{"id":593282,"date":"2026-06-07T09:33:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T09:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/593282\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T09:33:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T09:33:17","slug":"flyers-matvei-michkov-decision-reinforces-kent-hughes-canadiens-gamble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/593282\/","title":{"rendered":"Flyers&#8217; Matvei Michkov decision reinforces Kent Hughes&#8217; Canadiens gamble"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t  &#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/670064.webp\" style=\"width:100%;\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Philadelphia Flyers right wing Matvei Michkov (39) skates with the puck past Montr\u017dal Canadiens defenseman Adam Engstrom (42) during the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena.\" title=\"Philadelphia Flyers right wing Matvei Michkov (39) skates with the puck past Montr\u017dal Canadiens defenseman Adam Engstrom (42) during the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena.\"\/>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Photo credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Kent Hughes had apparently made the right call regarding a polarizing Philadelphia Flyers forward.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markerzone.com\/hockey\/stats\/nhl\/player\/Matvei-Michkov-65754\" class=\"lien_marqueur\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-player-id=\"65754\">Matvei Michkov<\/a>, the player many wanted the Montreal Canadiens to select with the fifth overall pick, continues to make headlines for the wrong reasons with the Philadelphia Flyers.<\/p>\n<p>The forward was removed from the lineup and sent to the press box during the playoffs by head coach Rick Tocchet a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n<p>Michkov reportedly refused to take the ice for the pregame warmup, which forced the Flyers&#8217; hand.<\/p>\n<p>The details are finally coming out today, several weeks later and in the middle of the Stanley Cup Final.<\/p>\n<p>Rumours about his attitude issues continue to grow in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<p>The Montreal Canadiens dodged a bullet by not drafting Matvei Michkov, and the Flyers&#8217; decisions confirm Kent Hughes made the right move<\/p>\n<p>The decision was heavily criticized.<\/p>\n<p>Michkov was considered the most talented player available.<\/p>\n<p>But Hughes apparently had reservations about the person behind the player.<\/p>\n<p>And today, it&#8217;s becoming clear why.<\/p>\n<p>Refusing to participate in a pregame warmup during the playoffs is the kind of action that does not go over well in an NHL locker room.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine that situation in the Montreal market.<\/p>\n<p>It would have been a media firestorm.<\/p>\n<p>Michkov&#8217;s talent is not in question, but in an organization like the Montreal Canadiens, character matters just as much as talent.<\/p>\n<p>Hughes knew that in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>And recent events appear to support his decision.<\/p>\n<p>By their actions, including removing Michkov from the lineup during the NHL playoffs, the Flyers are confirming what Kent Hughes and Nick Bobrov believed they saw in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics<\/p>\n<p>POLL<\/p>\n<p>14 HOURS AGO|342 ANSWERS<\/p>\n<p>Flyers&#8217; Matvei Michkov decision reinforces Kent Hughes&#8217; Canadiens gamble<\/p>\n<p>Did Kent Hughes make the right choice by selecting David Reinbacher over Matvei Michkov in the 2023 NHL Draft?<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; &#13; &#13; Photo credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Kent Hughes had apparently made the right call regarding a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3566,3203,5,1749,509,4,56,66023],"class_list":["post-593282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-david-reinbacher","tag-draft-pick","tag-hockey","tag-kent-hughes","tag-matvei-michkov","tag-nhl","tag-philadelphia-flyers","tag-team-issues"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116708140888178509","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}