Philadelphia Flyers make the NHL look silly with their move for Matvei Michkov

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Daniel Lucente
July 22, 2024 (9:28 PM)

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The Philadelphia Flyers recently made a move involving Matvei Michkov which supposedly went against NHL rules, which has now made the league look dumb.

The NHL is supposedly different than soccer, where teams are technically not allowed to negotiate transfer deals and pay teams to essentially snatch a player up and bring them to North America, whereas in soccer that is allowed and often happens. It appears that the Flyers have just pulled a soccer move right under Bill Daly and Gary Bettman's nose, making the league look completely foolish.

Bill Daly categorically denied that NHL teams can negotiate transfer deals with the KHL, and yet the Flyers seemingly did just that, buying Michkov for $1M according to Russia media, and now there is noise that the Canadiens are talking to SKA regarding Demidov.

Michkov is a highly touted prospect of the NHL. He played in Russia last season and racked up 19 goals and 22 assists in 47 games. Those are very impressive numbers for the 19-year old, especially considering the fact he was doing it in a tough league. That looks good for his North American arrival, and the Flyers are so excited to have him that they found some sort of loophole and dragged him over the pond to Philly.

Matvei Michkov is going to Philadelphia @NHLFlyers #LetsGoFlyers

The Flyers are very lucky if they somehow get away with this. They could sure use a guy like Michkov on their team next season. It will be interesting to see what the league does over the next few days regarding this transfer loophole that has left many experts puzzled.

Credit:
Andrew Zadarnowski