Matvei Michkov was still supposed to be playing in the KHL this season. At least, that was the expectation for him when the Flyers drafted him in the first round (seventh overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft. There was speculation he could possibly get across the pond a year earlier than expected if the KHL team he was playing for let him go and released him prior to his contract ending. But the Flyers brass were there front and center when Michkov arrived in the U.S. He was here to start his career early and Flyers fans rejoiced.

Although the first year under John Tortorella had its lows and highs, Michkov was essentially snubbed for a Calder Trophy nomination despite racking up 67 points. Many looked at Macklin Celebrini and Lane Hutson who had great seasons, respectively, but they weren’t part of the worst power play in the league, nor were they coached by a taskmaster like Tortorella. Overall, Michkov silenced any skeptics with his high hockey IQ and ability to make inventive plays almost instinctually.

Thus far, Michkov has 73 points to his credit with 31 goals and 42 assists. He has 20 career multi-point games, nine power play goals, seven multi-goal games, five three-point games, and three game-winning goals. He has played a game-high 23:04 against Montreal on April 5, 2025 while playing just 8:30 against the Islanders on Jan. 30, a career low. He’s played 21:55 thus far three-on-three. And he’s been on the power play for 269:29 while playing just 1:52 on the penalty kill.

So, with Michkov playing his 100th NHL game Saturday night against New Jersey (and scoring on a breakaway), he’s been generally all that and more. Truth be told, he should have celebrated his 100th game Saturday night in Dallas, but the two games he was a healthy scratch last year pushed that back a bit. There have been bumps in the road this year, and the slow start is probably concerning to some, yet he’s completed his first 100 games looking quite well. He’s also been far better in his first 100 games than a handful of recent former Flyers and current ones. Take a look.

Goals first 100 gamesAssists first 100 gamesPoints first 100 gamesPoints per gameMatvei Michkov3142730.73Simon Gagne2837650.65Claude Giroux2138590.59Jeff Carter2627530.53Mike Richards1132430.43Travis Konecny1523380.38Sean Couturier1519340.34

As you can tell, Michkov has the most amount of points for a Flyer in his first 100 NHL games in recent memory. But he’s still behind a horde of players, mainly from the ’70s and ’80s when goals were bountiful and 5-4 results were considered tight-checking battles. Michkov is tenth with Eric Lindros (128 points), Dave Poulin (100), Mikael Renberg (96), Ron Flockhart (95), Pelle Eklund (94), Brian Propp (89), Bill Barber (88), Peter Zezel (84), and Andre Lacroix (78) ahead of him.

For more recent Flyers, he’s outscored all of them, edging Carter but doubling the goal output of both Konecny and Couturier. And close to doubling the points total of Konecny while doubling Couturier’s. Despite the first six weeks of 2025-26 that’s been arduous for Michkov, he has gotten off on the right foot. Perhaps the closest comparison among the above would be Simon Gagne, who had a rather impressive rookie campaign but, unlike Michkov, started his sophomore season like a house on fire. Gagne had eight goals and nine assists for 17 points in his first 20 games of the 2000-01 season.

In his era

Although the Flyers mentioned above were from different eras and saw the clutch and grab that dominated a lot of the pre-lockout era, Michkov also has somewhat favorable numbers compared to a good chunk of those selected in both the 2022 NHL Draft and also his year in 2023. Here’s a look at some of those players in no particular order. Note that Macklin Celebrini isn’t on the list as, due to injury last season, he’s still a couple of weeks away from hitting game 100 in his career.

Goals first 100 gamesAssists first 100 gamesPoints first 100 gamesPoints per gameConnor Bedard2958870.87Matvei Michkov3142730.73William Gauthier3234660.66Adam Fantilli2729560.56Logan Cooley2333560.56Shane Wright2629550.55Leo Carlsson2124450.45Zachary Benson1625410.41Juraj Slafkovsky1724410.41

As you can tell, only Bedard has had a better opening 100 games than Michkov. And Gauthier’s quick start this season puts him briefly in the conversation in terms of points per game (21 of those points have been this season). Michkov is second only to Gauthier in goals in his first 100 games, and the Ducks forward scored a dozen of those in the first month to six weeks of this 2025-26 season. Other than that, Michkov has done quite well when compared with other high first-round draft picks who have been in the spotlight as much as the Mad Russian. Considering the slow start Michkov has had this season, some might see it as a disappointing start. Yet looking at those who have roughly the same vintage of the Flyers phenom, he’s done remarkably well. Recency bias might be coloring just how well he’s been in his first 100 games.

Michkov compared to some former number one picks

It would be foolish to compare Michkov to some of the generational talents in recent memory. A handful of players — Sidney Crosby (132), Alex Ovechkin (128), Lindros (128), Teemu Selanne (152), Peter Forsberg (124) — have simply outperformed Michkov. There’s no getting around that. But there are also a handful of former number one picks that have had rather comparable numbers to Michkov’s over their first 100 games. You might be surprised at some of the names that Michkov finds himself in company with. That’s not to say Michkov will be the second coming of those superstars, but it’s a sign that the Flyer is trending towards being a cornerstone of any future Philadelphia success. It’s evident the Flyers definitely made the right selection back in 2023.

Goals first 100 gamesAssists first 100 gamesPoints first 100 gamesPoints per gameIlya Kovalchuk5033830.83Mats Sundin3046760.76Nathan McKinnon2945740.74Ryan Nugent-Hopkins2153740.74Matvei Michkov3142730.73Taylor Hall3636720.72Steven Stamkos3832700.70John Tavares3234660.66Nico Hischier2441650.65

Michkov outperformed the likes of John Tavares and Steven Stamkos, both future Hall of Famers, while also narrowly being edged by Nathan McKinnon who is on a tear this season. Again, Michkov doesn’t have the one-timer that Stamkos has, nor is he the bull in the china shop McKinnon can be. Yet, at the end of the day, he’s among those players at the same stage in their respective careers. So, yes, this season might be not living up to expectations, but he’s in the ballpark with some of the league’s elite players. And Cup champions.

The next 100 games for Michkov?

This season might see Michkov end up with similar numbers (or a slight dip) in his point production. It shouldn’t be cause for alarm. A lot of players have ups and downs in year two. Perhaps the biggest plus is that Michkov might have caused a lot of this issue himself with the offseason training (or lack thereof). A 20-year-old will do some things that should be wake-up calls or learning lessons moving forward. The fact that he’s looked far better in the last couple of weeks than at any point in October is a good thing. How that fares the rest of the season remains to be seen. For now, Matvei Michkov is still learning while getting accustomed to his second head coach in as many years.

A safe bet might be looking to see Michkov take the next step in his game with the addition of Trevor Zegras to the lineup and thoughts of Porter Martone arriving sooner than later. It’s good to know that, for the most part, Michkov has been everything Flyers fans could have hoped for in his first 100 games.