Matvei Michkov is the best Russian player under 20 years old according to a ranking revealed by the media Sport-Express. The Philadelphia Flyers candidate is preferred over the Montreal Canadiens candidate Ivan Demidov, who follows him in second place.

New Jersey Devils giant defender Anton Silayev completes the top 3.

While the decision to go with Michkov over Demidov makes sense considering the former is a year older and dominated the KHL last season, it cannot help but reignite the debate raging between Flyers and Canadiens fans over who is the best hope.

However, it was quite close: Demidov received one more vote for first place than Michkov, 16 to 15. However, Michkov received 12 votes for second place, compared to just four for Demidov. The votes for third place were eight for Demidov and three for Michkov. The existing system thus gave Michkov a lead of 14 points (114 to 100).

In fifth place in the ranking, we also note a surprise: Roman Kancerov, forward selected in the second round (44th overall) by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2023. Kancerov is clearly preferred over Dmitry Simashev and Mikhail Gulyayev, who were selected in the first round in the same 2023 selection session.

A second hopeful from Switzerland appears in the Sport Express list at number 19: goalkeeper Evgeny Volokhin, drafted in the fifth round (144th overall) in 2023.

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