The Philadelphia Flyers could get a big boost ahead of next season if reporting from Russia ends up being true.
Sport Express’ Arthur Khairullin posted on his Telegram account that Matvei Michkov will forego the final two years of his KHL contract with SKA St. Petersburg and come stateside before the 2024-25 campaign.
“Forward Matvei Michkov will continue his career in Philadelphia,” Khairullin wrote on Telegram as translated via Google Translate. “The (KHL) rights to the player will remain with SKA.”
Michkov signed a five-year deal with SKA in 2021 and was previously expected to finish out that contract, possibly scaring away teams at the 2024 NHL Draft.
The Flyers’ top forward prospect further stoked the rumor mill flames when he liked an Instagram post detailing Khairullin’s report.
Guess who liked this post on Instagram 👀🧐#Flyers pic.twitter.com/rVAWxFickh
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) May 20, 2024
Russian NHL prospects seeing their KHL contracts terminated early isn’t unheard of as the Washington Capitals benefited from the same move with Ivan Miroshnichenko just over a year ago.
The 19-year-old Michkov is coming off a successful year with HC Sochi on loan from SKA for a second straight season. Michkov amassed 41 points (19g, 22a) in 47 games, falling just two points shy of breaking the KHL’s single-season scoring record by an under-20 player held by the Minnesota Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov.
Michkov’s season didn’t start the way he had planned as he only played in one of SKA’s first four games before being loaned to Sochi. The loan move was necessitated after the teenager quickly fell out of favor with SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg.
Rotenberg has since changed his tune now that Michkov is rumored to be on his way out of Russia though. The bench boss refused to confirm the reports and seemingly demanded that Philadelphia play Michkov in the NHL and on their top line or else he’d do everything possible to get him back in the KHL.
“There is no official decision yet,” Rotenberg told Match TV’s Pavel Lysenkov as translated via Google Translate. “And we can’t say that we are letting anyone go.
“We want to support Matvei as a family. We want to give him the opportunity to develop. If, for example, he cannot play in the first line of Philadelphia and if he is sent to the AHL or even to the East Coast League, then we will do everything to ensure that Michkov returns and plays only in the KHL. I say again, these issues are still in dialogue.”
Michkov was widely considered a top talent going into the 2023 NHL Draft and was ranked behind generational talent Connor Bedard. The Russian’s stock dropped in part because of his reported attitude and extended KHL deal which led to him falling to the Flyers at the seventh overall selection.
The Capitals were heavily rumored to be interested in taking the young Russian at eighth overall but ended up beaten to the punch by Philadelphia. While Washington did try to trade up in the draft to perhaps take Michkov, they ended up standing pat and selecting US Development Team Program product Ryan Leonard with their pick.
Michkov’s Russian agent later outlined several reasons as to why Michkov may have preferred landing in Philadelphia over Washington. Leonard went on to have an ultra-successful freshman year in the NCAA and sits atop the Capitals’ prospect rankings.
Per The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz, the Flyers are still in the process of trying to figure out what Michkov’s exact plans for next year are. Assuming SKA does allow him to terminate his deal, Philadelphia will need to sign Michkov to an entry-level contract.
The Flyers recently went through a similar but more tumultuous process with goaltender Ivan Fedotov. Fedotov made his NHL debut in April after a two-year spell that involved an arrest for alleged evasion of Russian military service, a battle within the IIHF about his contract status, and an eventual CSKA Moscow contract termination.
