After some tough negotiations, the Philadelphia Flyers appear to be close to getting top prospect Matvei Michkov to join the NHL this season.
It was first reported by Hockey News Hub, then confirmed by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, that a deal was close to being done.
Friedman reported last month that the Flyers and Michkov were trying to avoid a noisy negotiation, with the Russian forward still having one year left on his deal with SKA St. Petersburg.
As Sportsnet's Jeff Marek reports, the next step for the Flyers and Michkov on top of getting a contract done is getting a visa done.
The Flyers drafted Michkov with the seventh pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. It was expected that he would not be available to join the NHL until the 2026-27 season due to his contractual obligations with SKA St. Petersburg. However, reports from Russia in recent weeks suggested that Michkov might be available to the Flyers as soon as next season.
The 29-year-old spent the last two seasons playing with Sochi, which is affiliated with SKA. In 47 games during the 2023-24 season, he scored 19 goals and 41 points.
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.