Matvei Michkov

Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov loaned to HC Sochi after only skating six minutes in first four games of KHL season

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.

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By Chris Cerullo 3 months ago

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Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov scratched by SKA St. Petersburg in KHL season opener

Matvei Michkov watched SKA St. Petersburg’s KHL season opener from the press box on Saturday as an unexpected healthy scratch.

Head coach Roman Rotenberg sat the 18-year-old forward in the team’s 2-1 victory over Dynamo Moscow.

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By Katie Adler 3 months ago

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Matvei Michkov’s Russian agent, Sergei Fedotov, clarifies comments that his client did not want to be drafted by Capitals

Matvei Michkov’s Russian agent, Sergei Fedotov, created headlines last week when he said that his client did not want to be drafted by the Washington Capitals.

Fedotov spoke with Sport-Express to clarify what he meant originally.

His comments were not supposed to be taken as antagonistic towards the Caps.

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By Chris Cerullo 5 months ago

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Matvei Michkov’s agent, Sergei Fedotov, says the Russian forward did not want to be drafted by the Capitals

Matvei Michkov did not even want to be drafted by the Washington Capitals, according to his agent Sergei Fedotov.

Fedotov made the comments to reporter Mikhail Zislis on Sport-Express’ Russian language YouTube show on Wednesday. The quotes were transcribed by sports.ru, and have been translated via Google Translate.

Michkov went to the Philadelphia Flyers (seventh overall) one pick before the Capitals were on the clock in the first round of the 2023 draft.

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By Chris Cerullo 5 months ago

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Brian MacLellan says Capitals tried to move up in NHL Draft but ‘everybody had their guy that they wanted to get’

The Washington Capitals’ rumored pursuit of Matvei Michkov was all but confirmed by GM Brian MacLellan after he spoke to reporters at the 2023 NHL Draft.

The Russian phenom was selected one spot in front of the Capitals at pick number seven by the Philadelphia Flyers.

The morning of the draft, Hockey Insiders Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek reported that all the talk heading into the event was that the Capitals were trying to find a way to move up ahead of the Flyers to pick Michkov.

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By Ian Oland 5 months ago

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Philadelphia Flyers select Matvei Michkov seventh overall after rumors suggest Capitals were pursuing him

The Washington Capitals selected talented 18-year-old winger Ryan Leonard out of the U-18 USA Hockey National Team Development Program with the eighth overall pick. But all reports ahead of Draft Day suggested the Capitals were pursuing Matvei Michkov — a top three talent who was predicted to slide down the draft board due to KHL contract and geopolitical issues.

Michkov, who wore a red suit and tie to Bridgestone Arena, did indeed slide as hockey insiders predicted, but he did not fall to the Capitals. Instead, the Philadelphia Flyers, who were rumored to be focused on Leonard, snatched up the right wing one pick before the Caps at seven.

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By Ian Oland 5 months ago

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The latest rumors on Matvei Michkov and the Washington Capitals ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft

The first round of the 2023 NHL Draft will be held Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN.

Heading into the night, the biggest story continues to be Matvei Michkov and the Washington Capitals’ supposed interest in him.

Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek of the 32 Thoughts Podcast spoke about the latest they’ve heard up to this morning.

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By Ian Oland 5 months ago

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Draft experts on Washington Capitals selecting Matvei Michkov in first round: ‘That contract doesn’t matter for the right team’

Connor Bedard has been labeled as the best player in the 2023 draft class for years at this point. Despite his potential generational talent, Bedard’s name has not been getting a majority of the talk leading up to the first round in Nashville this week.

That distinction instead belongs to a player who was thought in the recent past to rival Bedard’s level, Matvei Michkov. From possibly navigating the draft process so he is selected by a specific team to potentially falling down the draft board, the Russian phenom has owned the headlines.

The 32 Thoughts Podcast’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek had draft experts Sam Cosentino and Jason Bukala on their most recent episode on Monday. Talk about Michkov and the Washington Capitals was of course a hot topic of conversation.

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By Chris Cerullo 5 months ago

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What are the chances Matvei Michkov will be available to the Capitals?

The future of Matvei Michkov has been a mysterious topic in the run-up to the 2023 NHL Draft. The 18-year-old Russian winger is broadly considered one of the best players available this summer. “His junior performance is so far to the right of the bell curve he falls off the curve,” an anonymous NHL executive told The Athletic’s Corey Pronman. Michkov is lauded for offensive creativity, recording nine goals and eleven assists in 27 games with the KHL’s HC Sochi this season and receiving MVP honors in the 2021 under-18 World Championship.

But Michkov is under contract with SKA St. Petersburg for the next three seasons, and he’s been aloof in dealings with scouts from certain teams leading up to the draft. Those factors — plus the global chill on Russian players because of the country’s invasion of Ukraine — have caused Michkov’s stock to drop. Despite those circumstances, Washington has been consistently linked with the player, with pretty much everyone assuming the Capitals would select him if he is still available eighth overall.

It is hard to estimate how likely it would be that the Caps get Michkov, but I’m going to give it a try.

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By Peter Hassett 5 months ago

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Assistant GM Ross Mahoney defers on questions about Matvei Michkov

There’s less than a week to go before the 2023 NHL Draft and the destination for Russian phenom Matvei Michkov remains a virtual mystery. Teams have reportedly had trouble getting to talk to him, leading to rumors that he could be angling to go to a specific team.

The Capitals would be an obvious choice: Michkov previously said it would be “great” to be drafted by Washington and a Russian report indicated that he would most likely go to DC. But with the eighth overall pick, it’s uncertain whether he’ll slide down the board when the Caps make their selection.

Caps assistant general manager Ross Mahoney was asked about Michkov in his pre-draft press conference Tuesday but remained vague when asked whether the team had spoken with him or had plans to do so.

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By Katie Adler 5 months ago

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