Matvei Michkov: a gamble that pays off for Daniel Brière

Dose
Crédit: NASHVILLE, TN - JUNE 28: Matvei Michkov is shown with Daniel Briere and Keith Jones during the first round of the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft, held on June 28, 2023, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Tonight, the Canadiens visit Philadelphia for their second game in twenty-four hours, this time against the Flyers. This will be an important game for both teams, who won the day before and are both looking to build on their momentum following difficult starts to the season.

It will also be the first opportunity for Habs fans to see Matvei Michkov face their team. The rookie has made an excellent start to the campaign with nine points, including four goals in eight games. The Russian forward is particularly threatening with the man advantage, already tallying three goals and six points on the power play.

Today, Daniel Brière, the Flyers’ General Manager, must be very happy with his first major decision upon taking office!

Michkov’s seventh-round selection was a risky move, given that he was under contract to SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL for three years and had a reputation as a lazy player.

The Canadiens could have selected the Russian fifth, but chose David Reinbacher instead. However, it’s possible that Mishkov arranged to play in Philadelphia and didn’t want to come to Montreal.

In short, could tonight’s game (and his impressive start to the season) make fans and team management regret turning their noses up at the young forward? Maybe so. It’s definitely going to be interesting to watch!

It’s still early days, but so far Brière seems to have won his bet. By his own admission, “[Michkov] is impressive. So far, he’s better than I expected,” as we learn in the TVA Sport article.

The Flyers organization has also gone to great lengths to facilitate the arrival and integration of its young prospect in North America. Even theiriron-fisted coach , John Tortorella, seems willing to give his forward a certain amount of freedom to express his offensive talent.

In short, while the Flyers have had an even tougher start to the season than the Canadiens, with just two wins, Matvei Michkov’s performance is one of the great stories of the start of the NHL season, and very good news for the Flyers.

And it’s likely to be the talk of Montreal, not only because of the comparisons with Reinbacher, but also with our prospect Ivan Demidov, whose situation is very similar to Michkov’s.

Overtime

– Ohtani will be there!

– Pat and Lou at loggerheads?

– A big loss for the Sens.

– Big win for the Lions!

– Knee injury for Diggs.

– Some great NFL plays.

This content was created with the help of AI.