There are speculation and rumors brewing that Michkov may have a preferred team in mind that he wants to play for.

The Washington Capitals get to select eighth in the 2023 NHL Draft, and one player on their radar -- and almost every team's going into the first round -- is Matvei Michkov. A lot of mystery currently surrounds the top forward prospect, to the point that where he'll be picked remains a major question mark.

Michkov is without a doubt one of the most talented prospects available in the top 10. He has a deadly accurate shot, a high hockey IQ and unparalleled playmaking ability. His KHL production is also higher than Alex Ovechkin's was in his draft year, and there are several who believe Michkov is a future elite star in the NHL.

However, getting to know the prospect has been a tough task, and taking that, rumored "character issues" and a lengthy KHL contract that doesn't expire until 2026  into account, some believe his draft stock could fall. And for some, there's speculation brewing that's what Michkov may want, per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Friedman said on 32 Thoughts that numerous teams have been trying to get in contact with Michkov to get to know him before making their draft day decisions. However, meeting with the Russian has been nearly impossible.

"Teams want to get to know who they’re dealing with here. What I'm hearing is that in Russia, the teams that could get there to meet him, it wasn’t easy to get to talk to him. You would try to talk to him, set up appointments; he just wasn’t interested," Friedman said. "Like someone said to me the only way you could really get to talk to him was if you physically got to him right after a game and talked to him for a couple of minutes."

Michkov also didn't attend the 2023 NHL Combine, leading to more uncertainty as teams were not only unable to conduct interviews but didn't have any test results to read into. He will be in attendance for the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville, though, according to agent Sergei Fedotov.

Per Friedman, the uncertainty and difficulty of meeting with Michkov has led teams and several others to wonder if that's intentional and if the winger already has his sights set on a specific club. Jeff Marek had thrown out the Capitals as a possible fit for Michkov earlier in the episode.

"There’s a number of teams hearing he’s coming in that want the opportunity to meet with him, and some of these teams haven’t gotten a commitment yet. So what everybody’s kind of wondering here is: does Michkov have a preference?" Friedman explained. "Is there a team or teams he wants to go to and he’s kind of maneuvering it so that happens? I think that’s still a little bit premature.

"There are teams that wanna talk to him who haven’t been given any confirmation that they’re gonna be able to talk to him.... the intrigue around him continues.”

As Friedman said, it's premature, but also, it's a bit of a stretch to wonder if Michkov is intentionally avoiding teams just to go to a preferred team. Amid everything going on overseas, setting up meetings isn't easy for KHLers right now.

Plus, Michkov told Match.TV back in May that he is not focusing on which team he would be going to on draft day, though he did say Washington would be a fun place to land, especially with Alex Ovechkin still at the helm and Ivan Miroshnichenko signing an entry-level deal in D.C.

"That would be cool," Michkov said, but added, "It's probably too early for me to think about America. I'm in Russia now, I will do my best to gain a foothold in SKA. This is my main task."

Draft day is just 11 days away, and what's next for Michkov remains to be seen. However, given his skillset, whichever team does land him may be getting the next best thing after Connor Bedard.

If he does fall to eighth, there's little doubt that the Capitals pass on him. They're no strangers to taking Russians in the draft, and KHL deals aren't something that turns them away, especially since two of their players in the last decade have broken deals to sign in D.C. (Miroshnichenko, 2023 and Evgeny Kuznetsov, 2014).