Russian hockey club SKA St. Petersburg released Matvey Michkov from his contract on Monday, allowing him to join the Flyers organization for the 2024-25 season, team and league sources confirmed Sunday.
According to league sources, the release was granted due to extenuating circumstances.
CAA's JP Barry and Pat Brisson secured the rights to represent Mishukov several weeks ago and are working with agent Paul Theofanos to secure his release. The 19-year-old could join the Flyers in the U.S. within a week or two of his release, depending on visa processing.
The Flyers selected Mishukov with the seventh pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. The Flyers had assumed Mishukov would not join the team until the 2026-27 season due to contractual obligations with SKA, but reports out of Russia in recent weeks have suggested Mishukov could join the Flyers as early as next season.
The next step for the Flyers is to sign Mishukov to a standard entry-level contract, and Flyers general manager Daniel Briere said Mishukov would have been ready for the NHL last season if he had been able to play in the United States right away.
Briere said in April that if Mishukov had not signed with the KHL, “he probably would have been the second or third pick in the draft and would have been ready to play professionally right away.”
The Flyers need to add another scoring winger to the lineup, especially on the right side, since the only real high-end threat on that side of the ice is Travis Konecny (assuming Owen Tippett and Tyson Foerster remain on the left side.) He could also provide some fuel for the Flyers' awful power play, which has finished last in the league the past two straight seasons.
The Flyers are scheduled to hold a prospect development camp at their training facility from July 2-6. It is unclear if Myshkov will be able to arrive in North America in time to participate.
Mitschkov spent the majority of the past two seasons playing for SKA's Sochi KHL affiliate. In 47 games in the 2023-24 season, he recorded 19 goals and 22 assists for a total of 41 points. Prior to being assigned to Sochi, he played just one game with SKA, scoring no points.
(Photo: Maksim Konstantinov/SOPA Images/Sipa USA)
