August 02, 2024
Nick Tricome/For PhillyVoice
Flyers forward Matvei Michkov holds up his No. 39 jersey with GM Danny Brière on Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at the team's training center in Voorhees.
The contract has been signed, the name and number have been sewn onto the jersey, he's already been on the ice over in Voorhees, and is getting acclimated to his new team and surroundings.
Matvei Michkov is a Philadelphia Flyer, and the 19-year old Russian phenom will be in the lineup on opening night in October for what will mark a huge step forward for an organization trying to, slowly but surely, build itself back up into a Stanley Cup contender.
And the Flyers know it.
Now that Michkov is in the building and he's had some time to try on his gear and speak, the team uploaded this hype video to their social media channels on Friday morning:
“I will justify their trust every day.”
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) August 2, 2024
There’s no extra motivation needed for MM39. #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/DhIlM6GNL0
Ready to run through a wall, Flyers fans?
The words from Michkov that really stuck out:
"The NHL is the best league. You don't need motivation to play here. You're always motivated.
"You just have to be in your best shape and everything will be fine, and there will be victories and everything I have planned.
"When you see it all, you're twice as excited to play hockey, and twice as excited to work to make sure the fans come to every game and enjoy hockey, the wins, the team's play, and, in particular, my play.
"I will justify their trust every day and do my best to train, train, train."
Driven, dedicated, and dreaming big? Oh yeah, he's going to embrace Philadelphia quickly and vice versa.
The Flyers made a surprise but ultimately stalled out playoff push last season and are mostly set to run it back with a similar roster, though now including Michkov.
They still have a long way to go, well beyond this coming 2024-25 season, and general manger Danny Brière and head coach John Tortorella will be among the first to tell you that as they stick to their idea of a long-term rebuild.
But with Michkov's arrival over from Russia (much earlier than expected), the emergence of Tyson Foerster as one of their other top young forwards, the growth of Cam York on the blue line, and the decision to keep Travis Konecny around long-term as one of the on-ice leaders to oversee this – not to mention Oliver Bonk, Denver Barkey, and Jett Luchanko as some of the notable big prospects in the pipeline – you can at least see some of the Flyers' key pieces starting to fall into place.
And maybe derive some legitimate hope that they might get this right out of it, too.
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