While we're wondering where and, above all, at what rank the enigmatic Matvei Michkov will be drafted, new information has just come to light. Indeed, it's quite major. We know that the Russian will be in Nashville to meet a number of teams, including the Canadiens. This will be the 1st time, by the way. According to an anonymous source in the young man's entourage, it was his KHL team, SKA, that prevented him from meeting NHL executives. <q>Matvei Michkov will go to Washington, you'll see. The Capitals will definitely draft him. Michkov, who refused all requests for meetings from team representatives in Russia did so following requests from his team, SKA, not to talk to any outside representatives. Everything seems crystal clear. Michkov will not be selected in the top three because of his 3-year contract in Russia. It's hard to imagine Montreal (5th) selecting him. Teams like Arizona (6th) or Philadelphia (7th) understand that he might not make it to the NHL until he's 26. In 8 seasons, the management group has time to change. What's the point of selecting a prospect who will only help the team during your successor's reign? There's only one real contender for the Capitals and that's the San Jose Sharks (4th) because the team's owner loves Russian hockey and is a fan of Igor Larionov. If for some incredible reason the Caps don't select him, he'll go through the Vancouver Canucks (11th) but according to my information, the Capitals are seriously considering selecting Michkov to succeed Alex Ovechkin. - Source Anonymous Russian</q> Wow that's pretty major. So that would mean that not only would Michkov slip as far as 8th, he's controlled and restricted by his current team. <blockquote class=twitter-tweet><p lang=en dir=ltr>Russian report says Matvei Michkov most likely to be drafted by Capitals: You'll see <a href=https://t.co/7TiuKdtglU>https://t.co/7TiuKdtglU</a>- RMNB (@rmnb) <a href=https://twitter.com/rmnb/status/1670896700766953473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>June 19, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js charset=utf-8> Without any pretension, what we believe is that Michkov will come out before the 8th pick. It's possible it'll be the Capitals, but if that's the case, they'll make a deal to move up in the standings. With Montreal, for example... To be continued...