I like to open these columns with a personal anecdote. Something that might be off topic, but can serve as a relatable metaphor to try to make my point.
One person I doubt I’ll ever reference is 18-year-old Nick.
This isn’t anything unique to me. It’s not like I did anything unforgivable. It’s just that, you know, most 18-year-olds are little shits and I was no different.
I guess Ryan Whitney was different. On last week’s Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, he passed along some hearsay about Flyers’ first-round pick Matvei Michkov. The Cliffs Notes are that he was told Michkov doesn’t listen to teammates or coaches and is a “real piece of shit.” A cohost also mentioned he heard he kicked a teammate, though that was treated like urban legend.
The irony of a Barstool entity making character allegations aside (usually I’d link to a supporting story here, but after going through dozens in like five minutes, I realized one wouldn’t do it justice), there is probably some truth to this. Corey Pronman alluded to as much prior to the draft.
None of this feels out of the question. He’s a kid who has been touted as Russia’s best prospect in a generation for years. He’s had success at every level and scored at an unprecedented rate despite playing on a team that lost 57 of its 68 games last season. Coupling his burgeoning stardom with a legitimate age gap with his teammates sounds like a potential nightmare as he tries to find his voice in the midst of a miserable season. Alex Appleyard shared this quote from teammate Dmitri Zavgorodniy that struck me:
He’s a very good guy, but there were some nights when, at the start of his stay with us, his emotions took over. During certain games where we lost, he would get up in the locker room and give motivational speeches filled with rage and intensity.
Finding the balance between passionate and overzealous is difficult at any age, especially 18. Kids are still learning how people respond to them. It’s on Michkov to figure out what’s appropriate, but he has time to do so. Though we don’t know Whitney’s source, this did cross over a cultural gap in reaching North America, so there is a real potential for a misunderstanding.
Regardless, Whitney, who I’m convinced peddles cheap vodka to help the masses forget what a miserable defensive player he was, took it too far by characterizing him as a “piece of shit.” Even if that’s the phrase he heard from someone closer to the situation, it’s an unfair description Michkov. This isn’t the Mitchell Miller situation or Hockey Canada scandal. He has not been accused of a crime or espoused some horrible beliefs. He’s only been accused of being a hothead and having an ego.
It’s likely Michkov is just a different personality than most of the highly-touted prospects that come up through the North American junior programs. It’s not hard to find similar criticisms of his countrymen, such as Alex Ovechkin. Many fans had to learn that a different personality doesn’t necessarily limit personal or team success before Ovechkin started getting the widespread appreciation his talent deserved.
In all likelihood, Michkov will probably look back on his 18-year-old self and wish he did some things differently – like most of us. He probably won’t reference his coming of age much either. Unlike me, it won’t be because he’s ashamed of that version of himself. It’ll probably just be an afterthought following an incredible career.
