When talking about a 19-year-old rookie like Matvei Michkov, someone who is still unaccustomed to North American culture, it makes sense why some would be conservative in projecting his numbers. But this Philadelphia Flyers prospect is not an ordinary player. He has the upside to blow even his more optimistic point projections for 2024-25 out of the water.
Michkov’s Career Numbers
Generally, a good way to analyze top prospects is by looking at their point production—elite players tend to find their way out on top, even if they’re more defensively oriented. For his whole career, Michkov has crushed the competition, always proving to be ready for that next step.
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Michkov’s last stint in junior hockey was in 2021-22, a year before he became draft-eligible (D-1). Playing in Russia’s Junior Hockey League (MHL), he ranked first among forwards in points per game (P/G) with 51 points in 28 contests. Even though the league has 20-year-old participants, he rose above them all.
In his first year of draft eligibility (DY), the next logical step for Michkov was the Supreme Hockey League (VHL). It’s a professional league mostly consisting of players in their early to mid-20s, but not the best out there. Scoring 10 goals and 14 points in 12 games, Michkov ranked second among forwards with at least 10 matches played in P/G—he put up historic numbers.
As if the VHL was child’s play to him, Michkov rejoined the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) where he compiled five points in 13 games in his D-1 campaign. He had 20 points in 30 contests in 2022-23, putting him in the 89th percentile for P/G among forwards with 10 games played (for future reference, these are the requirements for the percentiles). This was the highest P/G total put up in a DY in the history of the KHL.
Last season, Michkov furthered his production with 41 points in 48 games in the KHL, putting him in the 96th percentile with 0.85 P/G. This was the highest total ever put up in a season after being drafted (D+1), edging out players such as Evgeny Kuznetsov, Kirill Kaprizov, Vladimir Tarasenko, and other future stars. It’s important to recognize that Michkov played a decent chunk of ice time, but he was playing a lot for a reason—he was objectively the best teenage KHL player in history.
Now, we arrive at Michkov’s second…
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