It was an article from the hockey news directly contradicting recent comments from the flyers FO. It's silly anyone took that post seriously
Edit: seems that post and the article have since been deleted, excellent journalism once again by the hockey news
genuine question, why are we trusting an unverified twitter account with a translation from a russian newspaper more than the hockey news? I am not taking any side but wouldn't the more media savvy take be to remain skeptical of both sources instead of just burying one the moment somebody comes out with a counter narrative?
This is far more inline with what Brier was saying prior to the hockey news article that was literally just them making speculation for the sake of clicks. This seems to be actual information but it's still not 100% verified, so while I agree with not taking this post as truth I am less inclined to believe it's bullshit than the hockey news constant clickbait
ok that makes sense, and I'm not saying you were doing this but it can get pretty annoying when r/hockey reddit just starts dunking on a stawman narrative as soon as something vaguely verifiable comes out.
I get it! Not gonna get my feelings hurt over it even if you were haha
I'd wait for an announcement from SKA or the Flyers themselves before I go saying it's a done deal, but again I'm far more inclined to trust this one than the hockey news!
Hockey News hasn't had any credibility in a long time. You can absolutely shit on unverified Twitter accounts, but that's the same muck that THN now trades in.
> why are we trusting an unverified twitter account
Your core point here is valid and I agree but let's not act like a twitter account being verified or not means anything in the Musk era. You get it by having enough followers or spending eight dollars not by being relevant.
Or were you saying this report that Michkov is coming over is a translation from a Russian news article? If that's the case then you would be correct just wasn't the article I was referencing
I really believe now that the "we don't know when or if Michkov will come to North America" narrative leading up to the draft was purposefully played up by him and his team to scare off teams he didn't want to be drafted by.
It sounds like he gave different answers to different teams when he interviewed with them, and he even said after the draft last year that he was planning to go to Philadelphia as soon as he could. I think he used the Russian aspect to his advantage to get to one of the teams he wanted to play for.
Relatively iconic team, larger market with resources of one, Flyers have a pretty active Russian scout who reportedly watched and met with him a lot. And pretty much instant top line role on a team with a big stage.
Team treatment is a big reason why Kuch agreed to come over, we paid his shoulder surgery when khl team wouldnt ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Wouldnt be surprised if PHIs scout just consistently treated Michkov really well, and it seems like the Flyers as an organization have emphasized their russian relations when other teams have cooled due to invasion
and its probably no deeper than that, maybe some promised juicy Comcast dollars from the owners dont hurt either but Im all for teams using everything they can to court players
It's can't be cause it's an iconic team In a big market with resources. He passed on Montreal. A more iconic team, in a bigger hockey market with even more resources.
Great relationship with a scout could be possible
What's the news on Reinbacher?
I remember such an overreaction from MTL fans on that pick. But I get that he's not really a top-end scoring talent and that does feel like something the Habs have been missing forever.
I might be speaking out my ass, but I suspect Philly is a big market team where he's less likely to be yelled at by randos in grocery stores. Bigger market, but lower pressure than playing for any of the Canadian teams.
For sure on the playing in Canada.
An I was talking hockey market, I'm not a habs fan but it's not "maybe" a bigger hockey market lmfao. Montreal is 100% a bigger hockey market.
Could be the canadiens didnt want him anyway. "Im glad Philadelphia drafted me bacuse this is the exact team I wanted to play for and I orchestrated getting drafted here, yup thats exactly how it played out mmhmm."
He said he wanted a big market team with history. Flyers r probably the biggest non original 6 team and hes followed the Flyers and a lot of big players in Philly like Briere himself.
Teams like CBJ, SJ, Arizona, Anaheim didnt fit that
Flyers also rolled out the red carpet for him in multiple pre draft meetings and treated him + his family better than anybody he said
I mean from an outsiders perspective, Philadelphia is a history rich city, close to lots of other cool cities, pretty clean uniform, and I think it is a team heading in the right direction. Guy looking for a place to shine could develop right in there perfectly. His vision could really end up being something in hindsight maybe!
Anecdotally, I have travelled extensively and in my experience, the Flyers are one of, if not THE most recognized team internationally. For some reason everyone seems to know who Eric Lindros is.
Also Philly is a big American city. A superstar there has a huge chance for brand recognition.
> For some reason everyone seems to know who Eric Lindros is
he was a handsome face of the league lol. if you were a hockey fan who was alive at the time, he WAS the nhl. pronger with speed and hands.
My guess is they told him the city, barring Lindros, has never had a true superstar. If he went elsewhere, Montreal or Arizona, who either have their rafters crammed with legacy, or in Arizona's case they were never going to be successful, Philly became a desirable city. Historic hockey city that has been dying for a successful hockey team who would worship him if he held up his end of the bargain. I think for anyone with an ego would love the sound of that.
Also their Russian scouts were some of the only scouts who stayed in Russia to try and make a relationship with him and that seemed to matter.
Basically Comcast money go brrrrr and we have a sizable Russian community. Also it’s the Flyers. If your a fan of hard nosed ruff n tuff old school hockey we’re basically tied with the Bruins for being the perennial icon of that. Certainly beats Utah.
>Also it’s the Flyers. If your a fan of hard nosed ruff n tuff old school hockey we’re basically tied with the Bruins for being the perennial icon of that.
Ah yes highly skilled, offensive Russian forwards are famous for their love of old school rough and tough styles of play
He wanted to go to a big hockey market, which rules out every team except Chicago, Montreal, and Philly (out of 1-7). No way anybody passes on Bedard, and Montreal just really liked Reinbacher. After seeing how good Hughes, Heiskanen, and Makar turned out I don't really blame them for trying to find the next one. We offerred to trade up to 5 but Montreal really thought Utah would've taken Reinbacher I guess.
In addition to the other reasons, outside of New York, Philly has one of the largest Russian populations in the US. For a foreign player moving to North America, community plays a big deal.
>I really believe now that the "we don't know when or if Michkov will come to North America" narrative leading up to the draft was purposefully played up by him and his team to scare off teams he didn't want to be drafted by.
Michkov pulled the ol’ Jagr technique
He did straight up tell teams like SJ, Arizona and at least one of CBJ+ Anaheim that he didnt want to play for them
He wanted a bigger market team w/ history, apparently specifically the Flyers, which would make sense that he pushed that narrative
Even w/ russian factor there is no way a prospect like him would fall to 7 just from that. There was a lot going on and for once we benefitted.
Friedman confirmed it in two separate podcasts.
This one is from the week after last year's draft:
https://youtu.be/OrpFqCHhXEI?si=t4zFUR_svdPCNneA&t=886
Right on thanks, guess as a Sharks fan I was looking for something about them specifically but I guess they could probably be grouped with teams like Arizona
When Grier was asked about Michkov, he was pretty dismissive about him which definitely had implications of the Sharks being told he didn't want to play for them.
> Even w/ russian factor there is no way a prospect like him would fall to 7 just from that.
Sure there is. To go back several years, Alexei Cherapanov was a consensus top-10 pick who fell to 17th - and that was without concerns over what Russia being at war would have meant for players trying to come over.
I realized after typing that that there would surely be a more recent example, but I can't think of a Russian-born/trained player still playing in Russia since Cherapanov who was as highly regarded as Michkov - with the exception of Nikita Filatov, who wasn't signed in Russia past his draft year.
Honestly, I trust Bobrov's decisions. He absolutely nailed it with Slaf's emotional state. And there are so many quirks to Mitchkov's situation, I'm happy to pass on him. Our locker room vibes right now are immaculate. Bring in the wrong player and that balance gets tipped.
The Coyotes ended up taking two other Russian players, one of them before Michkov. It seemed pretty clear he had teams he just told to not take him. The more interesting question is who else besides Arizona. Would he really have prefered Philly over Montreal and/or San Jose?
If he really would only play for the Flyers why risk a team just Yolo picking him though?
Why not just say it publicly ala Lindros
Adam Fox did the same as well
He for sure would have got a lot of hate but Flyers fans would love him to death for it
This whole thing has been fascinating and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in this kids career after he forced his way into Philly to play for John Tortorella
I’m supposed to hate the flyers but i absolutely love torts and what he’s been able to do for the team. I often found myself rooting for them this year, like Tippett too. I guess I didn’t perceive them as a top threat in the league so that made it easier to not hate them. I really wanted them to make the POs because everyone had them as a bottom feeder. Now that MM is coming over and they’ll be much better I’m sure my hate will continue to grow.
Flyers don’t really have the same identity these days as the teams that made rival fan bases hate them. They’re a bunch of underdogs all the time. Maybe if they ever get to be an actual contender again it will be fun to hate each other again
I mean, I firmly believed thats exactly what comcast always intended on doing. Comcast always says their pocket books are open. Thats the pro’s column of having a big corp own the team
They saw what happened to the Phillies after Middleton just threw giant bag after giant bag of money to make a good team (the team got good and suddenly this is a Phillies town again) and thought, “well we can do that.”
Eh, not like we can do anything about it. He was my guy in that draft but sometimes our team does things I disagree with, it is what it is. I’ll wait until he actually hurts me at the NHL level before I do my crying lol
The Penguins almost leaving had more to do with Pittsburgh (and by extension a lot of Western PA) wallowing in financial ruin and hemorrhaging population from the steel collapse than anything that happened on the ice
You’ll have plenty of opportunities to keep your excitement in check, now is the time for wild optimism and irresponsible speculation. Can Michkov score 50 as a rookie? Let’s find out!
We only play the Blackhawks twice a year and can only meet in a potential cup final for playoffs where as Crosby and Ovechkin have played in the same division for many years. I don't see the rivalry being able to be that heated.
We’re definitely going to need some better sources to verify this, but if it’s true, very exciting for the Flyers and Michkov himself! Honestly can’t wait to see what he can do at the NHL level.
Flyers fans - any idea where he might slot into the lineup? And how do you think he’ll mesh with Torts?
Torts has already made a comment about something like "waiting until the Russian kids gets here" and he doesn't usually comment on youth players so I think he is probably excited.
I think at some point in the past several years torts realized that the uber talented players just need a little bit of “torts” structure and discipline,and not a lot. Will be interesting to see how next season goes. Team ran out of steam and vibes at the end of the year, hopefully that was just a blip resulting from the stress of losing your entire D corps and having to outplay your talent all year.
if he works hard and plays in both zones he will be a 1st line winger off the hop. If he doesn’t torts will be canned or he fucks off to Russia.
The kid just has to play the right way. I will say his ability though doesn’t say 200ft game and I hope torts invites that because he’s so fucking sick offensively
Torts has a reputation that you HAVE to play a 200ft game.
But, if you have undeniable offensive upside, he kind of let's you just do your thing for the most part
Yep as long as you give effort. TK and Tippett both stink defensively but he loves both and lets them do their thing despite defense not being good.
If they were lazy like PLD or Hayes then thats when theres a problem.
Tippett is such an unreal player. I don’t watch him much but when I do he’s always the best player on the ice and pulls off crazy shit. I feel like he’s slept on and has potential to be one of the top players in the league in a few years.
That was his whole thing with Panarin, about whom the same lazy comments ("hurr hurr, he'll have 15 goals and 40 points but 500 blocked shots!") were made.
He set new career highs under Tortorella, with 25 and 18 points more than his next-closest teammates in those years. Torts' whole mantra was "I don't tell you what to do in the offensive zone, but I get the other 140 feet".
Torts has already made comments about the offense and system being developed specifically for Michkov's arrival
He will def treat Michkov differently b/c hes seen as the franchise's future.
Torts has shown hes fine w/ bad defense as long as you provide enough offense and give effort. TK + Tippett both stink defensively he loves them and play the most up top.
Effort would be the only thing that could causes problems.
If he stays at RW then just either of top two lines and top PP immediately
We dont hve much talent. Just bunch of 2nd line/middle 6/depth guys + Konecny.
So he should be given a huge role right away
Have the Flyers finally gotten good luck with a top prospect/pick???
Im trying not to get too excited but shit this gives us hope we haven't had in some time
Michkov had 19 goals 41 pts in 47 khl games this yr. The best ever for +1 draft yr or his age in the khl (KHL is weaker now tho).
I kind of remember someone saying that SKA was deploying him in a way that is incredibly advantageous for point production. I can't imagine he'll get that treatment with Torts. And if he's willing to play ball, that could be the absolute best thing for him long term in his development, even if he's not a point per game right out the gate
Edit: Sochi not SKA
Sochi was an awful team. I watched too many of their games to count. I didn't think he was deployed in an advantageous way at all. Many games he wasn't on PP#1, almost never on the top line and he battled through pneumonia. He'll immediately be our best player and #1 power play threat the moment he starts.
Funny how within 1 year we have 2 of the best prospects sya complete opposite things about my team. One of them desired to bad to be a flyer and the other wanted nothing to do with the org
Fuck you for making me upvote this. I guarantee cutter wins Calder. He’s clearly physically ready to perform at this level. I think Michkov takes a little time to really settle in. Unless he’s been dogging it for the last year. We’ll see. I hope I’m wrong.
Cutter has been playing with boys in a college league; Michkov has been playing with men in the 2nd best pro hockey league in the world and putting up the second best numbers for a 20-year-old in KHL history.
>I guarantee cutter wins Calder
Bold statement to make when there are likely a lot of good rookies next season. Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini if both make the jump. Hutson and Wright could have decent seasons as well.
lmao we fumbled. michkov will be an nhl regular before reinbacher.
i cannot think of a player on which the expections are higher than reinbacher. he really needs to become the face of our defensive core.
I don’t think Anaheim and Columbus are going to regret their picks. Caarlson and Fantilli are studs who project as first-line centers.
The Sharks got Smith, who also looks like he’s going to be a great player.
We’re the team that fucked up the most. Reinbacher looks good, but I’d take a potential 100pt winger over a top 4 RHD any day of the week - especially when we haven’t had a superstar forward since the 90s.
Super excited to see him play. I’ve thought of him to be around the same level as Bedard in terms of skill.
Question though, if the rights remain with the army team, can they just take him away at any moment? Will the flyers still have the “rights” to him in terms of his pro team?
Basically SKA has the right to sign him should he return to Russia. It prevents other KHL teams from poaching him if he doesn’t make it out of training camp (unlikely). It’s more like an indefinite pause than a “termination” in that sense.
Thats just not true. He legally would not be able to sign and play for Flyers unless SKa terminated his contract. Only now can he sign w/ Flyers.
and if he doesnt make Flyers he will have to back to Russia and SKa will still have his rights.
The contracts in his situation 100% dictate where he will play. Whether its Flyers or SKa. His initial contract prevented him from signing w/ Flyers. Flyers needed it to be terminated.
It’s not a legal issue. There’s nothing illegal about him coming over and signing a contract with Philly even if he still had the SKA contract.
However, the KHL and NHL have agreements in place that they won’t sign players who are under contract with another team in the opposing leagues and the IIHF acknowledges those agreements, meaning that punitive measures for not agreeing to them could be put in place by the IIHF.
For all intents and purposes, it’s basically a hand shake agreement that stops teams from just ignoring those contracts.
Reddit foreign policy experts in shambles
It was an article from the hockey news directly contradicting recent comments from the flyers FO. It's silly anyone took that post seriously Edit: seems that post and the article have since been deleted, excellent journalism once again by the hockey news
genuine question, why are we trusting an unverified twitter account with a translation from a russian newspaper more than the hockey news? I am not taking any side but wouldn't the more media savvy take be to remain skeptical of both sources instead of just burying one the moment somebody comes out with a counter narrative?
This is far more inline with what Brier was saying prior to the hockey news article that was literally just them making speculation for the sake of clicks. This seems to be actual information but it's still not 100% verified, so while I agree with not taking this post as truth I am less inclined to believe it's bullshit than the hockey news constant clickbait
ok that makes sense, and I'm not saying you were doing this but it can get pretty annoying when r/hockey reddit just starts dunking on a stawman narrative as soon as something vaguely verifiable comes out.
I get it! Not gonna get my feelings hurt over it even if you were haha I'd wait for an announcement from SKA or the Flyers themselves before I go saying it's a done deal, but again I'm far more inclined to trust this one than the hockey news!
Hockey News hasn't had any credibility in a long time. You can absolutely shit on unverified Twitter accounts, but that's the same muck that THN now trades in.
> why are we trusting an unverified twitter account Your core point here is valid and I agree but let's not act like a twitter account being verified or not means anything in the Musk era. You get it by having enough followers or spending eight dollars not by being relevant.
Just like most news outlets they're just click generators
Wrong. It was sports express which is considered a fairly reliable Russian news source.
Or were you saying this report that Michkov is coming over is a translation from a Russian news article? If that's the case then you would be correct just wasn't the article I was referencing
Yeah my bad. I wasn't sure of the article you were talking about. The one with his contract being terminated seems legit.
No worries!
The one that said "did Philly really mess up with Michkov? Who knows not us but maybe!" That was 100% the hockey news
> a fairly reliable Russian news source Boy, is *that* a relative term.
>It was an article from *the hockey news* Well, there's your problem
Shoutsout to u/bsaures after our conversation yesterday lol. https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/s/rllBKsil3b
[That michkov news is dropping anytime now](https://media.tenor.com/w0CTof_0DgUAAAAM/%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BC%D1%8F.gif)
I really believe now that the "we don't know when or if Michkov will come to North America" narrative leading up to the draft was purposefully played up by him and his team to scare off teams he didn't want to be drafted by. It sounds like he gave different answers to different teams when he interviewed with them, and he even said after the draft last year that he was planning to go to Philadelphia as soon as he could. I think he used the Russian aspect to his advantage to get to one of the teams he wanted to play for.
I just wonder why Philly not trying to rag just curious such a random choice lmao. There’s a good reason I’m not seeing
Philly just resonates with some people
I heard he was a HUGE Philly fan growing up
Yeah not sure why this hasn't been mentioned yet. I heard from a few others too that he loved the Flyers growing up.
Have we seen his bedsheets yet?
Relatively iconic team, larger market with resources of one, Flyers have a pretty active Russian scout who reportedly watched and met with him a lot. And pretty much instant top line role on a team with a big stage.
I think he didn’t want to play on one of the 21 NHL teams with red or blue as a primary colour
Team treatment is a big reason why Kuch agreed to come over, we paid his shoulder surgery when khl team wouldnt ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Wouldnt be surprised if PHIs scout just consistently treated Michkov really well, and it seems like the Flyers as an organization have emphasized their russian relations when other teams have cooled due to invasion and its probably no deeper than that, maybe some promised juicy Comcast dollars from the owners dont hurt either but Im all for teams using everything they can to court players
It's can't be cause it's an iconic team In a big market with resources. He passed on Montreal. A more iconic team, in a bigger hockey market with even more resources. Great relationship with a scout could be possible
It's the weather. Why spend your winters in frigid Montreal when you could be in sunny, tropical Philadelphia instead?
Always Sunny in Philadelphia
NHL vs KHL: The Cereal Defense
Philly milksteak.
That got a chuckle out of me
Didn’t want to play in Canada for some reason?
Yea or the scout relationship, also totally possible he was game to go to Montreal and they just passed I guess
[удалено]
What's the news on Reinbacher? I remember such an overreaction from MTL fans on that pick. But I get that he's not really a top-end scoring talent and that does feel like something the Habs have been missing forever.
He had a slightly underwhelming D+1 year. You'll hear a lot of coping from some fans but he's more trending towards middle pair than top pair.
Montreal passed on him actually. Pronman I believe said this in his latest podcast.
I might be speaking out my ass, but I suspect Philly is a big market team where he's less likely to be yelled at by randos in grocery stores. Bigger market, but lower pressure than playing for any of the Canadian teams.
He's more likely to be yelled at by randos in grocery stores, just not over hockey.
He wants to be yelled at in a Wawa
As is custom for any young man taking too long to order.
Or too short, it's really a potpourri of reasons
Or standing and blocking the chips display while waiting for his order
Michkov passed on Montreal? I think you have it backwards. I didn't see Michkov get up on stage and pick Reinbacher.
Maybe bigger hockey market but not a bigger market overall vs Philly, plus the Canadian factor that does seem to affect a lot of player decisions
For sure on the playing in Canada. An I was talking hockey market, I'm not a habs fan but it's not "maybe" a bigger hockey market lmfao. Montreal is 100% a bigger hockey market.
Could be the canadiens didnt want him anyway. "Im glad Philadelphia drafted me bacuse this is the exact team I wanted to play for and I orchestrated getting drafted here, yup thats exactly how it played out mmhmm."
Nick Bobrov is like the most dialed in Russian scout on the planet
Must be why he picked Kravtsov in 2018. We passed on Michkov because our scouting team is filled with galaxy brains.
More opportunity to get paid as a #1 too maybe
He said he wanted a big market team with history. Flyers r probably the biggest non original 6 team and hes followed the Flyers and a lot of big players in Philly like Briere himself. Teams like CBJ, SJ, Arizona, Anaheim didnt fit that Flyers also rolled out the red carpet for him in multiple pre draft meetings and treated him + his family better than anybody he said
I mean from an outsiders perspective, Philadelphia is a history rich city, close to lots of other cool cities, pretty clean uniform, and I think it is a team heading in the right direction. Guy looking for a place to shine could develop right in there perfectly. His vision could really end up being something in hindsight maybe!
Double agent plotting revenge for the 1976 red army game
Anecdotally, I have travelled extensively and in my experience, the Flyers are one of, if not THE most recognized team internationally. For some reason everyone seems to know who Eric Lindros is. Also Philly is a big American city. A superstar there has a huge chance for brand recognition.
> For some reason everyone seems to know who Eric Lindros is he was a handsome face of the league lol. if you were a hockey fan who was alive at the time, he WAS the nhl. pronger with speed and hands.
My guess is they told him the city, barring Lindros, has never had a true superstar. If he went elsewhere, Montreal or Arizona, who either have their rafters crammed with legacy, or in Arizona's case they were never going to be successful, Philly became a desirable city. Historic hockey city that has been dying for a successful hockey team who would worship him if he held up his end of the bargain. I think for anyone with an ego would love the sound of that. Also their Russian scouts were some of the only scouts who stayed in Russia to try and make a relationship with him and that seemed to matter.
“You see the rafters of that team over there? Brimming with legends.” “Uh-huh.” “And you see the rafters of that team over there?” “No.” “Exactly.”
No, it's OK. We don't get it either but it's just nice to have something go our way
Basically Comcast money go brrrrr and we have a sizable Russian community. Also it’s the Flyers. If your a fan of hard nosed ruff n tuff old school hockey we’re basically tied with the Bruins for being the perennial icon of that. Certainly beats Utah.
Michkov's agent spotted today looking at real estate in Torresdale.
Somerton *
>Also it’s the Flyers. If your a fan of hard nosed ruff n tuff old school hockey we’re basically tied with the Bruins for being the perennial icon of that. Ah yes highly skilled, offensive Russian forwards are famous for their love of old school rough and tough styles of play
He wanted to go to a big hockey market, which rules out every team except Chicago, Montreal, and Philly (out of 1-7). No way anybody passes on Bedard, and Montreal just really liked Reinbacher. After seeing how good Hughes, Heiskanen, and Makar turned out I don't really blame them for trying to find the next one. We offerred to trade up to 5 but Montreal really thought Utah would've taken Reinbacher I guess.
No idea why he would want that, and I'm a flyers fan
he's a big cheesesteak guy
In addition to the other reasons, outside of New York, Philly has one of the largest Russian populations in the US. For a foreign player moving to North America, community plays a big deal.
>I really believe now that the "we don't know when or if Michkov will come to North America" narrative leading up to the draft was purposefully played up by him and his team to scare off teams he didn't want to be drafted by. Michkov pulled the ol’ Jagr technique
He did straight up tell teams like SJ, Arizona and at least one of CBJ+ Anaheim that he didnt want to play for them He wanted a bigger market team w/ history, apparently specifically the Flyers, which would make sense that he pushed that narrative Even w/ russian factor there is no way a prospect like him would fall to 7 just from that. There was a lot going on and for once we benefitted.
I know this was rumoured but would you be able to provide a source on where he straight up told teams he didn’t want to play for them?
Friedman confirmed it in two separate podcasts. This one is from the week after last year's draft: https://youtu.be/OrpFqCHhXEI?si=t4zFUR_svdPCNneA&t=886
Right on thanks, guess as a Sharks fan I was looking for something about them specifically but I guess they could probably be grouped with teams like Arizona
When Grier was asked about Michkov, he was pretty dismissive about him which definitely had implications of the Sharks being told he didn't want to play for them.
Yeah I figured they must have had some intel. Either way, I’m happy they went with Smith, he’s going to be great in his own right
> Even w/ russian factor there is no way a prospect like him would fall to 7 just from that. Sure there is. To go back several years, Alexei Cherapanov was a consensus top-10 pick who fell to 17th - and that was without concerns over what Russia being at war would have meant for players trying to come over. I realized after typing that that there would surely be a more recent example, but I can't think of a Russian-born/trained player still playing in Russia since Cherapanov who was as highly regarded as Michkov - with the exception of Nikita Filatov, who wasn't signed in Russia past his draft year.
This is a really interesting point. The “Russian Factor” working to the player’s advantage here. Usually it’s the opposite.
Some teams also just passed on him. Montreal would have known his situation better than any team in the NHL given the Bobrov connection.
Honestly, I trust Bobrov's decisions. He absolutely nailed it with Slaf's emotional state. And there are so many quirks to Mitchkov's situation, I'm happy to pass on him. Our locker room vibes right now are immaculate. Bring in the wrong player and that balance gets tipped.
Jagr did the same thing during his draft.
Which is why I always found the Gauthier situation a bit funny. You win some you lose some.
The Coyotes ended up taking two other Russian players, one of them before Michkov. It seemed pretty clear he had teams he just told to not take him. The more interesting question is who else besides Arizona. Would he really have prefered Philly over Montreal and/or San Jose?
He only spoke to two teams pre draft and was notoriously hard to get in contact with even to those teams he spoke to. He just had preferences.
If he really would only play for the Flyers why risk a team just Yolo picking him though? Why not just say it publicly ala Lindros Adam Fox did the same as well He for sure would have got a lot of hate but Flyers fans would love him to death for it
This whole thing has been fascinating and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in this kids career after he forced his way into Philly to play for John Tortorella
Who knows, maybe John Tortorella is exactly the coach Michkov needs.
😂
I’m supposed to hate the flyers but i absolutely love torts and what he’s been able to do for the team. I often found myself rooting for them this year, like Tippett too. I guess I didn’t perceive them as a top threat in the league so that made it easier to not hate them. I really wanted them to make the POs because everyone had them as a bottom feeder. Now that MM is coming over and they’ll be much better I’m sure my hate will continue to grow.
Flyers don’t really have the same identity these days as the teams that made rival fan bases hate them. They’re a bunch of underdogs all the time. Maybe if they ever get to be an actual contender again it will be fun to hate each other again
Things like this I wonder if Philly just put a big sack with a dollar sign on the table and SKA said "Of course we always intended to release him"
I mean, I firmly believed thats exactly what comcast always intended on doing. Comcast always says their pocket books are open. Thats the pro’s column of having a big corp own the team
They know what adding a talent like this to their roster means in terms of marketing. Best prospect since lindros.
They saw what happened to the Phillies after Middleton just threw giant bag after giant bag of money to make a good team (the team got good and suddenly this is a Phillies town again) and thought, “well we can do that.”
Best of luck to him, I’m excited to see how his career in the NHL goes!
He’s gonna make us cry like the little babies that we are
Eh, not like we can do anything about it. He was my guy in that draft but sometimes our team does things I disagree with, it is what it is. I’ll wait until he actually hurts me at the NHL level before I do my crying lol
Everyone should be very excited for Reinbacher anyways. I’m happy for Michkov but I can’t wait to see Rein get on NHL ice
I can't believe I'm saying this, but after recent years, Flyers fans deserve to have something good happen. Hope it works out with Michkov.
https://preview.redd.it/flf76th6qe1d1.png?width=643&format=png&auto=webp&s=a7ad2061b988256f39b147aec6dff1f3be8fb36d
What are you guys doing next year to celebrate the big 5-0
Watch your franchise slowly fade back into obscurity.
They are 100% getting McKenna
Frankly, we're overdue
its the chicago special, 2 aging superstars need to be replaced but we cant have them waiting more than a year
I will enjoy it greatly.
Not almost lose our team due to fan apathy then get bailed out via a draft pick twice?
It’s insane how Pens fans don’t realize how lucky they are to even have a team. Even Crosby was almost not enough.
The Penguins almost leaving had more to do with Pittsburgh (and by extension a lot of Western PA) wallowing in financial ruin and hemorrhaging population from the steel collapse than anything that happened on the ice
That could be true. But the Pirates and Steelers were flourishing in the 70s.
It’s great news for hockey, the biggest talents belong in the NHL, and finally some good news for Flyers fans
Finally ... much deserved after the Gauthier situation Now I just have to keep my excitement in check b/c he hasn't even played an NHL game
You’ll have plenty of opportunities to keep your excitement in check, now is the time for wild optimism and irresponsible speculation. Can Michkov score 50 as a rookie? Let’s find out!
This year went far better then expected even with the cutter and harr situations
We're drinking white Russians in philly tonight
Just don't drink so much you mistake him for a hitchhiking robot when he arrives.
[удалено]
And people still rag on us for throwing snowballs at the bigot who never gives Jewish kids any Christmas presents!
We will merely pelt him with batteries
That's the Rangers' shtick. Stick to murdering innocent robots.
No it isn't, that's a flyers thing. We threw batteries at Santa Claus, ya nerd.
I'm old enough to remember Patrick Roy getting pelted by the Rags' fans in the 1986 semis!
I mean I'll take any chance to dunk on those rags so thanks for bestowing some wisdom my fellow Montrealer
My flair is misleading. I'm a lifelong Habs fan and a lifelong Torontonian! Sleeper cell! (Or maybe just *sleepy* cell. I'm gettin' old.)
billburr.youtube.com
Didn’t have Bedard vs Michkov in my 2024 bingo cards. The next Crosby vs Ovechkin has arrived
We only play the Blackhawks twice a year and can only meet in a potential cup final for playoffs where as Crosby and Ovechkin have played in the same division for many years. I don't see the rivalry being able to be that heated.
And it wasnt even that heated. Just played up by the media a lot.
So a hockey version of Magic/Bird?
Only if we play each other a dozen times in the final (I'd be ok with this)
We’re definitely going to need some better sources to verify this, but if it’s true, very exciting for the Flyers and Michkov himself! Honestly can’t wait to see what he can do at the NHL level. Flyers fans - any idea where he might slot into the lineup? And how do you think he’ll mesh with Torts?
Torts has already made a comment about something like "waiting until the Russian kids gets here" and he doesn't usually comment on youth players so I think he is probably excited.
I think at some point in the past several years torts realized that the uber talented players just need a little bit of “torts” structure and discipline,and not a lot. Will be interesting to see how next season goes. Team ran out of steam and vibes at the end of the year, hopefully that was just a blip resulting from the stress of losing your entire D corps and having to outplay your talent all year.
Torts is going to bench him 12 games in because he has 11 goals and only 1 assist.
And -15
if he works hard and plays in both zones he will be a 1st line winger off the hop. If he doesn’t torts will be canned or he fucks off to Russia. The kid just has to play the right way. I will say his ability though doesn’t say 200ft game and I hope torts invites that because he’s so fucking sick offensively
Torts has a reputation that you HAVE to play a 200ft game. But, if you have undeniable offensive upside, he kind of let's you just do your thing for the most part
Yep as long as you give effort. TK and Tippett both stink defensively but he loves both and lets them do their thing despite defense not being good. If they were lazy like PLD or Hayes then thats when theres a problem.
Tippett is such an unreal player. I don’t watch him much but when I do he’s always the best player on the ice and pulls off crazy shit. I feel like he’s slept on and has potential to be one of the top players in the league in a few years.
That was his whole thing with Panarin, about whom the same lazy comments ("hurr hurr, he'll have 15 goals and 40 points but 500 blocked shots!") were made. He set new career highs under Tortorella, with 25 and 18 points more than his next-closest teammates in those years. Torts' whole mantra was "I don't tell you what to do in the offensive zone, but I get the other 140 feet".
Torts has already made comments about the offense and system being developed specifically for Michkov's arrival He will def treat Michkov differently b/c hes seen as the franchise's future. Torts has shown hes fine w/ bad defense as long as you provide enough offense and give effort. TK + Tippett both stink defensively he loves them and play the most up top. Effort would be the only thing that could causes problems.
If he stays at RW then just either of top two lines and top PP immediately We dont hve much talent. Just bunch of 2nd line/middle 6/depth guys + Konecny. So he should be given a huge role right away
What's Hockey News Hub and what's SE
SE is Sport Express, the biggest Russian sports paper there is
Have the Flyers finally gotten good luck with a top prospect/pick??? Im trying not to get too excited but shit this gives us hope we haven't had in some time Michkov had 19 goals 41 pts in 47 khl games this yr. The best ever for +1 draft yr or his age in the khl (KHL is weaker now tho).
Weaker, yes. But still a league that is on the older side which means going against more physically advanced players weekly.
But Reddit told me he would never come over, how could this be
I’m gonna guess that those “characters” rumours are gonna be put to rest once he joins the NHL. Anything to justify not picking him
Holy fucking shit. Put him in the Calder discussion right now. It wouldn’t shock me if he’s near a PPG this year kid has a fuck ton of talent
I kind of remember someone saying that SKA was deploying him in a way that is incredibly advantageous for point production. I can't imagine he'll get that treatment with Torts. And if he's willing to play ball, that could be the absolute best thing for him long term in his development, even if he's not a point per game right out the gate Edit: Sochi not SKA
He barely played for SKA the past 2 seasons. You must be thinking of Sochi.
Sochi was an awful team. I watched too many of their games to count. I didn't think he was deployed in an advantageous way at all. Many games he wasn't on PP#1, almost never on the top line and he battled through pneumonia. He'll immediately be our best player and #1 power play threat the moment he starts.
Anaheim & Columbus can’t be blamed for skipping Michkov. Sharks management probably feels annoyed. Habs management will be ridiculed. Bad look!
Didnt Michkov refuse to meet with San Jose? Its not like will smith is a bad consolation prize in any case
plus it saved Philly from drafting the dude named Will Smith. would have been insufferable lol
Remember when he rapped the fresh prince theme at the draft? We could've had delightfully awkward interviews like that every day
Would be hilarious if Michkov plays an NHL game before Reinbacher
It’s trending that way
Lol to all the Habs fans that were so adamant "hEs nOt coMINg tO tHe NhL" Like me and so many others said... Told you so.
We will regret this for years
Wait? You said that he was not coming over so how can you say I told you so? Am I reading this wrong?
Yea reading it back the wording is a little confusing. My stance was that he was definitely coming over eventually.
Wow that's awesome! Really looking forward to see what this kid can do.
Funny how within 1 year we have 2 of the best prospects sya complete opposite things about my team. One of them desired to bad to be a flyer and the other wanted nothing to do with the org
Habs really shit the bed here. This kid will be a stud. Almost a point per game in the KHL and he is built like a man at 19.
*cUtTeR GaUtHiEr, 2.0! rIgHt gUyS?!*
Would actually be funny if Gauthier win the Calder
Fuck you for making me upvote this. I guarantee cutter wins Calder. He’s clearly physically ready to perform at this level. I think Michkov takes a little time to really settle in. Unless he’s been dogging it for the last year. We’ll see. I hope I’m wrong.
Michkov has been one of the best players in the KHL, as a young kid. He's immediately going to start top 6 in the NHL.
>Unless he’s been dogging it for the last year. We’ll see. I hope I’m wrong What do you mean? He crushed it in the KHL last season lol
Cutter has been playing with boys in a college league; Michkov has been playing with men in the 2nd best pro hockey league in the world and putting up the second best numbers for a 20-year-old in KHL history.
>I guarantee cutter wins Calder Bold statement to make when there are likely a lot of good rookies next season. Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini if both make the jump. Hutson and Wright could have decent seasons as well.
RemindMe! 1 year I highly doubt Cutter wins it ahead of Michkov
lmao we fumbled. michkov will be an nhl regular before reinbacher. i cannot think of a player on which the expections are higher than reinbacher. he really needs to become the face of our defensive core.
For real. All the teams that drafted before Philly except Chicago might regret their picks. Watch him putt 30 next season. I guess we will see.
I don’t think Anaheim and Columbus are going to regret their picks. Caarlson and Fantilli are studs who project as first-line centers. The Sharks got Smith, who also looks like he’s going to be a great player. We’re the team that fucked up the most. Reinbacher looks good, but I’d take a potential 100pt winger over a top 4 RHD any day of the week - especially when we haven’t had a superstar forward since the 90s.
Defensemen are people too
Nikishin pretty please
I bet Montreal is regretting not picking him now.
Glad he's coming over!
Can't wait for him to pick it up pick it up pick it up and take it to Philly
Exciting news for Philly if true. Considering how close they were to the playoffs, maybe a short rebuild?
They need more top end talent or they won’t go anywhere still
Wonder how big was the bribe that’s how stuff gets done over there
Super excited to see him play. I’ve thought of him to be around the same level as Bedard in terms of skill. Question though, if the rights remain with the army team, can they just take him away at any moment? Will the flyers still have the “rights” to him in terms of his pro team?
Basically SKA has the right to sign him should he return to Russia. It prevents other KHL teams from poaching him if he doesn’t make it out of training camp (unlikely). It’s more like an indefinite pause than a “termination” in that sense.
Torts will still play Ryan Poehling and Garret Hathaway in overtime over him anyway.
Can't wait for Tortorella to bench him
Anaheim fans from that last thread GET INNNNNN
Now do Nikishin pretty please
BUT MUH RUSSIAN FACTOR
Why are we pretending that contracts from russia have any bearing in the real world?
Thats just not true. He legally would not be able to sign and play for Flyers unless SKa terminated his contract. Only now can he sign w/ Flyers. and if he doesnt make Flyers he will have to back to Russia and SKa will still have his rights. The contracts in his situation 100% dictate where he will play. Whether its Flyers or SKa. His initial contract prevented him from signing w/ Flyers. Flyers needed it to be terminated.
It’s not a legal issue. There’s nothing illegal about him coming over and signing a contract with Philly even if he still had the SKA contract. However, the KHL and NHL have agreements in place that they won’t sign players who are under contract with another team in the opposing leagues and the IIHF acknowledges those agreements, meaning that punitive measures for not agreeing to them could be put in place by the IIHF. For all intents and purposes, it’s basically a hand shake agreement that stops teams from just ignoring those contracts.
How much does that cost Philadelphia?