophomore season on the cusp of commencing in a few weeks, let’s take a look back at how close the season played out versus what the 39 predictions stated 13 months ago. If you’re thinking most of these are correct, you are quite wrong!
1) First game
The prediction of Oct. 11 against Vancouver was correct. Former head coach John Tortorella didn’t healthy scratch Michkov in what was slated to be his NHL debut. Michkov opened the season on opening night, not scoring or registering any points in the process but had 18:32 ice time. Philadelphia also got off on the right foot regarding the season with a 3-2 shootout win over the Canucks.
2) First goal
Thinking Michkov might score his first NHL goal in his first NHL game might have been a bit lofty. But considering Auston Matthews scored four times in his debut, maybe Michkov could’ve scored in his first game. It wasn’t to be. Michkov waited until his third game against the Oilers to score his first. And even then it was somewhat anti-climatic. Michkov was perhaps the only one who knew he scored, but a video review to determine it crossed the line (and then another review for goalie interference) took some of the zest from the milestone. He quickly put in his second goal later in the game.
3) First assist
This writer believed after the opening night jitters, Michkov might settle down a bit against host Calgary the following night. Michkov ended up getting a primary assist on the Flyers third goal of the night. And it was a power play goal by Travis Konecny at that! But by then it was garbage time as the Flames doubled the Flyers 6-3. Konecny quickly grabbed the puck for Michkov to launch his career with his first point.
4) First hat trick
The date predicted for the first time hats and baseball caps would rain down on the former Wells Fargo Center ice was incorrect. The Oct. 22 date against Washington was the prediction but as has been well known, Michkov never got that elusive hat trick in his first season. He came ridiculously close, hitting the post with the opposing goalie pulled for an extra attacker. Most thought he had scored but it didn’t come to fruition. The rookie was a bit pissed off initially but joked about it days later during a brief media scrum.
5) First star of the game
The Oct. 22 game was also supposed to be the first time Michkov ended up being the first star of the game. While he was included in the three stars a few times early in the season, the winger was named first star of the game against San Jose on Nov. 11 where he scored a goal and added an assist. He also added another goal in the shootout to seal a 4-3 win over San Jose and Macklin Celebrini.
6) First power play goal
Michkov’s first power play goal was also his first goal ever, Oct. 15 against the Oilers. The prediction was off by a game as the Seattle tilt Oct. 17 — the last of the four-game West Coast trek — was deemed to be the contest he potted one with the man advantage.
7) First power play assist
Off by a game. Michkov earned the assist on a Jamie Drysdale tally in the third period against Seattle, making the score 5-4 for the Kraken after they were up 5-2 to start the final frame. The prediction was he’d get the first assist on the power play in the Flyers’ home opener against Vancouver Oct. 19.
8) First short-handed goal
The Nov. 11 tilt against San Jose was when this writer figured it would transpire. But Michkov scored zero short-handed goals all season as he was not used. This also works into #9 as he didn’t have any short-handed points all season, so no short-handed assists were earned. The guess as to when he’d get the assist was on Halloween evening against St. Louis.
10) Game-tying goal
It took a while, but Michkov’s first game-tying goal wasn’t until Jan. 18 against host New Jersey. Michkov scored early in the second period to make it a 1-1 game. Bobby Brink scored the go-ahead power play goal and Konecny had an empty-netter for a 3-1 victory. The goal came months after the prediction which was against Florida on Nov. 9.
11) Go-ahead goal
I had it down for the Oct. 26 game against the Wild. Instead Michkov proved he was raring to go when his first NHL goal was also the go-ahead goal, breaking a 0-0 score early in Edmonton during the Flyers third game of the season.
12) Game-winning goal and 13) Overtime goal
“Although he’ll make mistakes, he should also put the team on his shoulders occasionally simply through his need to win. While it won’t come against the upper echeleon of teams look for the Flyers to defeat the Senators on Nov. 14 with Michkov skating circles around a tired Senators trio of skaters before putting in the winner.” (BSH Aug. 13, 2024)
That prediction was spot on. The only thing was Michkov scored from a near-impossible angle as the Flyers escaped with two points after being badly outplayed most of the game.
14) Shootout goal
A week out. The prediction said he’d score a week later (Nov. 18) against the Avalanche. Instead Michkov made a nice move against the Sharks goaltender to win a thrilling 4-3 game.
15) Penalty shot goal
Michkov never scored on a penalty shot because he never had the opportunity. The prediction? Well the penalty shot goal was going to be Dec. 23 against the hated state rivals in Pittsburgh.
16) Fight and 17) Fighting major
Michkov was never dinged with a five-minute major. But he did get into a few tussles. He and Radko Gudas delivered some shots to each other. And he also punched Celebrini late in a 3-3 game which the Flyers eventually won. The prediction? This writer believed Michkov would’ve been needled to death (despite the language barrier) by Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher during the Oct. 27 game against the Canadiens. But didn’t happen. Maybe this year? Who knows?
18) Benching
The Mad Russian was benched a few times over the course of the season. It happened earlier than the predicted Jan. 5 game against the Maple Leafs. But Michkov was benched before that, including playing just nine minutes in the Anaheim game on the post-Christmas road trip. He would feel the brunt of benchings twice in January, including a brief heated argument which saw him sit for a while against the Islanders.
19) Healthy scratch
It took a lot fewer games than anticipated. Michkov was a healthy scratch in early November for games against Florida and Tampa Bay. It was the only time he was out of the lineup. The prediction was well into the season, with the Flyers returning from the West Coast trip and Tortorella finally pulling the plug on Michkov Jan. 9 against Dallas.
20) Screed from Tortorella
With the language barrier in full effect, perhaps the only huge blowup from Tortorella was the Islanders game in late January. While the message was delivered at times, and Michkov knowing a few words in English but well versed in universal body language, Tortorella never ripped a strip off Michkov some might have envisioned him doing. This writer figured the screed would happen right off the bat, with Michkov trying to get into a run-and-gun game against Edmonton and getting severely burned on Oct. 15.
21) Michigan goal
He tried a few times to score it, but each time was denied. Perhaps with Trevor Zegras on the roster, he might have a few more attempts this year. Speaking of Zegras, the prediction called for Michkov to do the deed against Anaheim. While that never happened, the 6-0 romp over the Ducks was quite pleasing for all Flyers fans and players.
22) Minor penalty
Michkov took a minor penalty in the opening game, a hooking penalty just five minutes into the opening period against Vancouver. We expected him to wait at least until the fourth game against Seattle to sit in the sin bin.
23) Major penalty and 24) Game misconduct
The rookie’s game log for the season sees a lot of zeros and twos for the penalty minute totals each game. However, one stands out when he had 12 penalty minutes against Utah. With the clock winding down, Michkov and Barrett Hayton got into it a bit. Michkov ended up getting a 10-minute misconduct. But the most amazing thing was when he left the ice, autographing a water bottle for a fan before he headed towards the Flyers locker room.
The game this writer thought it would happen was against Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks on Nov. 23. The matchup against two of the bigger (and younger) talents in the league might have lit a spark under Michkov.
25) Unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and 26) Breaking a stick
He earned an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on March 15 against Carolina’s Logan Stankoven, a game the Flyers lost 5-0. We predicted he would earn the penalty against Utah on Feb. 4.
As for breaking the stick, we can’t recall him breaking a stick in frustration. We also thought the Utah game would see him snap his twig, er, piece of aluminum.
27) Third star of the game
The forward earned third star honors Oct. 23 against Washington where he registered a goal and an assist in a 6-3 loss. The prediction wasn’t too far off as it was thought Michkov would end up getting the third star in the Flyers’ home opener against the Canucks.
28) Second star of the game
Michkov landed this feat earlier than his third (and first) star, scoring two goals against Edmonton in the third game of the season. We had it down for Jan. 14 against Columbus.
29) Gordie Howe hat trick
The closest Michkov came to this was against San Jose where he scored, earned an assist and got into a mini-scuffle with Macklin Celebrini where he got him good with a punch. The prediction was that it was going to happen against Montreal where Michkov would scrap with Gallagher but then score and get an assist.
30) Multi-goal game and 31) Multi-point game
Michkov’s first multi-goal game was also his first multi-point game against the Oilers early in October. In terms of predictions, the multi-goal game was guessed for Seattle while his NHL debut was going to see him score a goal and add an assist against Vancouver.
32) Empty-net goal
We’re still waiting for this one, although he came close trying to secure his first NHL hat trick. This writer thought it would come about halfway through the season, namely against the Islanders on Jan. 24.
33) Star of the week honors
The rookie never earned star of the week honors, nor ended up being the second or third star of any particular week. He did earn Rookie of the Month honors on two occasions, once in February and also starting off the season in October.
34) Five-game multi-point streak
Michkov had a six-game point-streak in late March and a five-game streak in late November through early December. But he didn’t hit five consecutive games scoring two or more points. The late March streak saw him with four multi-point games out of the six while the earlier streak saw him earn four multi-point games. Last season the prediction stated the streak would happen immediately after the 4 Nations Face-Off with five games where he was red hot.
35) Rookie All-Star Team selection
The Mad Russian made this select group as it was announced in early June. Michkov joined Celebrini and William Gauthier as forwards while Lane Hutson and Denton Mateychuk rounded out the blueline. Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf was the goaltender who got the nomination.
36) Calder Trophy nomination
It what was probably one of the bigger snubs in the National Hockey League last year, Michkov led all rookies in goals but somehow didn’t end up being one of the three nominees. Michkov’s 63 points tied Celebrini while averaging fewer minutes each game than his first-season peers. It should provide the Flyers talent with more of an axe to grind heading into the 2025-26 season.
37) Playoff goal 38) Goal in the Stanley Cup Finals and 39) Stanley Cup
None of these things came to pass which was predicted last year. It would’ve been incredible to see Michkov scoring in a big playoff game, but the last two predictions are still a few seasons away.
So looking at the predictions and if they turned out to be correct, the result is going 8 for 39. That’s not a great percentage of correct guessing, but it does work out to 20.5 per cent. That is a percentage Flyers fans could only drool over if it ended up being their power play effectiveness.
