Free washers | Matvei Michkov or David Reinbacher?

The most recent ranking of the hopes of the 2023 vintage, concocted by Corey Pronman, of the site The Athletic, provokes reactions in Montreal: the 7^e selection by the Philadelphia Flyers, Matvei Michkov, moves to 4^e rank and defender David Reinbacher, 5^e choice by the Canadian, fall in… 15^e place.

Pronman does not claim to predict the future by publishing such rankings. It stimulates debates and, above all, allows us to observe the progression of hopes in the present moment.

In context, it is hardly surprising to see Reinbacher losing places and Michkov gaining places. Analyzing the situation coldly, Reinbacher, although his potential remains intact, had a difficult post-draft season.

In his year of eligibility, at age 18, Reinbacher had 22 points in 49 games (and a +7 record, for what that means) in Kloten, in the Swiss National League. His offensive output, and that of his club in general, dropped last winter. Reinbacher amassed 11 points in 35 games (-15 record), was injured, experienced three coaching changes and Kloten narrowly avoided relegation to the second division.

Reinbacher nevertheless impressed at the end of the season with the Laval Rocket, in a league higher than the Swiss National League. This Austrian showed a lot of confidence in all playing situations within the first pair and also allowed himself 5 points, including 2 goals, in 11 games (+6 record).

Despite his 19 years, David Reinbacher was paired with Mike Matheson in the first pair of defenders in the preparatory matches, to compensate for the absence of Kaiden Guhle. He played cleanly, as he knows how to do, with his good mobility, his advantageous size of 6 feet 3 inches and 209 pounds, a good sense of anticipation and a certain offensive flair. We nevertheless felt that he was trying to avoid mistakes, hence this appearance of timidity.

Unfortunately, his knee injury suffered at the end of September against the Toronto Maple Leafs could deprive him of the entire season. Due to his profile and the scarcity of leading right-handed defenders within the organization, he nevertheless remains for the moment an essential piece in the Canadian’s reconstruction.

Matvei Michkov has an immediate impact in Philadelphia. This 19-year-old already has three points, including two goals, in three games. He plays on average 18 minutes per game. This 5-foot-10, 172-pound forward, the “Russian Connor Bedard,” some even dared to say, fell a few spots in the draft due to his contractual obligations until 2026 in the KHL, tensions with teammates in the locker room and certain sometimes questionable work habits.

To the delight of the Flyers, he was able to extricate himself from his agreement with SKA Saint Petersburg last summer. He showed up in Philadelphia full of spirit with his mother and brother. His teammates praise his contagious positive energy.

He remains an interesting challenge for coach John Tortorella. The game against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night illustrates this well. Michkov scored his club’s first two goals, on a power play, in the first period. He showed a lot of tenacity on the initial goal by pushing a loose puck behind Stuart Skinner, on the edge of the opposing net. The second was scored thanks to a magnificent one-timer.

The Oilers trailed 0-2 in the second period when Brett Kulak attempted to exit the zone. Michkov faces him at the opposing blue line, but diverges without worrying about the Oilers defender and turns his back to retreat to the bench. Kulak has all the space he needs to gain speed in the neutral zone and relay the puck to Mattias Janmark. Two seconds later, Adam Henrique redirects Janmark’s pass into the back of the opposing net.

Here we are in three-on-three overtime. Connor McDavid escapes, chased by Travis Konecny. Defender Evan Bouchard supports the attack, followed by Michkov. Samuel Ersson makes the save and the puck ends up in the corner. McDavid gets it. The Oilers captain has possession of the puck, but instead of staying on guard, Michkov turns to his left to exit the territory. Bouchard then Draisaitl are alone in front of Ersson and the Oilers score the winning goal.

The positive: Michkov scores two power play goals and allows the Flyers to obtain a point.

The negative: Michkov doesn’t care about his defensive mission, is directly responsible for two Oilers goals and the Flyers lose a point.

Philadelphia didn’t do too badly with a point in the standings in Edmonton that evening. There will be matches where Michkov makes more mistakes than decisive plays to his club’s advantage, and others where he costs victories. You will have to live with an attacker capable of supplying the networks with spectacular highlights, but also of raising the ire of his coaches. Unless Tortorella, with her iron fist, manages to correct the faults of this boy, who is still very young, it must be admitted.

In Montreal, where the fan does not let any detail slip, Michkov’s two goals would have delighted the fan, but his weakness in overtime would not have failed to provoke a reaction as well.

In interview at The Press Last month, Flyers GM Daniel Briere did not deny hearing the negative stories about Michkov before drafting him, both on the ice and in the locker room. He took the gamble of putting this boy on the right path.

At the very end of the interview, at the exit of the Flyers administrative offices, at the Flyers training center, the question that kills the friendly Quebec GM: what if Philadelphia had held the fifth pick? Right-handed defender Reinbacher or striker Michkov? Brière simply responded that these two young men were highly rated by Flyers recruiters and that they sparked interesting debates internally.

We have already seen sharper general managers in similar circumstances, although Brière certainly does not regret his choice today!

All that to say that these boys were very close in the evaluation of several teams, that the Canadian was able to obtain his explosive Russian attacker the following year with the fifth choice, Ivan Demidov (9 points, including 5 goals, in 16 games with the SKA despite a limited time of use), that the CH still has its right-handed defender of the future, that the Flyers are happy, the Canadian too, Michkov too. Reinbacher will be even more so when he is cured…

Quote of the day

He moves really well. He attacks. He is difficult to contain. He rushes to the net when he gets the chance and makes superb plays otherwise. It’s like it’s getting too easy for him, and it’s very beneficial for us. It’s nice to watch.

Sidney Crosby, on his teammate Evgeni Malkin

After 5 games, Malkin, 38, ranks first among NHL scorers with… 11 points. Pittsburgh won a second straight victory on Wednesday against Buffalo, a game in which Crosby took the opportunity to reach the 1,600-point mark.