After years of torture from players like Alex Ovechkin, Chris Kreider, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and more, the New Jersey Devils officially have a new nemesis in the Metropolitan Division.
On Saturday night, Philadelphia Flyers sophomore forward and future star Matvei Michkov collected two goals against the Devils in a 5-3 loss for New Jersey, raising his career total to four goals in six games between the rival clubs.
Michkov, 20, scored in his first career game against the Devils back on Jan. 18 and, while going pointless in his following three games, has scored three times against the Devils in two games in the last seven days.
Perhaps most notable is that Michkov has played more than 15 minutes (15:49, to be exact) just once in those six games. The Flyers' young standout is finding a way to be a thorn in the Devils' side despite barely playing, learning the ins and outs of the NHL on the fly, and playing for two (three if you count now-Devils coach Brad Shaw) coaches in as many seasons.
As for someone like Giroux, the former Flyers captain (and star, once upon a time) has just 16 goals in 72 games against the Devils, though he has 46 assists and 72 points in those games as well.
Current Flyers captain Sean Couturier, the longest-tenured athlete in Philadelphia, has only 13 goals and 13 assists in 53 games against the Devils.
This is all to say that Michkov, while apparently nowhere near his full potential just yet, is already becoming the next player the Devils need to keep eyes and ears on at all times during games against the Flyers.
On Saturday, the 5-foot-10 winger exploited a depleted Devils team missing Jack Hughes, Evgenii Dadonov, Brett Pesce, and Johnathan Kovacevic, scoring once cutting to the net on a 2-on-2 against Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec and again on a net-front deflection less than three minutes later.
The Devils have enjoyed something of a breakout from Nemec, but they're hardly the only ones with impressive (and annoying to play against) young players in the Metropolitan Division these days.