Flyers have long-term plan, content to wait 3 years for Michkov

NASHVILLE --Matvei Michkov sat on a podium in a Philadelphia Flyers hat and jersey, talking about how thrilled he was that the Flyers had selected him No. 7 in the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday.

He talked about his father, Andrei, who taught him how to score goals and died at age 51 in Russia in early April.

"It's important for me to finish the goal that my dad had for me," Michkov said via a translator, "and that's to win the Stanley Cup."

In that moment, Michkov didn't seem like a mystery -- a high-risk, high-reward prospect. He seemed like an 18-year-old forward with elite talent and a desire to succeed in the NHL. It felt like the Flyers, beginning a rebuild, looking for a future star, got lucky.

"We took a big swing, but we hope that this turns out to be a home run," Flyers general manager Daniel Briere said. "Time will tell. It's a little early, but we feel when he's ready to come (to the NHL), he could really be a difference-maker, and that's the risk that we were willing to take, to wait a little bit to hopefully have a difference-maker on our hands."

RELATED: [More 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft coverage | Draft 1st-round results, analysis]

Questions swirled around Michkov leading up to the draft. He didn't speak English. He played in Russia, making him difficult to scout live due to the war in Ukraine. He had signed with SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League through 2025-26, meaning he couldn't play in the NHL until 2026-27. His father had died amid "unexplained circumstances," according to the Russian Ice Hockey Federation on Twitter on April 4.

But some experts ranked him behind only center Connor Bedard, whom the Chicago Blackhawks selected No. 1 on Wednesday. TSN draft analyst Craig Button compared Michkov to soccer star Lionel Messi, calling him an "elite striker."

"When Lionel Messi gets into the scoring area, he's dangerous, and you better know where he is," Button said. "Matvei as a hockey player is very similar. He's probing. He's looking to exploit opportunities. But when they come, he's, like, lightning quick."

Quick with his mind. Quick with his hands. There's the puck, and boom, it's in the net.

"That, to me, is a striker," Button said. "I think the hardest thing to do in the National Hockey League is score goals, and he does that. I would argue that he's the second-best goal-scorer in this draft after Connor Bedard."

Briere said the Flyers met with Michkov twice. The first time, they met with him in a small group and were blown away. When those in the meeting tried to explain it to the rest of the staff, they struggled to convince everyone, so they brought him back for a second time. Again, they were blown away.

"We grilled him," Briere said. "We asked him some really tough questions, and we were satisfied with the answers we got. Now, you never know. You never know for sure. But we had a good feeling."

Michkov said he wanted to play in the NHL and his dream was to win the Cup. Asked if he was afraid to play in Philadelphia, he said he wanted to play for the Flyers. He wanted to play in a hockey market.

"We want people that are not afraid to play in Philadelphia, because let's face it, it's not always an easy place to play," Briere said. "It can be very special when you deliver and you play with passion. [The fans] respect that. But not everybody is up to that challenge. For Matvei, it was pretty cool to see him respond."

Briere said Michkov's contract situation didn't scare the Flyers. Briere doesn't want to send the message that they don't care about being competitive over the next three seasons. But as they rebuild, they can wait for a player of his caliber, and he should be more mature and ready for the NHL in 2026-27.

Briere said the Flyers didn't think Michkov would be available at No. 7. They tried to trade up and failed, and when he fell to them, they felt it was a gift.

"We don't have anybody like him in the organization," Briere said. "We've talked for how many years now about how we needed to bring more skill, more talent, to our team. This was a great opportunity to hopefully develop a player than can play kind of that role for us."

Michkov said all the right things in his media interviews afterward.

"Everybody that knows me knows I hate losing," Michkov said via a translator. "I'm going to do whatever I have to, I'm going to work as hard as I have to, to make a big impact in Philadelphia."

When will he come to the NHL?

"To be honest, I can't say for sure," he said. "I do have a contract. But I'm hoping as soon as I can get out, I'm going to be coming over."

What about the rebuild?

"I guess," he said, "that means we're going to start winning when I get here."