Dreger added that the Vegas Golden Knights and the Chicago Blackhawks are also in the mix for Mikheyev, who is expected to make his decision this weekend.
The 24-year-old has spent the last four full seasons playing for Omsk Avangard and has recorded 62 goals and 120 points in 224 career contests.
This season, the Russian posted 23 goals and 45 points in 62 games, adding 11 points in 13 playoff tilts.
Mikheyev also represented Russia at the World Hockey Championship last spring, contributing three goals and one assist in eight games.
The Maple Leafs dipped into the KHL player pool to sign defenseman Igor Ozhiganov from CSKA Moscow last summer.
Dreger added that the Vegas Golden Knights and the Chicago Blackhawks are also in the mix for Mikheyev, who is expected to make his decision this weekend.
The 24-year-old has spent the last four full seasons playing for Omsk Avangard and has recorded 62 goals and 120 points in 224 career contests.
This season, the Russian posted 23 goals and 45 points in 62 games, adding 11 points in 13 playoff tilts.
Mikheyev also represented Russia at the World Hockey Championship last spring, contributing three goals and one assist in eight games.
The Maple Leafs dipped into the KHL player pool to sign defenseman Igor Ozhiganov from CSKA Moscow last summer.
The Sharks will look to complete a 3-1 series comeback and avenge their six-game defeat at the hands of the Golden Knights last postseason with a huge win on their home ice. For Vegas, it'll be the expansion club's first-ever Game 7.
The Maple Leafs and Bruins have pushed their series to the limit for a third time in as many playoff matchups, with Boston coming out on top in Game 7 in both 2013 and 2018. Toronto will have to dig deep to pull out the victory and capture its first playoff series victory in 15 years.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Boston Bruins
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
Special teams battle
If the Maple Leafs are to have any hope of keeping their season alive in front of a raucous Bruins crowd at TD Garden, they'll need to flip the script when it comes to special teams. Since Boston scored on the man advantage nine minutes into the series, the power play has been at the crux of its success through six games.
Boston has converted seven of 16 power-play opportunities (43.8 percent) in the series, including two critical tallies in the first period of Game 6. The Maple Leafs' penalty kill has been glaringly poor, and their inability to respond on power plays of their own has made matters worse. Toronto's man advantage has been held off the scoresheet in four of the six contests, converting just three times.
Mike Babcock's club seems to hold a slight advantage if it can keep the game at even strength. The Leafs have outscored the Bruins 11-8 at five-on-five and own 52.63 percent of high-danger scoring chances thus far.
More from Maple Leafs' top line
The Maple Leafs' top line of Zach Hyman, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner needs to step up offensively. The trio has done a good job on the defensive side of the puck, and Tavares' presence alone has helped allow Auston Matthews enjoy a breakout postseason, but when the lights shine the brightest, Toronto needs its stars to sparkle.
The line combined for 94 goals in the regular season but has managed just four so far against the Bruins, with three of them coming in the opening contest. Tavares, whose 47 goals during the campaign led the team, never went longer than five games without a goal. With his only goal of the series coming in Game 1 ... well, you can do the math.
Leading after 40 minutes
During the regular season, the Leafs posted 36-0-1 record when leading after two periods, and the Bruins went 31-3-3. These defensive trends have continued through six games as neither team has faltered this series when carrying a lead into the third period.
Vegas Golden Knights vs. San Jose Sharks
Brandon Magnus / National Hockey League / Getty
Sharks need the good Martin Jones
Jones' uninspiring regular season was one of the major talking points heading into this series after the netminder posted a 36-19-5 record with a 2.94 goals-against average and .896 save percentage on the campaign. Among the 26 goalies who played at least 45 games, his save percentage ranked second last.
The Sharks have lived and died by their goaltender so far this postseason. Jones failed to play past the first period in two of the losses against the Golden Knights, allowing a combined five goals on 14 shots. While facing a 3-1 series deficit, however, Jones stopped 88 of 91 shots en route to two straight wins, including a 58-save overtime performance in Game 6.
Scoring first
The team that has scored first has won each time. Both squads will need to be ready from the get-go, as that all-important opening tally has been potted within the first 90 seconds in four of the six games.
Stone line can make or break
The Sharks did an excellent job in their previous two victories keeping the Golden Knights' most dangerous line of Mark Stone, Paul Stastny, and Max Pacioretty in check. After terrorizing San Jose with a combined 28 points through the first four contests, the trio was held pointless in Games 5 and 6.
It will be critical for the Sharks to stay out of the penalty box. The Stone line has been just average at five-on-five in the playoffs, posting a Corsi For rating of 51.18.
The veteran trio is packed with playoff experience, too. Stone, Pacioretty, and Stastny have suited up for a combined 155 postseason contests, including six Game 7s.
His mind and heart racing, Chris Kunitz moved through the Stanley Cup Final handshake line on June 11, 2017. He had just won his fourth Cup, and his third in a Pittsburgh Penguins uniform, so he knew the drill.
As he neared the end of the procession, Kunitz locked eyes with a visibly shaken Nashville Predator nursing a broken right hand. It was his old pal James Neal. The former Penguin extended his left hand, and Kunitz dropped his head to lean in, initiating a solemn bro hug. They exchanged a few words.
The interaction lasted four seconds, a relative eternity in the handshake line.
"It doesn't matter if you're best friends with somebody. You go out, you compete, you do whatever it takes to win. If that's fighting each other, slashing each other, so be it. But afterwards, you still want to look each other in the eye and show that respect," Kunitz said in March, speaking broadly about a tradition unique to hockey.
On Tuesday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins will form another line following Game 7 in their hotly contested first-round series. The Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks, also battling for one more game, will do the same a few hours later.
Teams aren't required to organize themselves in a single file and bid farewell. It happens organically, no matter who wins. The handshake line is a post-series activity passed down from generation to generation, an unbreakable custom governed by a set of unwritten rules.
So what's considered acceptable behavior in the line? What's frowned upon? How does it all work? And what goes through a player's head as they try to digest the outcome of a playoff series and interact cordially with a bitter rival?
In the leadup to the postseason, theScore enlisted the help of six active NHLers to find out. Here’s what we learned.
The winner's perspective
"Two completely different emotions" are associated with the handshake line, noted Patrick Marleau, who's approaching 200 career playoff games. And both parties must be cognizant of the other's headspace.
"Teams that win are excited, but they don't want to rub it in as they're walking through," Marleau said prior to the Maple Leafs' series with the Bruins. "And the other guys are defeated, but they still want to be gracious and give the other team some encouragement going forward."
That give-and-take between winner and loserbrings us to the meme-able clip from the final minutes of the Tampa Bay-Columbus broadcast last week.
Moments after the Blue Jackets put a bow on an upset for the ages by scoring three empty-net goals to complete a sweep of the Lightning, Nikita Kucherov joined his dazed teammates at center ice. The presumptive league MVP was stopped by Matt Duchene for a quick chat. Kucherov listened but didn't seem to offer Duchene much of a reply.
Then, Kucherov ran into fellow Russian and close friend Artemi Panarin. The victor grinned widely and went in for a big ol' high five. Kucherov left him hanging.
Via Fox Sports Ohio
The hockey gods can't be pleased by Panarin's actions. The star winger violated the first guideline on either side of the handshake: Be gracious.
Kucherov looked for a moment like he might drop the nuclear option - the cold shoulder - but he relented when Panarin grabbed his hand. They eventually embraced, and the misstep isn't so outrageous that it should affect their relationship.
The cold shoulder, most famously unleashed by Martin Brodeur in 2008 to snub Rangers forward Sean Avery, can be more insulting than excessive enthusiasm.
"For me, I think that's a little disrespectful," Florida Panthers forward Troy Brouwer said. "You've got to congratulate the guy and let him know you respect him. It's so hard to win in the playoffs. For a guy to be battling and doing his job, you can't be mad at him, in my opinion."
Al Bello / Getty Images
Brouwer's enjoyed playoff runs in Chicago, Washington, St. Louis, and Calgary, but it's hard for him to evaluate his etiquette in the 2010 Cup handshake line between the Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers. Since Patrick Kane's Game 6 overtime goal required video review, Brouwer and his teammates celebrated twice, with the second go-round bleeding into the handshake line.
It's all a blur.
"Guys are still hugging each other. You're patting the guy's back in front of you while shaking the guys on the other team's hands and waiting for the Cup to come out," Brouwer said. "So, honestly, I don't really remember that handshake. You're so caught up in the moment. It's not like it takes a backseat - your mind is just elsewhere.” (Brouwer, for what it's worth, appears to have been well-behaved.)
The winning team holds the hammer in the handshake line - usually offering a friendly greeting first - but one of Brouwer's Panthers teammates says every participant has a method of payback at his disposal when it comes time to meet a particular foe.
"Maybe squeeze a little harder than normal," defenseman Keith Yandle said with a smile.
The loser's perspective
Because it offers closure, the handshake line can be a cathartic experience for those on the losing end.
"You realize you're done, you're going to hang up your equipment for the last time, and that's all slowly running through your mind as you go down the line," Kunitz said. "You obviously want to give that respect to the other team, even after the nasty series. Let them know that you left it all out there."
Dennis Pajot / Getty Images
Connor Brown can relate.
In 2014, the Leafs winger was captain of the Erie Otters, and at the conclusion of the OHL Western Conference final, he saw his childhood flash before his eyes. Matt Finn, Brown's longtime friend, wore the "C" for the victorious Guelph Storm.
"That was the end of my junior career so it was a pretty emotional day for me. I don't think I said much," Brown recalled. "I grew up playing with him since I was 4 years old. He's one of my best buds. It almost makes it a little tougher, but it's something in years to come we'll look back on."
Mike Stobe / Getty Images
Not many players in the history of the NHL are as familiar with the tradition's highs and lows as the Staal brothers. Jordan Staal's Pittsburgh Penguins ended brother Marc and his New York Rangers' season in 2008. The next year, Jordan did the same to Eric when the Penguins swept the Carolina Hurricanes.
Trying to find the right words to say to your own blood in such a raw moment is dizzying; special, overwhelming, and bittersweet.
"Those ones are hard. But that's the first thing that pops into my mind," Jordan Staal answered when asked for his top handshake line memories.
"I love going out there and competing and working hard," he continued. "And whether you're on the right side of it or not, you show that respect after. It's one of my favorite things about the playoffs."
For the losing side, being gracious is paramount. It may be tempting to make a final statement but, the typical thinking goes, don't make it all about you. Don’t be a sore loser.
Milan Lucic notoriously abandoned this guideline in 2014 when he went out of his way to bark at a pair of Montreal Canadiens, Dale Weise and Alexei Emelin, after the Boston Bruins’ season ended in the second round of the playoffs. "I'm going to kill you next year," Lucic apparently said, and the controversy buzzed for days.
On the other hand, a positive interaction with a respected rival can help put a gut-wrenching moment into perspective. Might a few complimentary remarks from, say, the legendary Nick Lidstrom soften the blow of being eliminated from the playoffs?
"He was my guy, my idol - a guy that I look up to and still do," Yandle said as he recalled the Phoenix Coyotes' first-round loss to Lidstrom's Detroit Red Wings in 2010. "I remember getting that handshake, that half-hug - the bro hug or whatever you call it - and it was pretty special."
As in everyday life, waiting can be agonizing. The interval between the final buzzer and the formation of the line can drag on for the defeated team, especially since the ecstasy is palpable but not accessible. You might undo your helmet strap, lean on your stick, stare into the abyss, shed a few tears.
"You're real disappointed, but the wait is almost the worst part," Brouwer said, describing watching the San Jose Sharks celebrate making the final at the Blues' expense in 2016. "You just want to get off the ice and go share those moments with your teammates. It's always tough."
By all accounts, dialogue in the line is mostly generic: Good series. Nice job. Best of luck moving forward. You played great. There might be an extra word or two for the goaltenders since they often have a strong effect on the outcome of a series, but overall,it's not a Shakespeare play.
"Hockey players don't know exactly what to say when it comes to that kind of stuff," Brown explained. "But you know the intention, and that's all that matters."
John Matisz is theScore's National Hockey Writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.
Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals thought they'd tied Game 6 midway through the third period on Monday night, but the referees saw it differently.
Ovechkin pounced on Evgeny Kuznetsov's rebound and jammed the puck past Petr Mrazek for what would have been the equalizer. But the referees immediately signaled no goal and stuck with their call after further review.
The referees didn't explain the call on the ice, but the NHL's situation room quickly addressed the controversy.
"After reviewing all available replays and consulting with the referee, the situation room confirmed that Alex Ovechkin interfered with Peter Mrazek by pushing his pad, which caused the puck to enter the net," the league stated, as reported by Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
Moments after the call, Justin Williams scored to extend the Hurricanes' lead to 4-2. Carolina added an empty-netter to secure the win and force a decisive Game 7.
Victor Hedman is taking full responsibility for his role in the Tampa Bay Lightning's shocking first-round exit despite battling injury.
The 28-year-old blue-liner suited up for the first two contests of his team's series against the Columbus Blue Jackets and played significant minutes in both, logging 25:18 in Game 1 and 21:10 in Game 2. Despite the valiant effort, Hedman was unable to continue past those tilts.
"I was cleared to play in the first two games but I just wasn't good enough to keep going," the 6-foot-6 rearguard told reporters at the team's exit interviews Monday.
Hedman missed the final four games of the regular season with an upper-body injury after colliding awkwardly with Washington Capitals forward Carl Hagelin on March 30. Hedman said he was dealing with an upper-body ailment during the playoffs but added it wasn't related to that regular-season issue.
"I'm obviously not happy with how I played in those two games and I'm not going to sit here and (make) any excuses that it was because of (the injury)," he said. "It was all on me. I'm not happy with the way I played and that's obviously a tough one to swallow."
The Lightning became the first team in the modern era to win the Presidents' Trophy as the league's top regular-season squad and then be swept in four games in the first round of the playoffs.
Hedman is a finalist for the Norris Trophy for a third consecutive season and looks to defend his title as the league's top defenseman after capturing the award for the first time in his career in 2018.
The Finnish sniper said Monday that he was dealing with a back issue during the year and a "small" groin injury during the playoffs, according to The Athletic's Murat Ates.
Laine captured MVP honors at the 2016 World Championship after leading Finland to a silver medal with seven goals and 12 points in 10 games.
Scheifele has suited up for Canada at the World Championship on three occasions and captured a gold medal at the tournament in 2016. The Kitchener, Ontario, native last played at the event in 2017, tallying three goals and eight points in 10 games en route to a silver medal.
The 32-year-old Wheeler, born in Plymouth, Minn., last represented the United States at the World Cup of Hockey in 2016. He hasn't played at the World Championship since 2011. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, he recorded one assist in six contests for the Americans.
The Jets were eliminated from the NHL postseason in six games by the St. Louis Blues in their opening-round series.
