After a few days of speculation, Matvei Michkov is officially free of his contract in the KHL. St. Petersburg made it official on Tuesday morning with an announcement.
SKA wished him well as he pursues his career in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers who selected him 7th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft.
Matvei Michkov is leaving SKA.
— SKA Ice Hockey Club (@hcSKA_News) June 25, 2024
The forward will join the Philadelphia Flyers. His KHL rights remain with our club.
With SKA, Matvei won the 2022 Kharlamov Cup and became the first player born in 2004 to play for our senior team.
Good luck in the NHL, Matvei! #hcSKA pic.twitter.com/vzpZeWwjyu
Нападающий Матвей Мичков покидает СКА и в межсезонье присоединится к клубу НХЛ «Филадельфия Флайерз». Права на хоккеиста в КХЛ закреплены за петербургским клубом. pic.twitter.com/OREIV1V19a
— Хоккейный клуб СКА (@hcSKA) June 25, 2024
Matvei Michkov's KHL contract is officially terminated by St. Petersburgh
Now, Michkov has to sign his entry-level contract with the Flyers at some point. It should come soon now that his KHL contract has been terminated. This is wonderful news for the Philadelphia Flyers.
They took the patient approach in the 2023 NHL Draft and it is paying off for them. It is paying off for them much sooner than expected too which is nice for them.
Michkov now changes everything for the roster coming into 2024-25. He is a winger who drives offense like no other in their system. Every forward that the Flyers have is going to be so much better just by having this kid around.
There are good players that Philly has developed. That much was shown when the team flirted with making the playoffs in 2023-24 but fell just short. With a few other changes in addition to Michkov, they might be able to get it done in 2024-25.
What is it that makes this kid so good? He helps other players around him get more out of their game because of the things that he does on the ice. The Flyers should see that pay off right away.
If teams knew that he'd be done with St. Petersburg after one year following the draft, he would not have fallen to 7th overall. The Flyers took the risk and it is paying off for them. Now that his contract is terminated, we just await the news that Philly got their deal done.