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Matvei Michkov Not Even a Calder Finalist
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A Monday night double kick in the nuts for Flyers fans. In addition to the team falling back to the 6th overall pick, starting the night in fourth position, Matvei Michkov didn’t even make the Calder finalist list:
Hutson will run away with it. He played a ton of important minutes and put up 60 assists on a team that went to the playoffs. Wolf was the starting goaltender for a Calgary team that barely missed the playoffs. He finished with a .910 save percentage. Comparing a defenseman and goaltender to two forwards is like putting one apple and one orange into a mixture of oil and water.
It seems like voters really valued the fact that Hutson and Wolf were playing meaningful minutes on teams that were contending for postseason spots. Celebrini and Michkov were playing out the string on dreadful squads. They both finished with 63 points, Celebrini actually playing 10 fewer games but logging 50 more minutes of ice time. Celebrini is the more complete, two-way player while Michkov had more primary and even strength points.
We can split hairs and compare stats forever. Maybe if Michkov plays for a coach not named Tortorella, he’s a Calder finalist. But he wasn’t going to win the award over Hutson anyway, so does it really matter if he finishes 2nd or 4th? Probably not. Michkov even talked about how much he enjoyed playing for Torts, and knowing how driven and motivated the kid is, you could honestly say that the “snub” angle, if that’s what we’re going with, could be a positive thing. Maybe he comes back kind of pissed off and motivated and puts up 70+ points next year while peeling off opponent’s skin:
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com