And then there’s Matvei Michkov. No one is quite sure what to make of the Russian goal-scoring whiz wingman who two years ago was a projected 2023 1B to Bedard’s 1A while the two of them were shooting out the lights at the 2021 Under-18 World Championship in Texas.
Even though Michkov’s consensus ranking is No. 5 — five scouts pegged him there, but he also received consideration at Nos, 2, 3, and 4 — his forecast is every bit as uncertain and unknown as Bedard’s is crystal clear. Really, whenever and whomever takes Michkov, it’s going to be a dominant storyline in this draft. Maybe THE storyline, next to Bedard.
There’s no disputing Michkov’s talent and natural goal-scoring ability. But there are so many other factors at work, not the least of which include:
- He’s under contract to a KHL team (SKA St. Petersburg) for three more seasons and unless accommodations are reached between his NHL club and his KHL team, Michkov is not expected to play in the NHL any earlier than the fall of 2026. Might he sign an extension in Russia? Who knows?
- Because Michkov is a Russian, and because Russia waged war on Ukraine that has resulted in both real-world and hockey-world sanctions and consequences against Russia, NHL GMs, executives and team head scouts have not been able to see him play live this season – not at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Halifax last Christmas and not in the KHL either. Because NHL club team personnel are not travelling freely to Russia, in the modern era of the NHL draft, certainly post-Soviet Union/Iron Curtain, no elite NHL prospect has had fewer live viewings from NHL personnel than Michkov.
- More rumours/60 than any other prospect and so many unanswered queries and unsubstantiated theories on everything from whether he’s a good teammate to the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of his father this season, a traumatic event that the teenager, as one would expect, is still processing.
In the weeks leading up to the NHL draft, there was talk Michkov was spurning interview requests from NHL clubs, but those specific fears were looking to be either unfounded or at least allayed. Michkov’s agent, Max Moliver, has this week been scheduling interview times with a multitude of NHL clubs for early next week in Nashville. Michkov and his representatives are trying to be as accommodating as possible, given the short time frame before the draft.
Michkov is expected to arrive in the U.S. as early as tomorrow or Saturday. He’s expected to be in Nashville early next week. The first round of the draft, of course, is Wednesday.
“Those interviews are going to be so important,” one scout said. “We couldn’t interview him [at the NHL Combine in Buffalo] because he wasn’t there. We couldn’t interview him in Russia because we weren’t there. Does he want to play in the NHL? How soon might he be able to come? Is there any chance he could sign an extension in Russia? Does he want to play for a particular team? How he answers the questions, how he carries himself in those interviews, will determine how high he’ll be taken or how far he’ll fall, and which team is prepared to take him.”
One scout said Michkov is likely the only prospect in this draft who would require an NHL owner to sign off on before a team would take him in the top five or even top 10.
Pre-draft scuttlebutt, for whatever that is worth, suggests Michkov won’t get by the Washington Capitals, who pick at No. 8. The Caps, of course, are the team of Alexander Ovechkin — Michkov is touted as the best Russian prospect since Ovechkin — and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Washington also didn’t hesitate to take Russian forward Ivan Miroshnichenko 20th overall last year, even though there were concerns about his illness, injury, and the so-called Russian Factor.
Washington will no doubt be one of the teams interviewing Michkov and those talks will be critical to any draft-day decisions, but one has to allow for the possibility some other team could still claim Michkov before Washington.
Still, the sense is Michkov is the most likely member of the top five who could conceivably fall out of the group for any of number of reasons, but on talent and potential, he’s a top-five talent all day. If he does fall out, there are no fewer than three other prospects who could tabbed to fill the void.
- Ryan Leonard, the Team USA U-18 right winger who is No. 6 on the TSN final ranking list. Leonard flanked Smith on the dominant U.S. line. The 50-goal scorer possesses a big-league shot and even though he’s just under 6 feet tall, his 190-pound frame allows him to play a hard-edged, hard-driving power and goal-scoring game. He was ranked as high as No. 6 in our scouting survey and no lower than No. 9.
- Dalibor Dvorsky, the physically mature 6-foot-1, 200-pound Slovak centre who is No. 7 on TSN’s final list. Dvorsky is viewed as perhaps the most complete player in the Top 10 and while some scouts debate how high, or limited, his offensive ceiling may be, five of 10 scouts had him solidly at No. 6. But a couple had him just outside the Top 10, at No. 11.
- David Reinbacher, the rangy Austrian 6-2, 194-pound blueliner who is not regarded as an offensive defenceman and is not seen as an intimidating shutdown defender but plays an upper-echelon two-way game is No. 8 on TSN’s final list. He is the consensus top defenceman in this year’s draft. His range was as high as No. 7 and as low as No. 15.
