Matvei Michkov specifically wanted to avoid two NHL teams!
He did not want to be selected by them - and it was a close call!
HockeyFeed
Matvei Michkov was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers with the 7th overall selection in last month’s NHL Draft despite making it hard for several teams to contact him prior to the draft. He was thrilled to be picked by Philadelphia, but recently Sammi Sibler explained how Michkov specifically wanted to avoided getting selected by the Washington Capitals and Arizona Coyotes due to “various” unknown reasons.
It is believed that Michkov positioned himself through his draft interviews to go Philadelphia. There were talks that the Anaheim Ducks strongly considered selecting him second overall before deciding on Leo Carlsson. The Ducks might have felt Michkov’s preference to join the Flyers and wanted to avoid any complications on getting the Russian prospect to come play for them in America.
Michkov is considered one of the best Russian prospects drafted into the NHL since the likes of Alexander Ovechkin. However, it sounds like he did not want to follow into Ovi’s steps and start his NHL career in Washington…
This all sure resonates with reports from an ex-teammate in Russia, claiming that the top prospect “doesn’t listen to anything the veterans tell him, he doesn’t listen to the coaches, he doesn’t hesitate to laugh at them and send them away”, adding “He only does what he wants.”
And he got it comes to avoiding Washington and Arizona…
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