Russia put the big guns back together. Miro-Kvochko-Michkov was the line that terrorized YOGs. Now they're doing the same to the field at Hlinkas. Michkov skates like nothing I've seen before. Just watch this shift:
Mix in Miroshnichenko's power game and passing vision, and a standout two-way center with some skill in Kvochko, and they're just going to keep doing this for the foreseeable future.
But the most intriguing player for this coming draft for me is Gleb Trikozov. Looks like the wildcard of the class. He's playing second line with Gazizov here, and point on second PP, and in Omskie he was third line LW last year, just behind Miro.
For those not familiar, think all of the positive and negative about Perfetti, Lysell, Kent Johnson from the past couple drafts, but amplified. I mean, he doesn't have the level of pure skill or creativity of those guys, but he is very highly skilled in his own right, plus 6'1, 185 with a serious power element - most prominent when he takes defenders to the outside and they think they have him rubbed out on the boards but he lowers the shoulder and squeezes through, but he also throws some solid hits. He also shows flashes of high end defensive play, skating through pucks and more than occasionally hustling to break up scoring chances last second. When he's jeckyll he reminds me so much of Marian Hossa.
This was probably my favorite clip of him:
Keep watching after the rush, as he steals back the puck and draws a penalty.
But when he's hyde, I've rarely seen a prospect lately at as high a level as MHL so reckless and overconfident with the puck. It gets ridiculous at times, turning over pucks trying to deke opponents behind or right in front of his own net.