The Other Top Pick
Matvei Michkov
Michkov is the 7th overall pick from the 2023 draft and will play for the Philadelphia Flyers this upcoming season.
A lot of people have Michkov as the odds-on favorite, and there's a very good chance that he can win the Calder as he is expected to score a lot.
Not only that, but the Flyers are a pretty bad team, which means there won't be anyone in his way when it comes to getting top-unit power-play time or ice time with the team's best players.
In his draft year, Michkov was expected to go earlier, but being a Russian in today's day and age means that when the NHL draft comes around, you are almost certain to be selected lower than your talent level suggests you should be.
This despite the fact that I don't even know of a single high-profile Russian prospect who hasn't eventually come to play in the NHL.
The teams ahead of the Flyers on draft day all thought that Michkov might just play his whole life in the KHL, and so the Flyers got somethign like a top-three pick at seventh.
Not too bad!
Michkov will no-doubt be exciting to watch, but I think that the lack of insulation and the constant shifts against other team's top lines will be too much for him to overcome vs someone like Easton Cowan who, should he be in the NHL, will get to play much easier minutes.