Draft experts on Washington Capitals selecting Matvei Michkov in first round: ‘That contract doesn’t matter for the right team’
Connor Bedard has been labeled as the best player in the 2023 draft class for years at this point. Despite his potential generational talent, Bedard’s name has not been getting a majority of the talk leading up to the first round in Nashville this week.
That distinction instead belongs to a player who was thought in the recent past to rival Bedard’s level, Matvei Michkov. From possibly navigating the draft process so he is selected by a specific team to potentially falling down the draft board, the Russian phenom has owned the headlines.
The 32 Thoughts Podcast’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek had draft experts Sam Cosentino and Jason Bukala on their most recent episode on Monday. Talk about Michkov and the Washington Capitals was of course a hot topic of conversation.
Friedman and Marek started off blunt, asking both men how far down they believe Michkov will fall and which team they thought would be taking him.
“Washington,” Cosentino almost immediately replied.
The quick answer is intriguing as Cosentino has a history of being able to pin down where certain “question mark” prospects will end up in the draft. Back in 2016, he accurately mocked Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Columbus Blue Jackets at third overall which was, at the time, seen as quite the off the board selection.
Friedman promptly followed up by asking if Michkov would even get to the Caps’ at eighth overall. “Yes,” Cosentino replied just as quick.
Bukala was less confident. He brought up two teams that select ahead of Washington as possible landing spots for the young winger. “I’m not so sure,” he started. “For me, [as a general manager] you have to be very confident in your contractual situation, the support of your ownership group, and the long road ahead. If I’ve [only] got a year-plus left on my contract, it’s gonna take a lot of cahoolies for me to draft Michkov because I’m not likely going to see the player unless our team takes a leap and we have a lot of success.
“So, I look at Montreal and they’re flush with prospects,” he continued. “We also know that their management group is going to be there awhile. So, you can take that risk because you don’t have to have that player dropping into your system tomorrow. They can wait that out three years. I’m kinda curious on Arizona. It’s gonna muddy the waters but they have [the 6th and 12th overall picks] and they have an absolute boatload of prospects. They can wait forever on this guy. From an asset management perspective, if you draft him and he never comes over to you and he’s that elite in Europe, you move him later on.”
According to a report from the Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, the Canadiens are one of the teams scheduled to meet with Michkov at the draft.
Cosentino did not disagree with Bukala’s assessment, particularly in regard to the Coyotes.
“You make a great point and I’ve said that too publicly before,” he added. “With pick 6 and 12 you’re still going to get a really good player at 12 plus they don’t even really have a home probably for three years. It does fit the timeline contractually for sure.”
In early May, Cosentino and Bukala collaborated on a mock draft for Sportsnet. In that mock, the duo has the Coyotes circling a different winger’s name at sixth overall in Zachary Benson of the Winnipeg Ice. They then have the Philadelphia Flyers, who are apparently sniffing around Michkov, plucking the first defenseman off the board in David Reinbacher.
While Bukala at first did play a bit of devil’s advocate to Cosentino’s certainty, he did admit that there is likely zero chance that Michkov falls past the Caps. In fact, in his own mock draft posted on Monday he has the 18-year-old ending up in DC.
“As a matter of fact, the politics of the game will take over there,” Bukala said. “That kid will be over in Washington playing sooner than later because Ovi will be involved and the people in Russia that the Capitals have a long history there with. We all know that. He’ll be over here sooner than later. That contract doesn’t matter for the right team.”
Michkov’s KHL contract with SKA St. Petersburg runs through the 2025-26 season. There is definite evidence that some teams, especially the one with the greatest Russian player of all time, have a leg up on others in terms of dealing with that bureaucracy.
The Capitals, just last month, were able to get Ivan Miroshnichenko, their 2022 first-round draft selection, out of his KHL contract a year early and sign him to his entry-level deal.
A similar story could play out with Michkov.
The 2023 NHL Draft kicks off with the first round on June 28 at 7 pm ET. Rounds two-seven follow the next day starting at 11 am ET.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
Source: Russian Machine Never Breaks
