Habs Prospects
Canadiens Could Solve Organizational Weakness By Drafting Michkov
The Montreal Canadiens are blessed with a very deep prospect pool.
It’s a significant development for a team that struggled to produce legitimate NHLers for the better part of two decades.
However, if there’s one legitimate concern regarding the future generation of Canadiens players it’s that very few of the prospects project to be star players.
The theory was confirmed by draft expert Byron Bader, who ranked all 32 NHL teams’ prospect pool strength.
(You can click here to find out more information about Bader’s rankings.)
NHL TEAM PROSPECT POOL STRENGTH RANKINGS (MAY 2023)https://t.co/3dTWjbctmd pic.twitter.com/zrXxRhBWw8
— Byron Bader (@ByronMBader) May 1, 2023
Simply put, despite ranking third according to the rankings, the Canadiens; prospect pool is populated by potential depth players rather than prospects that have star potential.
Another way of looking at it is for every Lane Hutson in the system, there are a handful of players that are unlikely to play a significant role in the NHL.
It’s an issue that is also present in the current Canadiens lineup, as evidenced by the team’s inability to generate scoring chances whenever Cole Caufield or Kirby Dach were nursing injuries.
Nick Suzuki can only do so much.
But thankfully for the Canadiens, the upcoming NHL Draft has the potential to solve one of the biggest issues in the organization.
Brass Tacks
Everyone knows about Connor Bedard, however, beyond Bedard, teams will find players that could have gone first overall in another Draft year.
Players like Adam Fantilli, Leo Carlsson, Will Smith, and Zach Benson will serve as great consolation prizes for the teams that miss out on Bedard.
The same can be said about Matvei Michkov.
While the majority of the focus has been centred on external factors, including his KHL contract and the invasion of Ukraine, however, when it comes to pure talent, few have Michkov beat.
Michkov is overflowing with elite skill, precisely what the Canadiens need most to push their prospect pool from good to great.
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Michkov weighs a buck 50 soaking wet. I have no issues with players on the lighter side, but come on! He’d get cleaned in the NHL. For that reason, I don’t see him as becoming “elite”. I’d pass on him.
Not concerned at all about the lack of “star projection”. #3 on that list is fantastic! The chances that all these predictions come true are 1 in a million. Half will surprise to the upside, and half will disappoint to the downside. Gally, by all accounts, should have been a bottom tier NHL player. He became much more than that, and if it weren’t for injuries, he would have had even better career numbers as a top 6 winger.
Dump that stupid chart…
That kind of logic got the Canadiens Cole Caufield; who was 153 lbs in his draft year.
Michkov dominated on NHL-sized rinks in the KHL at age 17.
If you’ve ever watched him play, you’d see he can play against big boys and handle himself quite well in the corners.
Not sure about that. CC is currently listed as 174 lbs. That means his small frame put on 21 lbs of weight in the past three years? I doubt that. CC was likely closer to around 160-163 when they drafted him. Mich is currently listed at 148 lbs!!!
Caufield was 162 at the combine in 2019.
He was 155 before the start of the 2018-2019 season.
I see Caufield up close every game and the young man is jacked today.
5’10 170lb at 17yrs old is far from tiny. Caufield is smaller, and he’s 22yrs old.
Mich is currently listed at 148 lbs, not 170. Big difference.
Those measurements are from 18 months ago.
He’s too small, and with all but Dach, Anderson and Armia under 6′, we need skill AND size. Will Smith is who I’d want if top 2 are out. I hope another GM takes MM–I’d rather be sad we missed out than bitter we took ANOTHER smurf
Did Slafkovsky evaporate?
Do the Canadiens have another 1st-round pick or the ability to trade?
You pick elite talent every time.
No, he didn’t evaporate. But for all the talk about his size, he didn’t use it too effectively. He rarely hit anyone. Not much point discussing the size of a guy who gets hit way more than he hits back. Dach and Anderson use their size and play physical.
Hughes said he isn’t scared of 1 sub-6′ player but he’d be scared of 22 of them. If they don’t start drafting for skilled players with size–didn’t see many 6’+ draft picks at forward other than Juraj past 2 drafts–that prophecy will come true.
You know who else didn’t use their size effectively at first? Dach and Armia.
You learn to use your body, especially when coming over the pond.
Having two guys under 5’10 in your top-six doesn’t mean much if they’re star players.
Michkov’s latest team Sochi in the KHL had a cellar dwelling 32 points in 68 games . He joined for the last 27 games and put up 20 points , also with a plus 1 rating although the team had a -112 goal differential.
If the NHL.com and hockey db info is somewhat accurate he must be somewhere between 159-172 lbs , one would think that he’d play in the NHL at least 175-180 lbs . That would put him in the weight class of J Hughes , Marner and Point who finished 12,13, 14 in league scoring. Not bad .
I normally go with the best player available. Having said that, imo, picking MM would be problematic for a # of reasons. He has a contract with the KHL for a few more years so he’s not available right away and with the current Ukraine situation, he might not be available for longer. He’s a skilled player but not a big player. Panarin and Pasternak are similar in build. Great skill and scorers but wouldn’t you sooner have Tkachuk right now? Tkachuk is playing in the 2nd round. Neither Panarin or Pasternak are. P and P make a difference in the regular season. Tkachuk does both. So if CH has a high pick, I’d be more interested in one of the other forwards available. My 2 cents
The Canadiens can only pick 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th or 7th.
With 1st or 2nd we go Bedard Fantilli, but if for any reason Mitchkov is still available at 5, it would be insane not to take him.
I would rather an almost guaranteed Pasternak or Panarin, than a small percent chance at a Tkachuk type player. I don’t think their is any comparison to Tkachuk in the top 5-15 even.
They have a 0.3% chance of picking 3rd.
Michkov and Bedard had about equal ratings at the 2021 world u18s . The Russian won the MVP and scoring title . It’s going to be hard not to take him if we get the chance imo.
I’d be thrilled with Michkov if we don’t win either lottery pick. His contract status in the KHL is of no concern to me. Worse case we have to wait for him and we land another Kaprizov. Best case is we buy his way out of Russia and have him here next year. Either way, we end up with another weapon like Caufield. His size isn’t a concern too much for me. I typically like bigger, tougher players, but we’ve had enough Mike McCarron’s the past 30 years. It’s time to switch it up. I’m old enough to remember the mighty mites years at the turn of the millennium, so I’m very aware that too many little guys doesn’t work, but when it comes to elite players, you have to make exceptions. We can keep Caufield, Hutson and Michkov and use other little guys like Mysak, Mesar, etc for trade bait.
There is zero chance we can buy a player of his apparent skill out of his 3 year deal. With no transfer agreement and the war, he’s going nowhere. I’m concerned about a player who would sign that deal knowing it would take 3 years off a potentially great NHL career to remain in such an inferior league.
3 years with no direct influence on his training his game and adjusting to the smaller ice and harder (by far) schedule.
I hope another GM relieves Hughes of the option.
1) You can have a direct influence on his training (as the Canadiens did with Romanov when he was with CSKA)
2) The KHL is the second-best league in the world; it certainly didn’t hurt Kaprizov to sit there for a while.
3) When he is ready to go, he’s likely coming in as a top-line player ready to dominate on a three-year ELC just as the Canadiens get competitive.
4) Look at all the Russian-born players that have signed in the last four days; there’s no fear whatsoever.
If Mitchkov is available at 5-7, then it’s obviously a no brainer to draft him.
That being said, he will not be available.
Other teams that could draft MM are also rebuilding. The question is if they feel comfortable with their prospect pools to wait 3 years. According to the list above, Columbus, Anaheim and Arizona do. Chicago does not. Besides size, this may be a sticking point for those teams.
It’s the opposite of what the list above is presenting.
Chicago is playing the long game, while the GMs of the Ducks, Sharks and Blue Jackets have indicated that they’d like to take their rebuild to the next step.
If Matvei Michkov fall on the habs turn to pick I’m good with them drafting him, I’ve seen his YouTube highlights this guy is awesome player. If he available you take him.