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https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nhl/news/matvei-michkov-play-nhl-russian-prospect-2023-24/lirjxhuhtbqmpxtxuslji5sx

Michkov is currently signed with SKA St. Petersburg through the 2025-26 season. It takes him three seasons past his draft eligibility.

That means he likely won't be coming over to North America until the 2026-27 season, at the earliest.

"It is my dream to play in the NHL one day," Michkov said to NHL.com. "But for now I will continue to work on my game and develop as a player at home."

Michkov isn't the only Russian to start his professional career in the KHL for a few seasons before coming over to North America. That was the case with Wild star Kirill Kaprizov. The Minnesota winger was selected in the fifth round of the 2015 draft, but did not join the Wild until the summer of 2020. AD

Now, just because Michkov is under contract with SKA St. Petersburg does not mean he is definitely staying through the 2025-26 campaign. While rare, there have been cases where a Russian player and his KHL club agree to a mutual contract termination, making the player eligible to sign an NHL contract.

The most recent example occurred earlier this year with Washington's 2022 first-round pick, Ivan Miroshnichenko. The Capitals prospect was under contract with the KHL's Avangard Omsk through the 2023-24 season, however, the two sides agreed on a contract termination, making him immediately eligible to sign a three-year, entry-level contract with Washington.

Who knows if that is something that SKA St. Petersburg or Michkov are interested in. Considering the deal Michkov signed with the KHL club is two years longer than the typical first contract for a KHL player, it seems unlikely, but it is a possibility.

Now, there was some concerns because of the situation in Ukraine that he might not be able to play in North America. I was wondering if there's some precedent where Russia would prevent an athlete from leaving the country, and if it's something Russia has considered doing. In my knowledge, this isn't likely, but I was wondering if there was an argument to be made that Russia could prevent people from leaving the country.

Sayaman
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  • what "situation"? the unprovoked war of aggression that the Russian Federation is prosecuting against the sovereign neighboring country? Or like inflation or something? The question is too vague as it is currently written. – wrod Aug 07 '23 at 16:49
  • Your quote doesn't seem very strongly related to your question - it doesn't mention anything about the concerns you're asking about, just standard negotiations over contract terminations. – IMSoP Aug 07 '23 at 16:50
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    It isn't really clear if you mean "can" as in "is able to do so" or "can" as in "has the legal right to under Russian domestic law". – ohwilleke Aug 07 '23 at 23:52

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Remembering the Soviet times, there is no problem at all to close the border even completely. Special passports can be issued for all who need or should be permitted to cross the border. It is perfectly possible to guard all borders so that no one can cross. Nobody cared about the Soviet citizen unable to leave the Soviet Union and nobody would care now.

The reason why this is not happening is likely that this emigration allows to "lower the steam pressure". People that otherwise would be protesting, doing something, simply leave the country making comparatively very little trouble outside. Both mobilization and emigration are not yet massive enough so that it would be no men of suitable age remaining in Russia due emigration.

Stančikas
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Traditionally the person who holds the passport is not the owner of the passport. Rather, it is owned by the issuing government and they have the right to rescind it at any time for any reason as deemed fit by legislation of that government. In the U.S. for example, a condition of bail is that the person who is issued bail is to forfeit their passports to the U.S. Government. Legally, the U.S. can only ask for their own, but they take foreign passports that the person has... if they have concerns that the person might have a foreign passport that is being hidden, they can always deny bail because they are a flight risk (Being a Flight Risk is a good way to get bail denied by a judge.).

hszmv
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Russia has the draft and it has been expanding the draft age to 18-30. As I understand it, Michkov is in this age bracket. If he has not served, he could be called for his initial term, and if he has served, he could be recalled as a reservist.

Western observers generally claim that the Rule of Law in Russia is very weak. It would appear unlikely that a player of SKA gets used in a human wave attack. A former SKA player who wants to play in the NHL might be in a different position.

o.m.
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  • I don't believe that being of draft age, per se, precludes you from leaving the country even when all the newest law making efforts are considered. – alamar Aug 07 '23 at 19:21
  • @alamar, not per se, but the [travel] ban can be imposed overnight, and given that the authorities can decide arbitrarily whom to draft, the uncertainty in this age bracket is extremely high... – Zeus Aug 08 '23 at 02:26
  • @Zeus Still, the "likely won't be coming over" in the original article is baseless because it assumes the effect of him already being drafted. – alamar Aug 08 '23 at 08:11