Matvey Michkov picks ‘Flyers’ boldest label yet about rebuilding and ‘new era’

Nashville, Tenn. – In the past, the Philadelphia Flyers did not receive Matvey Michkov.

In many ways, Meshkov is not a typical choice for pilots. He’s a dynamic offensive talent, not the two-way mill types that have made up so many of Philadelphia’s rosters. His NHL schedule is on the long side, which is daunting for a club that has long been proud of its now-win-win philosophy. Oh, he’s Russian – and this is an organization that still celebrates the Red Army’s dominance in 1976 and has long been reluctant to recruit or sign players of Russian descent.

The Old Flyers probably took eighth-ranked Washington’s Ryan Leonard, a typical high-energy bulldog forward. That would have the whole team nodding and thinking, “Yeah, it’s just him Feel Like the Philadelphia Flyer. Not the Russian who is dominant in offense, ultra-skilled, and dexterous.

Obviously these are not your old posts anymore.

“When you see the talent level of this player – we don’t have anyone like him in the organization,” General Manager Daniel Breyer said Wednesday after the first-round finish. “We’ve been talking for a number of years now about how we need to bring more skill and talent into our squad. This was a great opportunity to hopefully develop a player who can play that kind of role for us.”

Meshkov’s skill is enormous. the athleteCorey Brunman rated him the third best player in the draft. Teammate Scott Wheeler placed him second. He scored 20 points in 27 RFL games this season at the age of 18. For comparison, Alex Ovechkin scored 24 in 53 Russian top flight matches at the same age. Metchkov’s creativity and hockey sense is off the charts. He has the potential to be a deadly scorer as well. From a pure talent standpoint, he is the most talented player to be added to the Philadelphia organization since Claude Giroud in 2006.

It’s no guarantee he’ll get there, but make no mistake: Metchkov has uncanny potential.

“We have to be careful with the word superstar, I guess,” Brier warned. “If he comes in and is a good player in our team and can be a difference-maker, that’s all I ask. If it turns out more than that, that would be great. We would certainly welcome that.”

The pilots were fascinated by Mikov. Leading up to the draft, the Flyers met him not once, but twice. There was a widely reported meeting in Nashville with Briere and essentially the entire organization, but according to a team source, Michkov also visited the Flyers’ Practice facility in Voorhees, NJ, Friday morning to meet with a smaller group.

“We were blown away by his personality and how much he loved the opportunity to become a pilot,” Brier said.

They even tried to trade in his favor, convinced that there was no way he would slip to No. 7. But there was no such thing. Pilots have to sweat.

“We felt that his fall at the age of seven was a gift to us,” Brier said.

Now, does choice come with risk? definitely. There’s a reason six other teams died on it. Firstly, there is the traditional concern of being a small goal-scoring winger without the elite skating ability. (Mishkov confirmed that he currently checks in at 5-foot-10, 178 pounds.) And there has been legitimate talk in league circles about potential character concerns—a red flag usually taken seriously by the Flyers, in particular.

“We asked him — we questioned him,” Brier said regarding the character’s questions. “We asked him some really tough questions. And we were satisfied with the answers we got. Now, you never know. You never know for sure. But we had a good feeling.”

But the real danger, of course, is the Russian factor: both his commitment to a three-year contract with SKA Saint Petersburg and the worry that even after that contract expires, he won’t want to – or be able to – come to the North. America.

Geopolitical concern is legitimate and not really known at this point. As for Meshkov’s willingness to come to the NHL, however? He sure looked like a player who wanted to come west as fast as he could. He even left open the possibility of leaving Russia earlier than expected.

“To be honest, I can’t say for sure,” Meshkov said regarding his NHL schedule via a translator. “I have a contract. But I hope to come in as soon as I can get out.”

Meshkov claims he wants to be in the NHL, both for himself and to honor his late father, Andrei.

“At the moment it is important for me to finish the goal that my father set for me, which is to win the Stanley Cup,” said Michkov.

He told us he wanted to play in the NHL. He told us his dream was to win the Stanley Cup. He told us he wanted to be a pilot,” Brier added.

This was very important to the pilots – the idea that Meshkov specifically wanted to come to Philadelphia. This is confirmed a lot after selection.

“I think my biggest wish and my biggest expectation is that I want to come to Philadelphia, I want to help them win the Stanley Cup,” said Michkov. “I know we’ve been waiting a long time for one. That’s my goal, and that’s why I came.”

Brier believes the Flyers’ status as a top-market team with a large fanbase and rich history has also helped them.

“It was great to see him respond to the question where (we asked him), ‘Are you afraid of playing in Philadelphia? And he said not at all. ‘I want to be a flyer. I want to play in the hockey market. That’s another thing,’ he said. ‘It made us feel really good about it,’ Brier said.

If Meshkov wants to come to the NHL and wants to play for the Flyers, then only “Will he be able to successfully leave Russia?” a question. It is definitely dangerous.

But the risk was worth it for the pilots. Michkov stands as the star potential the organization lacks, unless 2022 #5 pick Cutter Gauthier reaches the absolute top of his bid. Most notably, they were able to get a chance with the potential to be the MVP of a Stanley Cup contender without a loss – a retroactive stroke of luck to save them from the decision not to start rebuilding last summer and put them ahead. Site for franchise talent.

The Flyers would never win a cup by building a team around a group of hard workers in two directions. Centering in a rebuilding mindset was a start, and a necessary acknowledgment of the reality of their situation. But they still lack talent – a real game-changing knack.

This check shows that they know it.

“Time will tell, it’s a bit early, but we feel that when he’s ready to come in he can really be a difference-maker,” Brier said. “And that’s the risk we were willing to take – to wait a little while until we have a difference-maker on our hands.”

Briere now has three years to rebuild the squad, build a positive culture, pick the right players in the roster, and turn it into an interesting club with a playoff crescendo. And then, in the fourth year, they hope Mechkov will come along and push them to the brink of real competition.

“I think that means we’ll start winning when I get here,” Mitchkov cracked when asked about his excitement at joining a team in the midst of rebuilding.

That day – assuming it ever comes – will be the true beginning of the Flyers Announcing “A New Era of Orange,” When the club becomes tied again in the playoffs and the Wells Fargo Center is just as rowdy as ever. But spiritually, it’s as if he started today, with a choice that makes a bold statement that pilots under Breyer and Keith Jones really would do things differently.

“We took a big swing, but hopefully this will be a home run,” Brier said.

(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)