Russian forward and top Philadelphia Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov was originally believed to be able to join the Flyers organization once his KHL contract expired in 2026, but a recent report has suggested that there's a possibility he could arrive in Philadelphia way ahead of schedule.
Russian forward and top Philadelphia Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov was originally believed to be able to join the Flyers organization once his KHL contract expired in 2026, but a recent report has suggested that there's a possibility he could arrive in Philadelphia way ahead of schedule.
Russian forward and top Philadelphia Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov was originally believed to be able to join the Flyers organization once his KHL contract expired in 2026, but a recent report has suggested that there's a possibility he could arrive in Philadelphia way ahead of schedule.
SKA Saint Petersburg chairman Daniil Medvedev stated that the Flyers front office have a solid relationship with the club, and that they won't make any moves to violate Michkov's contract, but they're very eager to get the young forward over to the NHL.
Medvedev "won't rule out" letting Michkov go stateside, clarifying that he thinks it's better to "leave like [Alex] Ovechkin or [Artemi] Panarin," but if he does leave, there would have to be guarantees that he would return to the KHL if he doesn't make the NHL—meaning no option for Michkov to spend any time in the AHL to develop further and gradually climb the ladder to the top level.
It's worth nothing that SKA Saint Petersburg have control over the situation, and letting Michkov go early could mean in time for the 2025-26 season, not necessarily the upcoming 2024-25 campaign. A final decision is expected by the end of June.
Another mitigating factor could be the frosty relationship that Michkov looks to have with SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg, who often made Michkov a healthy scratch, and gave him very little ice time when he was in the lineup. Flyers fans are hopeful that this gives the 18-year-old more motivation to push for a move to Philadelphia.
The Flyers front office have made their position known when it comes to the hawkish monitoring of Michkov's timeline for joining the NHL, with GM Danny Briere said during his end-of-season press conference that "if there's an opportunity, we would jump on it to get [Michkov] here quicker."
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