Philadelphia Flyers

BREAKING NEWS: Flyers Draft Matvei Michkov At 7; ‘A Talent We Can’t Pass Up’

Published

10 months ago

June 28, 2023

Daniel Briere, Matvei Michkov, Keith Jones after the pick.

Daniel Briere, Matvei Michkov and Keith Jones after the pick was made (Photo by Amanda Bausman)

The Philadelphia Flyers did it. They took the biggest swing in the draft, selecting Russian Matvei Michkov with the No. 7 overall pick in the NHL Draft on Wednesday night in Nashville.

General manager Daniel Briere calmly stood on the stage in Nashville and announced the selection of Michkov, supposedly the draft’s second-most talented player after top pick Connor Bedard.

“He seemed to have a really good time [when Michkov met with the Flyers],” Briere said.

“We actually met him a couple times. You can tell that for some reason he loved the Flyers.

“He wanted to be a part of the Flyers. We saw it on stage his reaction was amazing.

“He convinced us basically in the meeting that he wanted to be there and wanted to be a Flyer so our staff all felt really, really good about selecting him.

“We know he has a contract for three more seasons but for us we just felt after watching him play and after meeting him we just felt it’s just a talent we can’t pass up.”

Michkov looked thrilled being selected by Philadelphia. “I’m glad to be a Flyer,” Michkov told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan through an interpreter. “I have no words, such an emotional moment. He thinks [he’ll be in the NHL] quite soon. It is his dream to be there.

“It means a lot to him. It’s his dream and his dream is to also win the Stanley Cup.”

The pick is considered risky because of Michkov’s uncertain playing status. He is under contract in Russia until 2026. The future of Russian players coming to North America is uncertain.

Michkov is 5-foot-10, 172-pound dynamo on the ice. Elite Prospects’ NHL Draft Guide said about Michkov: “The rare triple-threat winger, Michkov is a constant threat to find the back of the net.

“His puck skills are near the top of the draft, owing to immense creativity, hip pocket handling, dextrous hands, and a never-say-die attitude.

“You may think that you have him, but most of the time, you really don’t. His ability to problem-solve his way out of defensive pressure is at a level all its own. Michkov creates plays on the ice that we can’t even fathom with the benefit of a bird’s eye view.”

The draft broke the Flyers’ way. No one traded up to land Michkov, as the Capitals might have done. When Arizona took defenseman Dmitry Simashev at 6, the Flyers had their choice of Michkov or Ryan Leonard, described as a prototypical Flyer.