Matvei Michkov is NHL Rookie of the Month

The National Hockey League announced Friday that Flyers forward Matvei Michkov is the Rookie of the Month for October. Not bad for only having one month under his belt.

Michkov led all NHL rookies in goals for the month with four and is tied for the rookie lead in points with nine through 11 games. He leads all rookies in both power play goals and points (three goals, six points) while the three power play goals is good enough for second in the league overall. He’s also tied for the rookie lead in most multi-point games with three and is second in terms of time on ice per game (18:26). The time on ice might have been tops if it weren’t for the stretch of time in the first period Thursday night where Michkov was benched temporarily by John Tortorella. Michkov gets the nod over Dallas forward Logan Stankoven based on having more goals despite the Stars rookie playing two fewer games.

The Mad Russian made the most of his first four games of the season during the West Coast trek. After playing in his first game in Vancouver, Michkov recorded his first point against Calgary the following night and then got his first NHL goal against Connor McDavid and the Oilers. He’s also been a huge reason why the power play has gone thus far from being the league’s worst last year to being in the upper half of the league so far this season.

It’s a great start to what has been a great story seeing Michkov basically fall in Danny Briere’s lap in June 2023, then see him get out of his KHL contract two years earlier than expected. So far it’s been an impressive first 11 games for a forward who doesn’t mind getting to the dirty areas to produce points. Nobody is expecting Michkov to be nearly a point a game (0.82 currently) in his first year but as it stands now a 50 to 60 points season might not be out of the realm of possibility.

And far be it for this writer to compare Michkov to former Flyers property but one William Gauthier in Anaheim thus far has four fewer goals than the Flyers winger and five few points through 10 games. Gauthier, who should’ve earned a primary assist on Sidney Crosby’s overtime winner last night in overtime against the Ducks, remains without a goal. In fact he’s tied with Jett Luchanko, Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov in goals so far this 2024-25 campaign.

But enough about William, full marks to Matvei Michkov for this honor. Hopefully it’s the first of a handful of such accolades this year and in the mix for the Calder Trophy.

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