Mikhail Sergachev Clarifies Comments Made About Maple Leafs' Recent Playoff Run
The 25-year-old clarified his comments from a recent interview where he talked about the Maple Leafs.
Mikhail Sergachev is not happy after his comments from a recent interview were translated and posted to Instagram.
The clarification from Sergachev comes after he did an interview with Russian news outlet, Sport24. His comments from the interview were about the Maple Leafs and their celebration after eliminating the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs.
The comments from the interview were then translated from Russian to English and used in an Instagram post by the user, @nhlbreakers.
"In an interview with Russian outlet Sport24, Mikhail Sergachev didn't hold back his thoughts on the Leafs or their fans," the now-deleted post reads.
"He went on to say that Tampa statistically outplayed the Leafs and should have won, but recognized that the same was true for the opposite last year."
The 27-year-old fired back in an Instagram story of his own, clarifying his comments from the interview.
"I never said it like that," wrote Sergachev in an Instagram story. "Question was 'Toronto played very physical which got couple of your defensemen hurt, is that true?'
"And I said 'no it just happens sometimes people get hurt by accident, and I don't want to give them credit' Rep: 'Why not give them credit?' Me: 'Why? I don't think they deserved them' Rep: 'For the first time in 19 years passed first round' Me: 'Here true, good on them! But didn't go thru second round, I don't see a reason to celebrate.'"
Sergachev averaged the most time-on-ice of any Lightning player in the first round of the playoffs vs. Toronto. The 25-year-old played nearly 27 minutes in each of the six games against the Maple Leafs.
He was also on the ice for the most goals against (13) among all Lightning defensemen. Sergachev signed an eight-year extension last summer which carries an AAV of $8.5 million.
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