Matvei Michkov loses his lineup spot to a blacklisted NHLer

The blacklisted NHL player is Alex Galchenyuk, a former first-round draft pick in the NHL draft who has been effectively blacklisted from the league due to his criminal record.

In what has to be a very sad development, Michkov has gone back to the KHL with the intention of continuing to develop but has since been demoted, benched, and scratched from the team.

There is one thing worse about all of this, and that's the fact that Galchenyuk was unceremoniously ousted from the NHL after an incident in Arizona. During the course of the conversation, Galchenyuk used racial slurs along with threats of assaulting authorities.

Following the termination of his contract by the Arizona Coyotes, he took advantage of the NHL's player assistance program and then signed in the KHL.

For now, we're concerned about Michkov's spot on the team, but hopefully, he isn't long on the bench.