Matvei Michkov was viewed as the 2nd best player available in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, behind only Connor Bedard. Fortunately for Philly, he was drafted 7th overall in this year's draft by the Flyers. The reason he slipped in draft? His KHL contract status may prevent him from coming over to the NHL as soon as NHL teams would have liked.
There was a lot of belief in the idea that, following the draft, the Flyers would look to find a way to bring Michkov to North America much earlier than his KHL contract would enable him to come over. Now, over the past few weeks, Michkov went from centering the middle-six of SKA's forward group to a healthy scratch the last two games. He also saw his ice time dwindle in the preseason.
According to SKA's Head Coach Roman Rotenberg, Michkov has been outperformed by others on the roster saying, "Matvei is an extra forward. First of all, he competes with other extras. And, for example, Ivan Demidov, who is younger than Michkov." Rotenberg says that Michkov will eventually see playing time as long as he earns it.
For those unfamiliar with the situation, Michkov also struggled last season to be a regular on SKA's roster and ended up playing 27 games on loan with HC Sochi, where he registered 20 points.
The fact he has been a healthy scratch for both of SKA's regular season games so far probably won't sit too well with the Flyers. These are important developmental years for Michkov coming up. It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out leading up to NHL training camp and the regular season and if the Flyers can find a way to bring him over sooner if needed.
