le_sean
Registered User
- Oct 21, 2006
- 40,624
- 41,809
I look at the Top 10 that draft and in terms of growing your own brand, Philadelphia seems to make the most sense. 8th in the US for metro area size, popular team starving for some excitement, ownership group with really deep pockets. Washington is slightly bigger but you’ll always be the “other Russian” when compared to Ovechkin. Seems like a calculated move on his part.There were a lot of factors besides the contract as far as Michkov goes. The differences between Michkov & Demidov during their draft years is startling.
Michkov: Teams, for whatever reason, didn't get any live viewings or interviews in season, except for Philadelphia.
Demidov: Teams got live viewings & he spoke to scouts. Montreal got at least one live viewing maybe more. Chicago's scout spoke to him in-season.
Michkov: refused to do interviews after season and said everything would happen at the draft then held a secret interview for Philadelphia only, where he toured their facility.
Demidov: Has setup his own combine in Florida, so that he can work out for & interview with interested teams. I assume Montreal will be there.
Michkov: He signed that lengthy contract, which was problematic for some teams. It's a huge unknown. Hindsight is 50/50.
Demidov: has refused to sign an extension so far, and has made it clear he wants to play in NHL.
No one will ever know all the behind scenes play on this, but it seems to me that Michkov set things up so he would be drafted by Philadelphia. Why? No idea. They're hardly the ideal oorganization. They certainly wouldn't be my first choice.
I'm more than happy to draft Demidov, and hope that he's there at #5. He seems like a straight up dude with the way he's handled things.