Daniel Briere Says Flyers Expect To Meet With Matvei Michkov At Draft

Daniel Briere said the Philadelphia Flyers could meet with international man of mystery Matvei Michkov at next week’s draft.

“I believe we’ll have the chance to meet with him. Yes,” the Flyers general manager said at a pre-draft news conference Thursday at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees.

The Philadelphia Flyers hold the 7 overall pick. Michkov is a Russian forward projected to be one of the top players in this year’s draft class. He is expected to be picked anywhere from 2 to 8. The uncertainty is over his availability to play in North America.

Some mock drafts have Michkov falling to 7, where the Flyers could roll the dice on the Russian. For now, they’re doing their due diligence.

“We’re trying to get as much information, and we’ll spend a little bit of time with him, and we’ll try to get as much information as we can and make our decision after that,” said Briere, who will be conducting his first draft as GM.

Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr said the team has been doing their homework on Michkov.

“We do a lot of background,” Flahr said. “We do talk to players on his team. We’ve talked to coaches – our staff have talked to – so we’ve done a lot of our background.

“We’ll spend time with him and his family, and get a comfort level and then make a decision appropriately.”

Michkov’s Russian Issues

Michkov’s talent level would indicate a selection at 2 or 3, but he is under contract in Russia until 2026, and his future is uncertain with the geopolitical situation of his home country invading Ukraine.

Also, Michkov reportedly wasn’t meeting with NHL teams hoping to sit down with him before the draft. Teams like to do deep dives with background checks and face-to-face meetings with potential draft picks. It’s noteworthy that the Flyers might meet with Michkov next week.

“The draft, for us, is going to be critical,” Briere said.

The Flyers also have the 22nd overall draft pick. Briere was asked if he were willing to take more of a risk at 7 knowing he has 22 as a backup.

“I don’t want to see it that way,” Briere said. “I still want to take the best player available for us at that moment. Not thinking, ‘OK, now because I have that other pick, it changes what I’m going to try to do.’

“I’d rather we go with the same mindset. We take the player that’s going to be the best player for us, depending where we’re at in the organization.

“I’m not looking at it where, OK, because we have different picks, that’s going to change how we approach number seven.”

Best Player Available

Briere and Flahr stressed the Flyers are looking for the best player available, and they’re not looking for fill a particular position. The Flyers have 10 picks in the draft and Briere said his rebuilding team is looking for more.

“We’d like to. That’s not a secret,” Briere said. “We’d like to add. There’s some depth in this draft. So if we have the chance we would like to add in that gap between between 22 and 87 [picks].”

Briere and Flahr said they know immediate help from their draft picks isn’t likely and they’re fine with that. The draft is next Wednesday and Thursday in Nashville.

“We want the best player 3, 4 years down the road,” Flahr said. “It’s not a rush as far as who’s going to play first.

“There’s a lot of guys that are going to play sooner. Who’s going to become the best NHL player is our focus.”

“I agree with that,” Briere said. “It’s about the development of the player. I’m not worried if it’s 3, 4, 5 years down the road that they become the best they can be. I’m not worried about next year or the year after.”

Briere said the Flyers are talking with other teams about trades. He also sounded like he isn’t ready to give up on Kevin Hayes yet.

“If someone wants to give us another [first-round] pick, we’d gladly take it,” Briere said.

“We’re having discussions with different teams. I’d probably say it’s not likely, but we’re definitely looking at every avenue.

“I would love to give another jolt to our amateur scouts to dive in even deeper in our list. We’re trying, no doubt about it, but you need a dancing partner, as well, so I don’t know if it’s realistic.”

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Flyers, In Case You Missed It:

GM Daniel Briere has options in next week’s NHL Draft.

Former Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock will be inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame.

Flyers’ new special advisors to hockey operations John LeClair and Patrick Sharp talk about the way forward for the rebuilding team.

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