19-year-old forward prospect arrives earlier from KHL than anticipated, ‘here to win’
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VOORHEES, N.J. — Matvei Michkov understands the massive expectations that come with him joining the Philadelphia Flyers.
However, the 19-year-old forward only has one focus.
“The main idea always is to win,” Michkov said via a translator at the Flyers practice facility Wednesday. “I’m here to help the team to win. Just to play my style and I’m here to win.”
Michkov’s style is high-skill offense. Playing on loan with Sochi of the Kontinental Hockey League last season, he had 41 points (19 goals, 22 assists) in 47 games, the most among any under-20 player in the KHL.
Philadelphia could use that kind of offensive boost after finishing 27th in the NHL in scoring (2.82 goals per game) and last on the power play (12.2 percent) last season. The Flyers finished four points behind the Washington Capitals for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, the fourth straight season they failed to qualify.
However, general manager Daniel Brière is adamant that Michkov is just one piece of a larger puzzle that leads to the Flyers’ return to championship contention.
“We don’t see him as a savior,” Briere said. “That’s certainly not what we’re putting on his shoulders. He’s 19 years old, he’s coming in to learn, to expand his game. We hope that the sky’s the limit for him, but we’re certainly not expecting him to be the savior of this team. We’re building a team that’s going to have many pieces to work together. And we’re hoping that he becomes one of them.”
Michkov was able to become a piece of that puzzle earlier than the Flyers expected. Philadelphia selected him with the No. 7 pick of the 2023 NHL Draft and understood he had a three-year KHL contract with SKA St. Petersburg.
But the final two seasons of that contract were terminated June 25, and Michkov signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Flyers on July 1.
“The process was long, but I was not involved in it, it was between SKA and the Flyers,” Michkov said. “My main thing was getting ready for coming over and playing here. I’m very happy to be here.”
Briere said the Flyers were willing to wait until 2026 for Michkov’s arrival, but certainly are happy to him earlier than anticipated.
“When we drafted him last year, we never thought this would happen,” Briere said. “Part of the reason why he fell to us, because he would have gone a lot earlier … we felt we were in a position to be able to wait the three years for him to come.
“To have this opportunity, it’s amazing. To get him early, at 19 years old, to learn under a coach like [John Tortorella] and the coaching staff that we have, I think it’s a great opportunity for him and for us to have him early.”
Michkov said he was looking forward to meeting Tortorella, and has been in touch with several teammates, including Ivan Fedotov, Egor Zamula, Sean Couturier and Erik Johnson.
“A lot of guys have been in contact,” Michkov said. “I’m thankful for a warm welcome. I’m looking forward to meeting everybody personally.”
Philadelphia understands helping Michkov adjust off the ice will be just as important as helping him on the ice. Flyers consultant Slava Kuznetsov will help as a translator during training camp, and the team has hired an English-language tutor to work with Michkov.
“We also have a pretty tight locker room, guys like Nicolas Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway, Erik Johnson, that are great veterans that understand, that have been around a long time, make sure that he fits in and they’re going to help him out,” Briere said. “That’s why having good veterans is a key when you bring young guys out of their comfort [zone]. It’s really important.
Johnson, who is represented by the same agency as Michkov, has been speaking to him regularly.
“I’ve been doing my best to communicate with him via Instagram, and with the translation tool it’s been pretty easy to do that,” Johnson said July 11. “Just trying to get him comfortable. Any questions he has, I’m answering them for him. … I’m trying to help him anyway I can, exchange phone numbers. I’m here for him in any way he needs and helping him acclimate to Philly, to the NHL.”
Michkov already was on the ice Wednesday morning before meeting the media. He wanted to keep any personal goals for his rookie NHL season to himself, saying his only focus is team success.
“The first plan is for the team to make the playoffs,” he said. “Help the team win night after night so the fans can be coming and enjoying the games more and more.”
