“SKA went to meet Michkov, hockey players remember this kind of attitude” – Ryabykin

Former Russian national hockey team player Dmitry Ryabykin gave a positive assessment of SKA’s decision to release forward Matvey Michkov to the NHL club Philadelphia Flyers.

On Tuesday, SKA announced Michkov’s departure to the NHL, where he will join Philadelphia, which drafted him seventh overall in 2023. His KHL rights are assigned to the St. Petersburg club.

— SKA did the right thing by letting Michkov go to Philadelphia. They accommodated the player — hockey players remember this kind of attitude, this is how an image is created that you can’t buy for any amount of money.

Matvey was given many chances in SKA, he was played in for two off-seasons in a row, but in the end, more experienced hockey players won the competition and took places in the first two lines. This summer, history would most likely have repeated itself. Now Michkov is definitely not stronger than Gritsyuk, Tolchinsky, Khairullin, Grigorenko. It would be incredibly difficult for him to surpass such masters, almost impossible to break into the top 6. With all due respect, SKA is not Sochi, where Matvey had complete carte blanche, – “Championship” quotes Ryabykin as saying.

Last season, Michkov played on loan for Sochi, where he played 47 matches and scored 41 points (19 goals and 22 assists).