The Montreal Canadiens’ brass caught some flak for not drafting Russian prospect Matvei Michkov at the 2023 draft and opting for right-shot defenseman David Reinbacher instead. They got even more grief when it was announced that the young Russian could leave the KHL ahead of schedule. But the grumbling stopped when Montreal fans got to watch Labe Hutson’s Calder Trophy-worthy rookie season and the arrival of Ivan Demidov at the tail end of the season. In an exclusive interview with RG.org, Michkov spoke about his countryman and his rookie rival.
In an interesting Q&A, the Philadelphia Flyers' young star was asked questions about the Canadiens’ most dynamic young players. Michkov and Demidov know each other and speak to each other a lot. After the Canadiens' rookie’s first game in the show, Michkov congratulated him. The 20-year-old also said Demdov has enormous potential and that everything will work out if he keeps working the right way. He also added that he has everything to become a superstar in the league.
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When Michkov was asked what his favourite moment of the season was, he replied with a smile that it was the home game against the Canadiens when he came ever so close to scoring a hat trick, but he circled back to scoring his first NHL goal.
Of course, Michkov is not happy about not being nominated for the rookie of the year award, but says he should have played better to ensure that there was no possible doubt on who the best rookie was.
He added that while he didn’t follow his fellow rookies’ games that closely, the media coverage made it impossible to ignore their performances. He praised the Canadiens’ defenseman on his season and said he knew he would make it at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics.
For his sophomore season, Michkov’s goal won’t be to reach a certain number of points. He wants his Flyers to make the playoffs and possibly try to win the Stanley Cup, adding he’ll do everything he can to achieve that goal.
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