Nashville hosted the 61st NHL Draft

The current NHL Rookie Draft has been extremely interesting due to the large number of surprises. This is not the case with number one, which, of course, was Canadian phenom Connor Bedard, who went to the Chicago Blackhawks. But, for example, at one time Russian forward Matvey Michkov, who was quoted almost on the same level as Bedard, was chosen seventh by the Philadelphia Flyers, later by compatriot Dmitry Simashev: the Arizona Coyotes got the defender.

In North America, of course, they are sure that this draft, held in Nashville, will be remembered years later primarily thanks to Connor Bedard. About this forward, who has not even turned 18 yet, there has long been something like a general consensus: the NHL has not acquired such a bright talent since at least 2015. Back then, the Edmonton Oilers were lucky to pick first, and went to Bedard’s namesake Connor McDavid, who had just picked up his third career Hart Trophy, the MVP of the season, thanks to his phenomenal goalscoring and scoring performance. Bedard, who scored 23 points in seven World Youth Championship games six months ago and scored 143 points in 52 games for his junior team, the Regina Pats, has long been the leader in the pre-draft rankings, and imagine that the Chicago Blackhawks will pass past your happiness, it was impossible. “Chicago” did not pass. And now he will hope that with the help of Bedard he will get out of the hole in which he has been for several years. But then, after “Chicago” called the name of himself, as he was characterized by ESPNthe hype of newcomers, surprises began.

In general, few of the experts doubted that Bedard’s compatriot Adam Fantilli would go under the second number. But the Anaheim Ducks did not take him, but the Swede Leo Karlsson, and Fantilli went at number three to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

However, castling is not so intriguing. In the end, we are talking about players of the same type – tall, skillful center forwards, who, towards the end of spring, played in their senior teams at the Finnish-Latvian World Cup.

Much more curious is the situation with Matvey Michkov. Michkov, at about the same time that Canada found out about the existence of the amazingly gifted schoolboy Connor Bedard, made Russian hockey observers talk about him. At the beginning of this decade, he set performance records at youth and junior top tournaments, and in the fall of 2021 he even got into the national team, albeit in an experimental squad for the Eurotour. The entry was not formal. At the Finnish Karjala Cup, the striker played sharply, and scored the puck against the Swedes with the help of an exquisite and brazen trick called “lacrosse”, which is rarely seen at the highest level. At the heart of SKA, the KHL giant, he did not manage to gain a foothold in any way, but last season’s transfer to Sochi on loan made it possible to make sure that, having enough playing time and trust from coaches, Michkov can be extremely effective in the domestic league. For Sochi, he played 27 meetings and scored 20 points in them.

For some time in the classification of the Central Scout Bureau, Matvey Michkov was the first of the Europeans, and some North American analysts suggested that he could compete in the draft even with Connor Bedard. But Michkov was eventually selected only seventh.

True, it is possible that the fall happened for reasons unrelated to the perception of Matvey Michkov’s abilities by NHL club managers. Almost all North American media outlets covering the Nashville Draft pointed to the fact that Michkov’s contract with SKA will run until 2026. And this is too transparent a hint that he is going to spend three more seasons in the KHL. And the NHL clubs do not like to wait and, other things being equal, they give an advantage to those who are ready to join them right now.

At the same time, Matvey Michkov himself did not at all look like a man killed by the fact that his draft number did not match the quotes. On the contrary, those who watched the draft ceremony could not help but notice the enthusiasm with which he met the choice of Philadelphia: there was a kiss of the club emblem. It even turned out that Michkov has been sympathetic to this team for a long time, and she, judging by the words of her general manager Daniel Brier, is Michkov. Brier admitted that he knew about the striker’s contract with SKA, but considered that “you can’t pass by such a talent.” So it seems that the union is based on mutual love.

In the prestigious first round of the draft, a total of four Russians were selected: defense player Mikhail Gulyaev from Avangard Omsk became 31st, penultimate, in which the Colorado Avalanche went, and two hockey players from the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv system – forward Daniil Booth and defender Dmitry Simashev – found themselves much higher. Both were secured by Arizona, which had two choices at once: Buta – 12th, and Simashev, who managed to surprise with a discreet but reasonable game plus a decent knowledge of English, was even sixth. That is, the player, on whom no one bet as one of the potential leaders of the draft, outran even the undisputed prodigy Michkov.

Alexey Dospekhov