Would Matvei Michkov Make Russia’s Olympic Team? Top Coaches Omit

It’s inarguable that young Philadelphia Flyers star Matvei Michkov has massive potential, but two years into his NHL career, the talented forward is not yet on the radar for a potential Team Russia Olympic squad.

Russia, of course, is banned from international competitions at all levels, which means no NHL players will be representing their nation at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

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Tampa Bay’s superstar winger Nikita Kucherov said it best: it’s not a best-on-best competition without Russia, but the reality is the reality.

The hockey powerhouse’s exclusion has long raised questions of what their squad would look like if they were competing in the Olympics, and two Russian legends recently weighed in on the topic for themselves.

In a recent interview with The Athletic, iconic forward-turned-SKA St. Petersburg head coach Igor Larionov chose his roster, which came with a few surprises.

Kucherov, Kirill Kaprizov, Artemi Panarin, Alex Ovechkin, and Evgeni Malkin were among the obvious choices at forward, and Montreal Canadiens starlet Ivan Demidov managed to sneak in on the third line as well.

Why Matvei Michkov’s Prove-It Game Was So Important Michkov’s key assist in the spotlight was exactly what Tocchet wanted.

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As for the fourth line, though? Players like Vasily Podkolzin, Ivan Barbashev, and Vasily Podkolzin all got in ahead of the Flyers’ Michkov.

Larionov also opted for a “PK guy” in Ilya Mikheyev for roster depth, so Michkov wasn’t particularly close to being considered.

But, Larionov isn’t the only coach to omit Michkov from their hypothetical Olympic roster.

Former Russian national team head coach Ilya Vorobyov, a two-time Gagarin Cup-winning coach with an Olympic Gold Medal to his resume, didn’t include Michkov, either.

Vorobyov, in his interview with MatchTV, had a number of roster overlaps with Larionov’s team, though youngsters like Danila Yurov, Dmitri Voronkov, and Pavel Dorofeyev made his…