Conor Bedard has been ranked the best player in the 2023 draft class for years at this point. Despite his generational potential, Bédard’s name didn’t get the majority of word of mouth leading up to the first round in Nashville this week.
This distinction instead belongs to a player who, in the recent past, was thought to rival Bedard’s level, Matvey Michkov. From potentially navigating the draft process until being picked by a certain team to potentially falling onto the draft board, the Russian phenomenon has owned the headlines.
the 32 Podcast Ideas Elliot Friedman and Jeff Marek had drafters Sam Cosentino and Jason Bukala on hand in their last episode on monday. Talking about Michkov and the Washington capitals was of course a hot topic of conversation.
Friedman and Marek started hard, asking both men how far they thought Meshkov would fall and which team they thought he would lead.
Cosentino immediately replied, “Washington.”
The quick answer is interesting as Cosentino has a history of being able to say where “Question Mark” prospects will end up in the draft. Back in 2016, it is He neatly taunted Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Columbus Blue Jackets on third down Which was, at the time, considered an entirely out of the box selection.
Friedman immediately followed up by asking if Meshkov would make it to eighth place overall. “Yes,” Cosentino replied just as quickly.
Bokala was less confident. He raised two team picks before Washington as a potential landing site for the young winger. “I’m not sure” began. “for me, [as a general manager] You must be very confident in your contractual position, the support of your ownership group, and the long road ahead. i five [only] I have over a year left on my contract and it will take a lot of creative work for me to draft Myshkov because I am not likely to see the player unless our team makes a big leap and we have a lot of success.
“So, I look at Montreal and they’re full of prospects,” he continued. “We also know their management group will be there for a while. So you can take a risk because you don’t have to drop this player in your system tomorrow. They can wait three years. I’m kind of curious about Arizona. It’s going to muddy the waters but they have [the 6th and 12th overall picks] And they have a large number of absolute opportunities. They can wait forever on this guy. From an asset management perspective, if you recruit him and he never comes to you and he is that elite in Europe, you transfer him later.”
According to a report by Frank Serravalle of the Daily Vesuvthe Canadiens are one of the teams slated to meet Meshkov in the draft.
Cosentino did not disagree with Bukala’s assessment, particularly regarding coyotes.
“You made a great point and I’ve said it publicly before,” he added. “With a 6-and-12 pick you still get a really good 12-year-old plus they don’t even have a home for probably three years. He definitely fits into the schedule contractually.”
In early May, Cosentino and Puccala Collaborated on a pilot project for Sportsnet. In this faux pas, the duo has the Coyotes spin a different wing name in sixth overall at Zachary Benson of the Winnipeg Ice. Then they have the Philadelphia Flyers, Who apparently sniff around Michkovplucking the first defenseman off the board in David Reinbacher.
While Bukala initially played devil’s advocate for Cosentino’s legion, he admitted there was likely no chance of Mitchkov falling after the hats off. Indeed, in His draft photo was published on Monday He and the 18-year-old ended up in DC.
“As a matter of fact, the politics of the game will take over there,” Bukalla said. “This kid is going to end up in Washington playing sooner rather than later because Ovi will be involved and the people in Russia who have a long history with the Capitals are there. We all know that. He’ll be here sooner rather than later. This contract doesn’t matter for the right team.”
Michkov’s KHL contract with SKA Saint Petersburg runs through the 2025-26 season. There is clear evidence that some teams, especially the one with the greatest Russian player of all time, have a hand in dealing with that bureaucracy.
Just last month, the Capitals managed to take out Ivan Miroshnichenko, their 2022 first-round draft pick, from the KHL a year early and sign him to his entry-level contract.
A similar story can play out with Mechkov.
The 2023 NHL Draft kicks off with the first round on June 28 at 7 p.m. ET. Rounds two through seven follow the next day beginning at 11 a.m. ET.
Banner photo: Alan Dobbins / RMNB
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