If Canada Doesn't Win The Cup Tonight, They Never Will Now That Matvei Michkov Is Coming Over
Brian Babineau. Getty Images.Tonight is a massive night for Canada. They have a chance to win their first Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens won in 1993. Justin Bieber was born in March of '94, and the Vancouver Canucks immediately went on to lose the '94 Cup Final to the Rangers. Calgary lost to Tampa in '04, Edmonton lost to Carolina in '06, Ottawa lost to Anaheim in '07, Vancouver lost to Boston in '11, and finally Montreal lost to Tampa in '21. We're talking 30 years, 6 chances, and zero Cups.
Now we have Connor McDavid dragging the Oilers back from the dead being down 3-0 in this series against Florida to have a chance to win in 7. The odds of them winning the Cup after being down 3-0 were incredibly slim, but certainly not zero.
Starting next season, however, the chances of a Canadian team ever winning a Cup in the next 15-20 years is zilch. Nada. Because a full 2 years ahead of schedule, it appears that Matvei Michkov is being released from his KHL contract and coming over to North America to join the Flyers.
It came out a little over a month ago that the Flyers and SKA were working on a way to get Michkov out of his contract sooner than the summer of 2026 when it was originally set to expire. The relationship between the NHL and KHL is pretty sketchy right now, so the fact that the rumors were never actually denied by SKA made it seem like it was only a matter of time. Russia literally arrested a player the Flyers tried to sign away from the KHL a couple seasons ago and sent him to serve in the military, so the KHL isn't necessarily jumping at the thought of losing their players to North America. But the rumors were never denied, and it all came down to whether or not the Flyers' management could work out a deal to make it happen.
Looks like Danny B and the boys got the job done.
Up until politics got in the way and made it impossible for Russians to compete, the talk leading into the 2023 NHL Draft was Bedard or Michkov. There was never a clear cut #1 guy until Michkov signed a contract in the KHL through the 2025-26 season before the draft and basically made that decision for Chicago. If he was already over in North America before his draft, the furthest he'd possibly drop in the draft would be 2nd overall. He has the type of talent that has the word "generational" attached to it.
The Flyers already overachieved their asses off last year. They were supposed to be basement dwellers all season long, and ended up in the playoff hunt until the very end. This team is well ahead of schedule on their rebuild, and now they get to add Michkov to the mix well ahead of schedule as well. The salary cap is going up, they have 2 first round and 2 second round picks in each of the next 2 drafts to work with, and there's finally a little buzz around this team again.
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So this is the best chance that Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers have to get it done and bring a Cup back to Canada. Because once Matvei Michkov steps foot on US soil, it's over.