Potential No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and Russian prospect Matvei Michkov suffered a lower-body injury in a KHL preseason game and will miss at least two months, sources confirmed to The Athletic’s Corey Pronman.
Michkov was injured in a game that pitted the 17-year-old and Team Russia’s U25 squad against Russian club Dinamo Minsk. The prospect was injured after he took a hit from former NHL defenseman Alexei Emelin. Michkov could miss the first month of the KHL regular season, and potentially, even longer.
Last month, Pronman ranked Michkov as the second-best available prospect for the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft. However, Michkov is under contract with KHL team SKA St. Petersburg through 2026.
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In 13 games with SKA St. Petersburg last season, Michkov scored two goals and added three assists. Michkov also scored three goals in two games with Team Russia at the 2022 World Junior Championship in Alberta last December, but the tournament was eventually postponed due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
(Top photo: Maksim Konstantinov / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images)
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