Predicting Matvei Michkov’s Next Contract

While the 2026 offseason will be headlined by the super FA class, there is one thing that will have the Flyers attention: Matvei Michkov is eligible for an extension.

Starting July 1st, 2026, Michkov will be eligible to sign his first extension. That sparks an intriguing conversation. Should you pay your young stars early, or give them a bridge deal before their big contract?

With Michkov, it should be a no brainer.

He’ll be 21 years when next offseason rolls around. After a 63 point rookie campaign, he can really push his dollar amount by having another fantastic year.

It may sound crazy, but Flyers should lock him up long term after this season. With the cap only expected rise, extending Michkov early is the smart thing to do.

Predicting Michkov’s Extension

To predict Michkov’s RFA extension, you’d have to look at the others that have been extended this early in their careers.

Recently, Matthew Knies signed a six-year, $46.5 million extension in Toronto. He is 22. Logan Stankoven signed an eight-year, $48 million deal in Carolina at age 22.

While both players signed young extensions, neither player has procured like Michkov has in just one year.

Connor McDavid signed an eight year, $100 million extension with Edmonton when he was 20, back in 2017. The Oilers gave Leon Draisaitl an eight-year, $68 million extension at 21.

While he’s not McDavid, I can see Michkov falling in the group with Draisaitl, Andrei Svechnikov, Tim Stutzle, Kirill Kaprizv, and Matthew Tkachuk, who all signed long-term extensions with AAVs around $8-9 million before they were 22.

Sounds simple, right? Michkov should get a long-term deal with around $8.5-9M AAV.

It gets a little more complicated than that.

With the way the cap is expected to rise, that number could be extremely inflated.

Thus, the RFA extensions of some of the biggest U23 stars in the game could set the tone.

Connor Bedard, Logan Cooley, Leo Carlsson, and Adam Fantilli are all pending RFAs, eligible for an extension.

Depending on the extensions of Bedard and Cooley, Michkov could bring in a fortune.

Term should be as long as possible. Eight years would bring him to age 29. I also predict that AAV will touch eight digits.

So, my prediction for Matvei Michkov’s extension: eight years, $82.5 million.