Philadelphia Flyers GM Danny Briere recently appeared on French-language podcast La Poche Bleue to discuss the current situation between the Flyers organization and high-profile Russian prospect Matvei Michkov, and was unflinchingly honest in where the two parties stand.
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Philadelphia fans have been anxiously awaiting any news regarding when Michkov will be able to come to the United States, as he has taken on cult-hero status among the Flyers faithful. It's not hard to see why—Michkov has proven himself to be a dynamic and skilled forward, and, despite only being 19 years old, looks to possess all of the abilities to be a game-changer within the Flyers.
Briere, of course, is just as excited for Michkov, saying that he "hope[s] very, very much that [Michkov] will show up at some point."
However, this is a complicated situation that transcends simple hockey business. Michkov is under his KHL contract until the 2025-26 season, but with the Russia-Ukraine war still ongoing and political tensions between the U.S. and Russia reaching a fever pitch, Briere admitted that the Flyers haven't had contact with the young forward since he was drafted.
For another team, it might not stoke as much fear and anxiety—sure, it would be frustrating that there's no real timeline for when one of their top prospects could come stateside, but nothing to lose sleep over. In the Flyers' case, though, they've been burned before in losing another top prospect in Cutter Gauthier (who had no contact with Philadelphia not because of intense geopolitical hostilities, but because he just didn't feel like being a Flyer anymore).
Briere acknowledged that it's not the most ideal situation—even going going as far as stating the possibility of Michkov not coming to the NHL at all.
"It's scary sometimes hearing that after Cutter Gauthier," he said. "Listen, we loved [Michkov's] energy when he came to see us after we drafted him. We talked to him a little when he was drafted in Nashville, but since then there has been no contact. We can't really talk to him. He belongs to Saint Petersburg in the KHL. We watch him play a bit like everyone else. We watch the highlights, we watch these games. It's really exciting to know that we have a prospect like that on our team, but we don't know if we are ever going to see him."
Ever? Okay, deep breaths, everybody. It's not as bad as it may sound.
It's important to keep in mind that Briere, despite being a fairly new GM, is a savvy and refreshingly honest businessman. He's calm and cool on the outside, but he's shown that he's capable of making strategic moves behind the scenes that the public won't find out about until he wants them to. It's easy to interpret his quote as confirming Flyers fans' worst fears that they'll never ever ever see Michkov in orange and black, but let's not catastrophize. Briere has to consider every possible outcome when it comes to a prospect of Michkov's caliber—he has to be prepared for every situation.
It's also important to remember that all signs have pointed to Michkov very much wanting to come to Philadelphia. While there isn't any way of knowing for sure what will come of this saga, he hasn't given Flyers fans any reason to doubt his commitment to playing for this organization at the NHL level.
And the former Flyer knows that this city's fans aren't stupid, so he's not going to treat them like they are. He's not going to pretend that everything is sunshine and rainbows when the reality is that this kind of business can get ugly. Briere isn't saying, "Sorry, guys, Michkov is absolutely positively not coming!" He's saying, "I'm keeping it straight with everyone by being honest about the different outcomes that this complex situation could produce."
(After all, Michkov was recently wearing Flyers gear during a workout, remember?)
