You can find Part 1 of our deep-dive into Matvei Michkov’s game here.
Skating
One of the knocks on Michkov going into the draft was his skating. More often than not, when people talk about a player being deficient in skating, they tend to be referring to a player’s speed. And to be fair, Michkov is not known as a burner by any stretch, nor does he really play that way.
That said, where his skating is truly game-breaking is in his edge work, acceleration and burst. I remind you once again that Michkov is a master of manipulating time, opponents and space. Another area in which this is on full display is in his ability to explode from a glide or even dead stop, leaving defenders in his wake:
One of Michkov’s favorite places on the ice is just inside the blue line on the right side. He’ll park here on a rush off the puck, or enter the zone here with the puck. From there, it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll do, but more often than not, he’ll maneuver his way to the middle of the ice using elite edge work and acceleration to shoot or set up a prime scoring chance.
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