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Quick Hits: Michkov, Phantoms-Hershey Game 1, Snider Hockey, TIFH |
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Quick Hits: May 1, 2024
1) Speaking to Match TV, SKA St. Petersburg chairman Alexander Medvedev said that there is a possibility that SKA could allow 19-year-old prospect Matvei Michkov to join the Flyers sooner rather than later. A decision will be made by the end of June.
Medvedev, the former president of the KHL and the deputy chairman of Gazprom, stated that SKA and the Flyers have had communications regarding Michkov and the two teams have an amicable relationship. He is also aware that it's Michkov's own desire to come to the NHL as soon as possible. However, there is a lot of negotiation to be done beforehand.
Michov, who will turn 20 on Dec. 9, still has two seasons to go on the contract he signed with SKA when he was 16 years old. Medvedev told Match TV that the Flyers have assured SKA that they will not violate the player's KHL contract by having him jump to the NHL without a release from the deal. There is no transfer agreement between the NHL and the KHL, so transfers (including transfer fees and conditions) are negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
With two years remaining on Michkov's contract, SKA's strongest leverage may be to negotiate a contact release this summer. It's not a secret that the strong-willed Michkov has clashed with Roman Rotenberg and, after back-to-back seasons of SKA loaning Michkov to HC Sochi and the player recently being left off the Russian under-25 national team by Rotenberg, his destination club for the 2024-25 season is uncertain.
Rotenberg, 43, is a member of an oligarch family with close personal and political ties to Vladimir Putin. Rotenberg, the vice president of Gazprombank and Gazprom Export executive, holds a lot of power within the SKA organization and the KHL as a whole. He's the deputy chairman of the KHL board of directors, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SKA, a deputy chairman of the SKA board of directors, and later appointed himself as SKA's head coach.
During the 2023-24 preseason, SKA experimented with Michkov -- a natural winger -- at center. He moved back to wing for the final two games of the preseason and the entire regular season. When the regular season started, Michkov was a healthy scratch in five of the first six games (and played less than seven minutes in the one game he dressed). Rotenberg stated that the player, who produced 20 points in 27 games while on loan to HC Sochi in 2022-23, hadn't done enough to earn playing time for SKA.
With Michkov unable to get into the SKA lineup, he was loaned once again to Sochi for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign. Despite HC Sochi remaining one of the weakest teams in the KHL (23-38-7) and Michkov dealing with a lengthy bout of pneumonia, the teenage player posted 41 points (19g, 22a) in 49 games. That's a pace comparable or superior to many current NHL standouts at the same age in the KHL.
Michkov's recent exclusion from the Rotenberg-coached national under-25 team raised eyebrows. The player had previously stated a desire to play for the squad. Russia is banned from participation in IIHF-sanctioned tournaments, including the upcoming World Championships. As a result, the Russian national teams primarily play tourneys against Belarus (which is also presently banned by the IIHF) and other satellite opposition.
There is still much work to be done before Michkov could obtain a negotiated release from his SKA contract to join the Flyers in the offseason (depending on the terms, possibly even for Development Camp prior to Rookie and NHL camps come September). For one, there will be a fee owned by the player to SKA to buy out the player's contract itself. There'd also be a be a negoiated team-to-team transfer fee owed by the Flyers to SKA in lieu of a standard NHL fee schedule.
Medvedev indicated that any release agreement would have to include a stipulation that, if Michkov does not earn and sustain an NHL roster spot, the Flyers must return him SKA rather him to SKA rather than assigning him to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Technically, all NHL entry-level contracts are two-way deals that have an AHL pay rate and allow an NHL team to assign the player (at their own discretion) to the AHL farm club. However, the NHL club also has discretion to loan a player elsewhere. This is most commonly done with European prospects.
For example, when the Flyers signed goalie prospect Alexei Kolosov to an entry-level contract, they struck a deal with KHL club Dinamo Minsk to ultimately allow for the player's unobstructed release. Although he was under Flyers contract (and burning the first year of his ELC), the Flyers organization agreed to loan the player back to Dinamo for the entire 2023-24 season. In return, the Flyers' management and development coach Brady Robinson kept regular communication with Kolosov throughout the year. When Minsk was eliminated from the Gagarin Cup playoffs, Kolosov joined the Phantoms.
As part of the agreement, Kolosov's destinations for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 season are now at the Flyers' full discretion. For example, the Flyers can assign Kolosov to the Phantoms for the entire 2024-25 season if they so choose. In Michkov's case, it'd be the NHL or KHL only.
Flyers scout Ken Hoodikoff, Canadian by birth but living and working year-round scouting in the Russian Federation, enjoys a strong reputation for trustworthiness on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. He is also fully bilingual. That has helped the Flyers in terms of maintaining a boots-on-the-ground communications foothold in Russian hockey.
The situation with Ivan Fedotov, who is now finally with the Flyers, was a separate and even more complicated matter that is still shrouded in secrecy. However, all that matters now -- after such a development seemed extremely unlikely not all that long ago -- is that Fedotov is a Flyer and is under contract for the next two seasons.
Specific to the 2024 NHL Draft and beyond, it seems that the Flyers needn't be scared off when there's a player of interest. They have avenues for getting agreements done, and the patience to see the complicated processes through.
Specific to Michkov, are there any guarantees he'll be in the NHL in 2024-25? No. Is there reason for cautious optimism? Yes.
If that's not how it plays out immediately, is there reason for hope that he could be a Flyer by 2025-26 and, at worst, for 2026-27? Yes, those chances seem very strong.
2) The best-of-five Atlantic Division semifinal series between the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Hershey Bears gets underway this evening. Game 1 at the Giant Center in Hershey is slated for a 7:05 p.m. EDT puck drop. An in-depth series preview will go live on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com on Wednesday morning.
3) The annual Snider Hockey Celebrity bartender event at the Great American Pub in Wayne, PA, is also tonight (5 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT). Tickets are sold out. All tip money collected at the end of the night and ticket sales directly benefit under-resourced youth enrolled in Snider’s education, hockey, life skills and scholarship programming.
A host of Flyers Alumni and local media personalities will be attending. Somehow, for the third straight year, I am among the participant roll call (if I'm a celebrity, it's of the "Z List" variety, with apologies to my old friend Craig Prendergast for stealing his pro wrestling manager moniker). But there are plenty of legit local sports celebrities who will be there.
4) Today in Flyers History: May 1
* 1975: Bobby Clarke's overtime goal lifts the Flyers to a 5-4 overtime win over the New York Islanders in Game 2. The defending Stanley Cup champions take a 2-0 lead in the series.
* 1980: After losing Game 1 of the Stanley Cup semis against the Minnesota North Stars, the Flyers strike back for a 7-0 blowout win in Game 2. Phil Myre stops all 27 shots he faces. Seven different Philadelphia players tally one goal apiece: Paul Holmgren (PPG), Bill Barber (SHG), Bobby Clarke (PPG), Bob Dailey (PPG), Brian Propp (PPG), Al Hill, and Reggie Leach. Barber enjoys a three-point night (1g, 2a).
* 2003: In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series between the Flyers and the Ottawa Senators, Michal Handzus scores the game's only goal at 17:06 of the first period. Roman Cechmanek makes the skinny lead stand up the rest of the way, earning a 28-save shutout to tie the series at two games apiece. Although Cechnmanek was remembered more for playoff meltdowns than excellence, it should be noted that in the 2002 and 2003 playoff series the Flyers played against Ottawa, Cechmanek never received more than two goals of support in any game. The Flyers lone win in 2002 was a 1-0 overtime win (Ruslan Fedotenko scored the winning goal). In 2003, the Flyers claimed a 2-0 win in Game 2 and this 1-0 win in the fourth game.
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