MATVEI MICHKOV’S KHL CONTRACT OFFICIALLY TERMINATED, WILL JOIN FLYERS

Philadelphia’s Matvei Michkov era is set to finally begin.

The SKA St. Petersburg forward is set to have his KHL contract terminated and will join Philadelphia this off-season, the Russian club announced on Tuesday.

His KHL rights will remain with SKA.

Flyers GM Daniel Briere said in a press release that the team was informed of Michkov’s contract termination earlier on Tuesday.

“We are certainly excited to learn of this news and look forward to reconnecting with Matvei’s representatives in the coming days,” Briere said in a press release. “Additionally, we are appreciative of SKA Saint Petersburg for allowing Matvei Michkov to pursue his dream of playing in the NHL.”

Negotiations between the Flyers and SKA were first reported by Hockey News Hub, then confirmed by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, that a deal was close to being done.

Friedman reported last month that the Flyers and Michkov were trying to avoid a noisy negotiation, with the Russian forward still having one year left on his deal with SKA St. Petersburg.

As Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reported, the next step for the Flyers and Michkov, on top of getting a contract done, is getting a visa done.

The Flyers chose Michkov with the seventh pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. It was expected that he would be unavailable to join the NHL until the 2026-27 season due to his contractual obligations with SKA St. Petersburg. However, reports from Russia in recent weeks suggested that Michkov might be available to the Flyers as soon as next season.

The 19-year-old spent the last two seasons playing with Sochi, which is affiliated with SKA. In 47 games in the 2023-24 season, he scored 19 goals and 41 points.

2024-06-25T15:05:45Z dg43tfdfdgfd