For Matvei Michkov, history repeats itself.
Although he is not injured, he was again forced to miss SKA Saint Petersburg’s second game of the season on Monday against Lada Togliatti.
“Russian Connor McDavid” suffered the same fate in the opening meeting of the new season last Saturday against Dynamo Moscow.
Former Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk, meanwhile, played on the front line in the program’s first two matchups. He picked up one point in his KHL debut. This time he was excluded from SKA’s 3-0 win.
Michkov has been used very little recently. After playing just under eight minutes three games ago, he saw even less action in his last game (less than five minutes), while only appearing once in the second period after causing a turnover. He was also excluded from training during the preparatory calendar.
Despite his immense talent, Michkov was only selected seventh overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the last NHL draft.
Some teams feared that his decision to stay in Russia would harm his development. In the past, it was common for players drafted in the NHL, including Alexei Emelin, to be shunned in the KHL. Now we can add Michkov’s name to that list.