Alexei Emelin takes out top draft prospect Matvei Michkov during tournament (video)
Summer hockey tournaments are great, until someone with a very bright future gets rocked by a veteran and is hurt on the play. That was the situation Thursday while a Russian U25 team was taking on Dynamo Minsk in Sochi, Russia.
Matvei Michkov, widely considered the second best prospect in the deep 2023 NHL draft next to Connor Bedard, was skating up the ice with the puck when he took a huge hit from NHL and KHL veteran Alexei Emelin. Emelin is known in both leagues for his powerful hits, and didn't hold back on this one at all. Michkov would end up leaving the game and not returning.
The head coach of the U25 team, Vladimir Filatov, was not happy with Emelin's hit.
"Matvei left for an examination. An experienced hockey player in Dynamo did his job. Unfortunately. I don't think this is the right way to educate young people. There was a blow to the knee," said Filatov.
Whether it was intentional or not, Filatov has a case. It looks like Emelin's knee makes contact with Michkov's just before he drops to the ice. Hopefully Michkov will be ok. While he is the number two prospect in next year's draft, Michkov could end up dropping down as he is under contract in the KHL until 2026. That said, he's talented enough that a team may take him at number 2 anyway.
Source: Sport24.ru
| POLL | ||
AOÛT 4 | 176 ANSWERS Alexei Emelin takes out top draft prospect Matvei Michkov during tournament (video) Is this a clean or dirty hit? | ||
| Clean hit | 73 | 41.5 % |
| Dirty | 53 | 30.1 % |
| Not sure | 50 | 28.4 % |
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YESTERDAY
MAY 16, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
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| Jack Quinn | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
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| Ivan Demidov | 1 | - | 1 | |
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| COMPLETE STATS | ||||