'Matvei Michkov played shamefully': Mathias Brunet sets the record straight

Matvei Michkov’s name is on everyone’s lips these days. After all, more and more people are realizing that the young man could make the jump to the NHL as early as this fall.

Negotiations are underway.

For Mathias Brunet and Simon Boisvert, it was a good pretext to talk about the Russian’s last four games on their podcast Processus. These are the matches they watched… and which, in the eyes of the La Presse columnist, were played in a disgraceful manner.

Brunet makes no secret of the fact: Michkov is not his favorite prospect.

Criticism of his attitude on the ice (systematically refusing to play defense) and off (he doesn’t have the same notion of respect as others) raises red flags that the journalist refuses to ignore.

The fact that he’s a guy who can’t play as part of a team (he doesn’t even pretend to defend, says Brunet) shows he’s got a long way to go.

The podcast host didn’t like his “fancy skating” in the defensive zone, his lack of physical involvement, his lack of commitment to retrieving pucks and the fact that he does nothing to win one-on-one battles.

Of course, a player has the right to change.

But if he’s playing this way, especially for Torto (John Tortorella) in Philadelphia, I’ll be honest: if he doesn’t change, it’s going to be a disaster. – Mathias Brunet

Brunet also wonders why the Russian club Mishkov, if he’s that good, would agree to let him leave for the NHL when he has a valid contract in his pocket.

He also talked about the player on loan in Russia in an article on the La Presse website.