Matvei Michkov has not had the start to his 2023-24 KHL season that he would have wanted. The 18-year-old Philadelphia Flyers prospect was scratched for SKA St. Petersburg’s KHL season opener on September 3 and his fortunes have not really changed since.

Through four games, Michkov played only once. In his only appearance, a game against Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, Michkov played just over six minutes (6:12). That has led SKA St. Petersburg sending the young forward back on loan to HC Sochi for the rest of the season.

Michkov made the same move last year after playing just three KHL games for SKA St. Petersburg.

“He is back!,” Sochi wrote on Instagram. “Welcome back, Matvei! Looking forward to an exciting season!”

Michkov spent 27 games with Sochi last season, recording an impressive 20 points (9g, 11a). Michkov’s overall .67 points per game rate was the highest for a draft-eligible player in KHL history and that total includes the three scoreless games he played for SKA St. Petersburg to start the season.

While Michkov is signed with SKA St. Petersburg through the 2025-26 campaign, he did not exactly get a ringing endorsement from the team’s head coach while scuffling for playing time.

“Matvei is an [extra forward],” head coach Roman Rotenberg said after Michkov’s first healthy scratch of the season, as translated by Google Translate. “First of all, he competes with other [extras]. And, for example, is Ivan Demidov, who is younger than Michkov.”

Demidov is a year younger than Michkov but has been selected to play in three games already this season for SKA St. Petersburg after playing in just two career KHL games last year. Demidov is 2024 NHL Draft eligible and after a 64-point season (19g, 45a) in the Russian junior league (MHL), should hear his name called very early when draft time comes back around.

Widely considered a top talent going into his draft year behind just presumed generational talent Connor Bedard, Michkov’s stock dropped in part because of his reported attitude and extended KHL deal.

Now, after an offseason where his Russian agent Sergei Fedotov did some damage control, Michkov will have to rebuild his hype through another loan.

Screenshot: KHL/YouTube