Matvei Michkov, Russian Flyers Teammates Barred from 2026 Winter Olympics

Flyers star Matvei Michkov will have to wait a little longer for his first taste of the Olympics. (Photo: Jerome Miron, Imagn Images)

Pending official announcement, Russia has been barred from the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, meaning Philadelphia Flyers players like Matvei Michkov, Ivan Fedotov, Egor Zamula, and Nikita Grebenkin will be ineligible to play.

Latvian news outlet Sportacentrs first reported this news, in addition to Hockey News Hub.

"At the annual Congress of the International Hockey Federation (IIHF) in Stockholm (...) it was decided that, on the basis of correspondence between IIHF and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the aggressor Russia will not take part in the 2026 Milan and Cortina d'Ampeco Winter Olympics hockey tournament, Sportacentrs has learned," the report says.

"Aggressor countries Russia and Belarus were not previously admitted to IIHF tournaments until the summer of 2025. The decision to allow further aggressors to the forthcoming Olympics was taken at the 2025 IIHF Congress in Stockholm. Thus, the place in the Olympics as the team in the next rank has been guaranteed by France."

Fedotov, 28, was already banned from international competitions for three years, including the Olympic Games, as sanctioned by the IIHF for breaching a valid contract with the Flyers while playing for CSKA Moskva in the KHL.

The 6-foot-8 goalie previously represented Russia in the Olympics in 2022, posting a 4-2-0 record in six games, a .943 save percentage, and two shutouts, starting his run by blanking Switzerland and Denmark with 33- and 16-save efforts, respectively.

After the Olympics, Fedotov was forcefully conscribed into military service whilst planning to join the Flyers, causing the chain reaction that ultimately culminated in his international ban.

Michkov, 20, has never represented Russia at the senior level in his fledgling career, though he did have nine goals, five assists, and 14 points in nine games during the Youth Olympic Games in 2020 en route to winning a Gold Medal.