|
In Hainsight: The Canadiens Cannot Afford to Play Russian Roulette |
|
|
|
|
|
Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
There’s no denying that Matvei Michkov is a talented hockey player with plenty of potential, if he had been draft-eligible a couple of years ago, he probably would have gone 2nd overall, straight after Connor Bedard (in this parallel world, Bedard was also available a couple of years ago). But this is not two years ago, and Russia is at war with Ukraine and excluded from international competitions. Whether you like it or not, it’s impossible to separate sports and politics at times and this is one of those times. No matter how talented Michkov is, one fact remains, he is Russian and it’s far from being certain that he’ll be able to come play in North America anytime soon or even ever.
Because of this, it is expected that Michkov will fall in the draft, there’s no telling how far, but it’s very likely he’ll still be available when the Canadiens take to stage, given the fact that they should speak 7th in the worst-case scenario. Should Kent Hughes jump at the chance of drafting him? I don’t think so, no matter how tempting it will be to do so, I believe the Canadiens should stay away from him. Why? Because this pick is much too important to the rebuilt to risk using it on a player that may never be under the team’s control.
A top-5 pick doesn’t come around too often in the NHL and it must be used wisely, especially when a team is undergoing a rebuild. A team that’s already contenting doesn’t need its pick to pan out as badly as a team who’s in the basement and hoping to build through the draft. This year is an exceptionally good year to have a top pick given how deep the prospect pool is and how talented the players are. In a lesser year, it might have been worth it to roll the dice on Michkov, but not this year, not with so much talent ripe for the picking on the draft floor.
Even if Michkov ends up being better than everyone else, what good will that be to the team that drafts him if he never comes over to North America? Last month, days after he was quoted as saying he was looking forward to coming over and playing in the NHL, his father was found dead in mysterious circumstances. Earlier this week, Russian player Valeri Nichuskin left the Avalanche for personal reasons and there’s no word as to when he might be back. Throughout this season, a lot of Russian players have opted out of Pride night events for fear of reprisal imposed by the Russian regime on their family. We don’t live in Russia, we’re not close to the situation, but suffice to say things don’t look good right now for Russian players and coming over to this side of the pond to play looks a lot more complicated than it once did.
It's a shame for Michkov, but I suspect a lot of teams will not be willing to gamble on him right now through no fault of his own and I certainly hope the Canadiens are amongst these teams. Montreal needs to use its pick to get a player that will be able to integrate the team’s development system sooner rather than later and who will be ready to help the big club in a couple of years, when the Habs plan to be competitive again. There’s too much riding on this pick to use it on Michkov, unless of course there are iron clad assurances that he will be able to come over, but it’s hard to see how those could be obtained right now. This is not Lance et Compte, Michkov will not be smuggled out of Russia like Sergei Kulikov was in Réjean Tremblay’s cult TV show or like the Stastny were of Czechoslovakia by the Nordiques. To stay on course is this rebuild, the Canadiens need to use the safer route, the one that guarantees their pick will be under their control and able to play for them when called upon.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»