Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images
Bobby Clarke didn’t win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year. Neither did Bill Barber, Eric Lindros, Brian Propp, Ron Hextall or Claude Giroux.
Or any of the standout rookies who played for the Philadelphia Flyers.
But 19-year-old phenom Matvei Michkov might buck the trend.
The Russian right winger could become the first Flyer to ever win the Calder, and if the season’s first five weeks are any indication, Michkov will be a strong contender for the award.
Heading into Wednesday, Michkov led NHL rookies in goals (six) and points (15) while playing in 17 games. He was one point ahead of Dallas Stars right winger Logan Stankoven. Those two players, along with Calgary goalie Dustin Wolf (7-2-1 record, 2.36 goals-against average, .925 save percentage) and Macklin Celebrini (four goals, five points in eight games), are the early rookie of the year front-runners.
Barber, a Hall of Fame player who is a senior advisor with the Flyers, says Michkov is mature beyond his years.
High Compete Level
“He is really exceptional,” Barber said the other night before watching the Flyers host Colorado at the Wells Fargo Center. “His vision on the ice and his compete level are really high. He sees a lot of things that a lot of hockey players don’t see, and he’s not afraid of traffic. He goes to the areas where you have to get a little bit dirty to succeed.”
Michkov, who has become particularly dangerous (and creative) behind the goal line, became the youngest player in the Flyers’ history to score an overtime goal when he sent Ottawa to a 5-4 defeat Thursday with a shot from a crazy angle. He has been especially effective on the power play.
“The game has changed today as far as blocking shots (more frequently) and stickwork,” Barber said. “Teams take away the passing lanes, but he seems to find ways to get the puck where he wants it.”
Michkov has thrived after being benched for two games by coach John Tortorella. Since then, he has collected two goals and five points over his last four games.
‘Part Of The Process’
“Just part of the process,” Tortorella said of the benchings, adding he was “trying to help him.”
Tortorella loves Michkov’s competitiveness and fiery play but wants him to be more responsible on the defensive end.
Barber wasn’t surprised by how Michkov responded to being a healthy scratch. He says Michkov is a special player with a high hockey IQ and a unique on-ice presence.
For the Flyers, Michkov, drafted No. 7 overall in 2023, is breaking the mold. Many players they have selected in the first round over the last decade have been, well, underwhelming.
Jay O’Brien, Nolan Patrick, German Rubtsov and Samuel Morin were busts. Patrick and Morin never reached their potential because of injuries.
If the Flyers ever want to become Stanley Cup contenders, they need emerging players they once drafted – guys like Tyson Foerster, Cam York, Joel Farabee and Michkov – to become stars.
Related: NHL Calder Trophy Tracker: Stankoven, Michkov And Hutson In Dead Heat, But Celebrini Lurks
Living Up To The Hype
More than any of them, Michkov looks like he will live up to the hype. And maybe, just maybe, he will break the Flyers’ rookie-of-the-year jinx.
Barber came close to winning the award after accumulating 30 goals and 64 points in 69 games in 1972-73, but he was beaten out by the Rangers’ Steve Vickers, who had 30 goals and 53 points in 61 games.
Was that disappointing to Barber, a player who went on and had a much better career than Vickers?
“No, it really wasn’t,” he said all these years later. “I was just excited to play. I wasn’t concerned with any awards or any of that. I was fortunate enough to make the team, and I knew what direction the team was going to go – we were a good team, and we had a chance to win the championship, and we did the following year.
“But as far as awards go, it never felt disappointing. If anything, it gave me more incentive to do better… I think in our era, if we had the money, we would have paid the team to play for them. It was a dream for me to play. All I focused on was hockey.”
When you have a blockbuster Russian talent, he can’t just NOT have a prodigious Canadian adversary—but who in the current pool of unreal young NHL talent could be the thorn in Michkov’s side for years to come? Read more on @TheHockeyNews ⬇️https://t.co/fyrEvm7QQ6
— Siobhan Nolan (@SGNolan) November 13, 2024
As for Michkov, he will have his first head-to-head meeting against Chicago’s Connor Bedard, last year’s Calder winner, on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center. Bedard went No. 1 in the 2023 NHL draft. Michkov was generally regarded as the second-best player in that draft, but he slipped to the Flyers at No. 7, in part because he wasn’t expected to leave Russia’s KHL until 2026.
Saturday’s meeting will stir memories of the early Alex Ovechkin-Sidney Crosby rivalry, and it could prove to be a matchup of the last two Calder winners.
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