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Matvei Michkov: the Ducks could cause a surprise

 Manuel Sperandio-Lemay
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Matvei Michkov: the Ducks could cause a surprise

I don’t know about you, but I’m really looking forward to the draft. The first round is a week away… and it’s about time.

After all, as much as I love the speculation game, I figure it’s starting to be time to get some answers to our questions. After all, there are many scenarios on the table.

At the CH, we know that the club could go up, down or draft at its rank.

And from there, they could take a prospect who isn’t in the top five, or they might have to take a lower-quality player (in a manner of speaking, of course) if they want to avoid Matvei Michkov.

Because, in reality, he’s the one who derails the speculation. Everyone’s bluffing, up to a point, on this issue.

His talent may be immense, but at the end of the day, there are so many red flags that the club that takes him on is going to risk a lot. It’s nothing new here, we agree.

What we do know is that the Blackhawks aren’t going to pick him. After all, the draft will become interesting by the time Bedard inevitably dons his Chicago jersey.

The Blue Jackets seem to want a center. I don’t expect to see the Russian come out at #3.

The name of the Sharks (4) sometimes comes up in discussions. The Capitals (8) must be the favoriteright now… and I refuse to take the Coyotes (6 and 12) out of the conversation.

The Canadiens? Forget it. If he lands in Montreal, I expect to see Kent Hughes drop everything to become the world poker champion.

There’s a world out there where other clubs who draft near the end of the top-10 (Flyers, Red Wings or Blues) decide to take a chance on Michkov. After all, talent-wise, it’s worth it.

But Jeff Mark asks us to keep an eye on the Ducks, who have the second speaking slot of the session next week. He did so during the most recent episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast.

Jeff Marek isn’t saying it will happen for sure. What he is saying is that in talking to people, he realized that Pat Verbeek, who is in charge of the Ducks, learned from Steve Yzerman.

And Stevie Y, he has a reputation for doing what he wants to do without worrying too much about other people’s opinions. #MortizSeider

What this means is that if Verbeek feels the best move to make is to draft Michkov, he’ll do it. It’s really not impossible for that to happen, by the way.

Even if the Russian doesn’t arrive until 2026. After all, the Ducks’ GM has a free hand…


In bursts

– No wonder.

– The big question.

– We get along.

– Ouch.

– The CH must make room for Sean Monahan. [BPM Sports]

– Helpful.

– Beautiful photo.

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