Prospect Profiles: Michkov has filled up the net wherever he's played

The NHL draft lottery is May 8, with the Blue Jackets -- who finished with the second-worst record in the league -- guaranteed a top-four pick, including a 13.5-percent chance at No. 1 overall.

With that in mind, BlueJackets.com is taking this week to profile five players -- Connor Bedard, Leo Carlsson, Adam Fantilli, Matvei Michkov and Will Smith -- who will be in the mix to be chosen by the Jackets wherever they fall.

Of course, everyone has different opinions about the draft, and these five players aren't guaranteed to be at the top of the list being produced by general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and his scouting staff. But in looking around at pre-draft projections, Bedard, Carlsson, Fantilli, Michkov and Smith generally are seen by draft observers as the cream of the crop of this year's very deep class, as well as players who all will be high-end NHLers in the years to come.

The other profiles can be read below.

Connor Bedard | Leo Carlsson | Adam Fantilli | Will Smith

Matvei Michkov: The Vitals

Position: Right Wing

Age:18 (Born Dec. 9, 2004)

Height/Weight:5-10, 172

Hometown: Perm, Russia

The Accomplishments

• Ranked the No. 2 international skater available by NHL Central Scouting after posting a 9-11-20 line in 30 games this past season with Sochi and SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL.
• Notched all 20 points in 27 games with Sochi after a midseason loan designed to get him more playing time.
• His 0.67 points per game is the best-ever for a KHL prospect in their draft eligible season, besting Vladimir Tarasenko (0.57) and Artemi Panarin (0.45).
• Also compiled 10 goals and 14 points in 12 games this past season with SKA-Neva, the top minor league team in the SKA system.
• Had 22 goals and 38 points in 22 games in 2021-22 with SKA-1946, the junior level team for SKA St. Petersburg, then added 13 goals in 17 playoff games.
• Scored 35 goals and posted 52 points in 50 games in 2020-21 with SKA-1946.
• Had three goals in two games at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship before the event was postponed because of COVID concerns.
• Scored eight goals and added 13 points in five games at the prestigious 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup U-18 tournament.
• Posted 12 goals and 16 points in seven games to lead all scorers at the 2021 IIHF World Under-18 Championship.

The Hype

If you want to know why there's been so much talk about Michkov, go back to the last bullet point above.

Twelve goals in seven games at an international U-18 event is impressive enough on its face, but it stands out even more when you consider who Michkov beat out for the tournament lead. Second with nine goals was Shane Wright, the Canadian standout a year older than Michkov who went fourth overall in the 2022 draft.

Then there was the player in third place -- Bedard, the presumed No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft, who posted seven goals in seven games.

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It was a stacked tournament, to be sure, and Michkov pulled away from everyone. He has a unique, world-class talent to put the puck in the net, and as a result, he'll likely be one of the top picks in the June draft.

"For the last few years, I've described Michkov as a genius-level hockey player," FloHockey prospects analyst Chris Peters wrote in his midseason evaluation of Michkov. "His sense for the game is among the best I've seen since I've been evaluating prospects. Bedard might be the best goal scorer, but Michkov is not terribly far behind. What makes Michkov special is that he's always thinking a step ahead. He uses his creativity to find space, but just about everything he does is intentional and net-driven.

"The quickness with which he figures out how he needs to get open or how he can best position a shot is at an elite level. In addition to processing the game at such a high rate, Michkov also has the hands, and the shot, to execute with precision."

In the summer of 2021, the Michkov vs. Bedard debate looked like it would be the one that would shape the 2023 draft, but a lot has happened since then. Michkov was clearly too good for the junior and minor league levels in the KHL, but he struggled cracking the lineup with a championship-level SKA team loaded with former NHLers and Russian stars and eventually was loaned to Sochi just to get him playing time.

Watch: Youtube Video

Though Michkov had plenty of success there, there are some other off-ice situations teams must navigate. First off, reports indicate he has signed a contract with SKA that will keep him there though the 2025-26 season, or three more years down the road, so he likely won't be able to provide immediate help to an NHL team no matter his skill. In addition, the death of his father during April is an unfortunate cap on what had been an impressive season in the KHL.

While there are some complicating factors, then, with Michkov, one thing that most people don't doubt is his ability to make a big-time impact as a goal scorer at the NHL level.

"It has been challenging to get the scouting evaluations with Russian players," NHL Central Scouting vice president Watch: Youtube Video. "If you're strictly evaluating the on-ice play, then Michkov is one of the elite players in this draft class. He has the potential to be in the conversation as one of the elite players of this decade, same as Connor Bedard. If you factor in a healthy and stronger player, Michkov will be able influence games and have a similar impact on the scoreboard as Bedard. They both have their own unique styles of attack when they have the puck, they are offensive threats and they're both exciting players to watch."