We can talk about the prospects playing around the world. We can talk about the guys in the AHL who are intriguing. We can talk about the young players who should take a next step on this Flyers team. We can talk about the veterans who should put their stamp on this season and make it their own. But none of it truly matters more than being able to watch Matvei Michkov play for the Flyers and what he does in his rookie season.
The story has been told before. A few months ago, we received a small inkling that the Flyers’ top prospect might be able to come over two years earlier than expected and get out of his KHL contract. There were whispers at the draft table, and through the next couple of days they got louder and louder. Until it was an unbearable screech and the Flyers formally announced that they have signed Michkov to his entry-level contract and he will be on the team for the 2024-25 season.
So, now what?
The Flyers are icing an almost identical roster compared to last season — no Sean Walker, put Egor Zamula in a full-time role, and have 18-year-old Jett Luchanko up here for a bit — except they are able to add a star in the making. Michkov should make an immediate impact if what we have seen through the summer and the preseason stays consistent. Full, regular season games are a different animal, of course, but he was able to make top-pairing defensemen look like they belong to be on a Junior C team in Sarnia, Ontario.
With Michkov officially in the fold, what should we truly expect from him? And depending on what he does, where do we go from here?
What did we see from Michkov last season?
Okay, yeah, we’ll put in our standard question that we have done through this player preview series. Of course, Michkov was over in the KHL and on loan from SKA St. Petersburg to HC Sochi. He scored 19 goals and 41 points in just 47 games, scoring the most points ever by a teenager in the KHL. Very casual. More points per game than Kirill Kaprizov, Artemi Panarin, Evgeni Kuznetsov, Vladimir Tarasenko, Pavel Buchnevich — the list goes on. Obviously, Michkov has the claim to be the best ever teenaged player in KHL history (of course, the KHL was not officially formed until 2008, so he doesn’t have a claim against Alex Ovechkin, for example).
And he was miles better than anyone else on that Sochi team. Even the players drafted by NHL teams, were not as good. Center prospect Marat Khusnutdinov is currently on the Minnesota Wild and is known to be a hard-working forward who isn’t afraid to get physical, and most recently was Russia’s top center when they were allowed to play at the World Juniors. That’s a good prospect. Well, the player that is three years older than Michkov scored 20 points in 49 games. A teenager scored more than double the number of points and now that teenager is going to be on the Flyers.
What type of role do we expect Michkov to play this season?
The Flyers have handed Matvei Michkov the reins. While other prospects, even those drafted in the top 10, have to “earn” their way into a prominent role in the NHL by the ways of starting on the third line and grinding it out with teammates who cannot keep up with them; Michkov has earned it out of desperation.
The 19-year-old deserves it, of course, but instead of wading in the bottom-six waters for a couple months, Michkov will be most likely finishing every Flyers game with some of the highest minutes on the team. He has earned his spot on the top power-play unit, and he has earned his ability to play with talented teammates that might still not be as talented as he is.
Michkov has leaped over several Flyers in terms of priority though. Forwards like Owen Tippett, Joel Farabee, and Tyson Foerster are no longer one of the top options to provide this team offensive production. They will still be depended on to score a whole lot of points, but not to the level Michkov will be. The teenager should be the No. 1 option for most plays, and whatever goals happen with him on the ice, it will almost surely be him either setting it up, making the pass directly leading to the scoring chance, or him putting the puck in himself. He is going to be The Guy.
Without any true knowledge of what Michkov can be in the NHL, that is simply where we are at. We don’t have anything to build upon other than hope and footage of him playing against lesser competition. We expect him to do well, but also, we are sliding into murkier waters compared to other Flyers, trying to set our expectation level.
He will be here regardless, and we want to be cautious, but would it be all that awful to think that he should at least contend hard for the Calder Trophy? We are tiptoeing around being overly confident and then being disappointed –but hell, he should be damn good.
