Matvei Michkov, the highly anticipated superstar prospect of the Philadelphia Flyers, is preparing to join the team for the 2024-25 season.
Michkov was one of the standout prospects in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft that featured a pool full of potential franchise changers, but he slid to the Flyers at seventh overall because he was under contract with SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League.
Initially, the market expected Michkov to stay in Russia until at least 2026-27. Still, rumours began to swirl near the end of the regular season about the possibility of terminating his contract with SKA.
Pierre LeBrun, citing sources, reported Sunday that sources said SKA would give Michkov his release on Monday. This comes after J.P. Barry and Pat Brisson of CAA Hockey secured the rights to represent Michkov a few weeks ago while working in collaboration with agent Paul Theofanous.
In his draft season, Michkov scored 0.67 points per game, the highest of any draft-eligible prospect to come out of the KHL, or RSL that preceded it, as noted by Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis. Last season, his second on loan at HC Sochi, Michkov scored 19 goals and 41 points in 47 games.
Although he may not be the fastest on the ice nor tallest at just five-foot-10, his puck-moving abilities give him immense potential to create opportunities for himself and his teammates to score. In a draft year without top overall prospect Connor Bedard and an extant pro contract, Michkov may have gone first overall.
Since trading Eric Lindros in 2001, the Flyers have had just one superstar grace their ice in Claude Giroux. Following a rebuilding year, landing Michkov at seventh overall was a steal by general manager Daniel Briere that could fix the franchise’s trajectory.
Michkov will join a team full of stable wingers in Philadelphia headlined by Travis Konecny, who scored 33 goals and 68 points this season, alongside newly-extended sniper Owen Tippett, who recorded 55 goals since 2022, and 20-goal rookie Tyson Forrester.
If Michkov unleashes his full potential, he could carve his name as the next great Flyer and bring the team a new era of success and glory.

Bruins re-sign Ian Mitchell to one year deal

The Boston Bruins further ensured their blueline depth after re-signing defenseman Ian Mitchell to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2024-25 season.
The deal holds a $775,000 cap hit through the 2024-25 season.
Mitchell played 13 games with the Bruins this past season, recording two assists during his stretch from late October until December. The defenceman from St. Albert, Alberta, spent most of the season with the Bruins’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Providence Bruins, recording six goals and 24 points across 42 games. In addition, Mitchell recorded two goals and two assists during the team’s four games in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
The blueliner came to the Bruins organization after being acquired in June 2023 from the Chicago Blackhawks, the team he spent the first three years of his pro career after being drafted in the second round, 57th overall in 2017. Although he appeared in many games with the Rockford Ice Hogs of the AHL, Mitchell was with the Blackhawks for most of the 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons during the team’s rebuild phase.
In 95 NHL games, Mitchell has scored four goals and 14 assists. In 109 games in the AHL, he recorded 19 goals and 47 assists, with an additional six points across nine playoff games.
Mitchell has previously represented his country on a handful of occasions, along with winning gold with Team Canada White at the 2015 Under-17 World Hockey Challenge. He also had the honour of dawning the Maple Lead at the 2017 IIHF Men’s Under-18 World Championship and the 2019 IIHF World Championship.
As a result, the Bruins now have 31 players signed for next season, with over $21 million in projected cap space for next season, according to CapFriendly.

Kings re-sign Alex Turcotte to three-year deal

On Saturday, the Los Angeles Kings announced they re-signed forward Alex Turcotte to a three-year deal with an AAV of $775,000 that runs until the end of the 2026-27 season.
The young centre took a pay cut with his new deal following an entry-level contract with an AAV of $2,144,167, including over $1.55 million in bonus. Turcotte has been with the Kings since being selected as the fifth overall in the 2019 NHL Draft.
Turcotte, coming off his three-year, entry-level contract that saw him have a performance bonus’ of $1.5-million across each season, has none in his new deal. Turcotte was drafted by the Kings fifth overall in the 2019 draft.
The forward played sparingly with L.A. over the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons but saw his opportunities with the Kings increase this past year. Turcotte played in 20 games with the Kings this season, recording four points, and scored his first NHL goal on January 31st against the Nashville Predators.
Turcotte turned pro three years ago after finishing a stint at the NCAA’s University of Wisconsin, and has appeared in just 32 NHL games over that time. Most of his action has come with the AHL’s Ontario Reign, with whom he recorded career highs in goals (10), assists (19) and points (29) across 35 games.
He had a sparkling junior career, winning gold for the United States at the 2017 U17 WHC, silver at that year’s U18s, and bronze in the 2018 U18s. In 2021, he collected a gold medal with the American World Junior team, scoring the tournament’s game-winning goal.
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