The Philadelphia Flyers did it. They made the biggest trade of the draft, selecting Russian Matvei Michkov with the No. 7 overall pick in the NHL Draft on Wednesday night in Nashville.
General manager Daniel Briere calmly stood on stage in Nashville and announced the selection of Michkov, arguably the second most talented player in the draft behind Connor Bedard.
“He looked like he was having a great time [when Michkov met with the Flyers]Briere said.
“We actually met him a couple of times. You could tell he loved the Flyers for some reason.
“He wanted to be part of the Flyers. We saw it on stage, his reaction was incredible.
“He basically convinced us in the meeting that he wanted to be there and that he wanted to be a Flyer, so our whole staff felt really, really good about selecting him.
“We know he’s under contract for three more seasons, but for us we felt after watching him play and after meeting him we felt that he’s just a talent that we can’t pass up.”
The selection is considered risky due to Michkov’s uncertain playing status. He is under contract in Russia until 2026. The future of Russian players coming to North America is uncertain.
Michkov is a 5-foot-10, 172-pound dynamo on the ice. The Elite Prospects NHL Draft Guide said of Michkov: “The rare triple-threat winger, Michkov is a constant threat to find the back of the net.
“His puck skills are near the top of the draft, due to immense creativity, hip pocket handling, deft hands and a never-say-die attitude.
“You might think you have it, but most of the time, you really don’t. His problem-solving ability to get out of defensive pressure is on a level of his own. Michkov makes plays on the ice that we can’t even fathom with the benefit of a bird’s eye view.”
The draft broke the Flyers’ way. No one traded to land Michkov, as the Capitals could have done. When Arizona took defenseman Dmitry Simashev at age 6, the Flyers had a choice between Michkov or Ryan Leonard, described as a prototypical Flyer.
Here’s previous coverage of Michkov from Philly Hockey Now:
Flyers risk drafting Michkov:
Opinion: Flyers want Michkov and will trade to get him:
Here are Michkov’s rankings:
classified #4 by CONSOLIDATED RANKING
classified #4 by ELITEPROSPECTS.COM
classified #3 by FCHOCKEY
classified #4 by FLOHOCKEY/CHRIS PETERS
classified #3 of DAILY FACEOFF
classified #4 of THE HOCKEY NEWS
classified #5 by TSN/BOB McKenzie
classified #5 of MCKEEN’S HOCKEY
classified #4 by TSN/CRAIG BUTTON
classified #2 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (EU Skaters)
classified #5 for SPORTSNET
classified #4 by HPR/SHANE MALLOY
classified #5 of RECRUIT SCOUTING
classified #3 of DOBBERPROSPECTS
classified #3 of HOCKEY DRAFT PROSPECTS
classified #3 of SMAHT SCOUTING
This was Briere’s first pick as the Flyers’ general manager. He sure started his managerial career with a bang.
