Matvei Michkov's Career in Jeopardy After Russian Ruling
Matvei Michkov fell in the 2023 draft mainly due to the Russian Factor and now his NHL future is in jeopardy after a major ruling.
Michkov May Never Play In The NHL
Last year, Matvei Michkov was viewed as a consensus top-five prospect but everybody knew that he would fall in the draft due to the Russian Factor. There was chatter of Michkov being the second-best player in the draft class behind only Connor Bedard but teams elected to take other players with a more definite NHL future.
Recently, there was an order to keep young Russians playing in the Russian leagues and not coming over to the NHL as early as North Americans would like.
Shumi Babaev mentions via MatchTV:
"We have an order from the President, according to which young players should stay here - in Russia."
They have been working on rules to not allow players to go abroad before a set amount of time.
This ruling would prevent the top young Russian talent in Russia for the first portion of their career which could affect many Russian's draft stock for years to come.
One exception to this was #CBJ Chinakhov who came over after 1 year.
So #LetsGoFlyers Michkov will have 5 full seasons before coming over. (If he doesn't somehow get outta contract).
Michkov's Strong Play
This year Michkov has split time between SKA St. Petersburg and HK Sochi. After one game with SKA, Michkov was sent to Sochi where he has instantly become their best player scoring 11 goals and 26 points in 29 games. He will look to build during his second half after struggling with an illness the past few weeks.
Michkov is under contract till 2026 but once his time is up, he will hopefully come over to North America and be an instant impact for the Flyers.
As seen on Habs Fanatics - Career-Threatening Announcement for Matvei Michkov: Did the Canadiens Dodge a Bullet?
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| Complete stats | ||||
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| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||