Flyers fans are “starving” for a superstar player. That’s what’s driving a lot of the angst around Matvei Michkov, former team captain Chris Pronger said.
On Monday’s episode of the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, Pronger, a hockey Hall of Famer who spent the last three years of his 18-year career with the Flyers, shared his thoughts on the team’s rebuild and Michkov’s development as a professional.
The never-ending rebuild
The current regime spearheading the Flyers’ rebuild, led by president Keith Jones and general manager Danny Brière, has been in place since May 2023, just under three years. But Flyers fans are still reeling from the failures of previous regimes.
“They’ve been in what’s called a rebuild for what seems like 12 years,” Pronger said. “I think they’re frustrated and they want the rebuild to be over, but they didn’t go about the rebuild properly in the early days.”
The Flyers haven’t made the playoffs since the COVID bubble in 2020, and have advanced past the first round just once since the 2012-13 season — during that bubble playoff run, which was played in an empty building in Toronto.
The most important keys to any successful rebuild are finding a star center and a No. 1 defenseman, two things that have eluded the Flyers so far. It takes lottery luck, which the Flyers haven’t had much of lately. But those who believe Michkov, a winger, becoming a star will be the difference between a Stanley Cup-contending Flyers team and the draft lottery aren’t being realistic, according to Pronger.
“I don’t know any team — any team — that rebuilds with a winger,” Pronger said. “I don’t know one good team who rebuilt with a winger. You don’t rebuild with a winger, you rebuild up the middle — center, defense, goalie. I know you [draft] the best player available, and clearly he was the best player, but as it relates to that, sometimes you have to luck out, too, in a rebuild and get the right pick when the right player is available.”
In January, Pronger posted on X that those centerpiece players are the hardest to find, and the Flyers need to be patient and deliberate about compiling assets to make those moves if they become available. But he also suggested that the best way to rebuild is to tear it all the way down, like San Jose and Chicago have done, for a chance at landing a player like Macklin Celebrini or Connor Bedard.
Flyers right wing Matvei Michkov has struggled in his second season with the team.
How to help Michkov
Michkov came into camp out of shape, something Pronger admitted he’d also done early in his career, in his second and third NHL seasons. Teams don’t get a lot of practice time, Pronger said, so it’s extremely difficult to play yourself into shape during the year. Pronger’s coach at the time, former Flyers boss Mike Keenan, was extremely tough on him, to the point where Pronger joked that even his teammates started to feel bad.
He also pointed to the language barrier between the Russian Michkov and the coaching staff as a hurdle.
“The fact that he doesn’t speak the language very well, if at all, that’s part of the problem, because it might not be translating properly what he’s going through, what he’s dealing with,” Pronger said. “… You’ve got to be hard on young guys, but it’s not 1995, either. That’s not how this world works in today’s hockey world, in today’s NHL. You have to find a connection with the player. There’s ways to be hard.”
The Flyers do not employ a full-time Russian translator for Michkov, instead relying on Slava Kuznetsov, a skating coach who also works with Olympian Isabeau Levito, to translate for him.
Now, the Flyers need to teach Michkov how to be a pro, Pronger said, and that includes setting the example of him coming into camp in shape, and learning to be more responsible with the puck.
“I saw a few of their games last year with [John Tortorella], and he played [Michkov] a bit differently,” Pronger said. “He got him on the power play, to me it looked like he was putting him in more positions for success. It looked like he let him do a little more, but wasn’t — I don’t know if teaching him is the right word, but showcasing his abilities and not digging into the other parts of the game where he needed to improve.”
The Flyers are off for the Olympic break and will return to the ice on Feb. 25 against the Washington Capitals.
Because of the Winter Olympics, the Flyers won’t play again for another two-and-a-half weeks, not that anyone is all that broken up about their impending absence. They’ve been a lousy hang for a while, losing 12 of their last 15 games, falling out of the playoff picture, and drawing attention primarily for the six degrees of debate around Matvei Michkov’s playing time.
The Michkov issue has been fascinating and revealing. Everyone acknowledges that, after his often-impressive rookie season, he came into training camp out of shape. That reality has precipitated a months-long discussion about how he has played, when he has played, how much he has played, and whether coach Rick Tocchet might be mishandling him and sabotaging Michkov’s career before the kid has a chance to become the star the Flyers and their fans hope he will be.
Tocchet, general manager Danny Brière, and team president Keith Jones have made it clear that they are taking, or trying to take, the long view about Michkov’s development. They have also made it clear that they consider it valuable to put him through a kind of rite of passage, to compel him to learn and practice good habits on and off the ice.
One can make a case that such an approach is too old school, won’t be effective, and risks angering and alienating Michkov. That’s possible, I suppose, but it’s just as reasonable to think the Flyers’ methods are correct and will work.
There are plenty of 76ers fans and former members of the franchise, for example, who wish their team had treated Joel Embiid and other since-departed players with a firmer hand earlier in their careers.
It’s safe to say, though, that within at least a portion of the Flyers’ fan base, a measure of paranoia has arisen when it comes to Michkov and the organization’s handling of him.
Earlier this season, anodyne comments about him, by team captain Sean Couturier, were taken out of context and treated as a major controversy. Tocchet then offered a frank assessment of Michkov’s conditioning and performance during a recent interview with PHLY Sports. And while it wasn’t the smartest media-relations strategy for the head coach to criticize such an important player so brusquely, the reaction to Tocchet’s comments suggested that people were afraid Michkov would be so offended that he would catch the first flight to Little Diomede and hike the Bering Strait back to Putinland.
That fear is irrational, of course, and it’s easy to chalk it up to the longtime overzealousness of the Benevolent Order of the Orange and Black. But in this case, it’s understandable that those fans who have stuck with the Flyers over the last 15½ years — that’s how long it has been since that 2010 run to the Stanley Cup Final — would be a little on edge about Michkov. Even more than a little.
Danny Briere addressed the noise about drama between Rick Tocchet and Matvei Michkov.
“(Tocchet) wants Matvei to succeed. He wants to develop him to be the best player he can be. Along the way, there’s tough lessons that comes with that. It’s like raising a child.”
All anyone has to do is look at the Flyers’ draft history over the last quarter century to understand why their fans want Michkov treated like a prince and shielded from any emotional boo-boos. Because that history is … ugh.
Let’s start with 2001. The Flyers’ first-round pick that year, defenseman Jeff Woywitka, played 278 NHL games in his career, none with the Flyers. Their third-round pick, Patrick Sharp, turned out to be a terrific player … after they traded him to the Chicago Blackhawks.
With the fourth-overall pick in 2002, the Flyers took defenseman Joni Pitkänen. Eh. Their subsequent six picks in that draft played a combined total of one game in the NHL.
The 2003 draft was a red-letter one: Jeff Carter and Mike Richards in the first round. After those two, the Flyers took nine other players. Alexandre Picard, a third-round defenseman, turned out to be the best of the bunch.
If, in 2004, the Flyers were actually trying to tank the draft, no one could tell. They picked 11 players who appeared in a total of 23 NHL games.
Over the ‘05 and ‘06 drafts, they selected 16 players, two of whom had lengthy NHL careers: Claude Giroux and … Steve Downie.
For three straight drafts, 2008 through 2010, the Flyers picked 17 players. Just nine made it to the NHL and two others played only one game. The player who played the most games for them was Zac Rinaldo.
The Flyers took Couturier with the No. 8 overall pick in 2011. Excellent. They found Nick Cousins in the third round. OK. None of their other four picks that year played for them.
Left wing Oskar Lindblom was drafted by the Flyers in 2014.
From 2012 to 2014, the Flyers drafted Travis Sanheim, Scott Laughton, Shayne Gostisbehere, Anthony Stolarz, Oskar Lindblom, and Robert Hägg. They did not draft anyone who could reasonably be called a star.
When the Flyers took Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny in the first round, 2015 looked like a draft they could take pride in. But Provorov’s gone, and goalies Felix Sandström and Ivan Fedotov couldn’t cut it.
Two words about the 2016 draft: German Rubtsov. Two more words: Carter Hart.
With the No. 2 pick in the 2017 draft, the Flyers selected Nolan Patrick. There are no words for how that decision turned out. But hey, Noah Cates!
The Flyers’ crown jewels from the 2018 draft were Joel Farabee and Sam Ersson.
In 2019 and 2020, the Flyers got Cam York (cool), Tyson Foerster (promising but injured), Bobby Brink (we’ll see), and Emil Andrae (don’t you need more from a second-rounder by now?).
So far, the Flyers’ best pick in the 2021 draft has been Aleksei Kolosov. Which tells you all you need to know about the Flyers’ 2021 draft.
We’re up to 2022. The Cutter Gauthier draft. Best to move on quickly and quietly …
The Jones-Brière regime has overseen the 2023-25 drafts, and yes, it’s early yet to judge the results, and yes, the Flyers were bold in ’23 in taking Michkov. But it’s worth noting that, of the 26 players the Flyers picked over those three years, just three have suited up for them so far: Michkov, Denver Barkey, and Jett Luchanko.
It’s not just that the Flyers have had opportunities to mine the draft for elite talent and failed. It’s that they haven’t even stumbled into a late-round pick or two who ended up becoming cornerstones.
A team that does not draft well cannot win. The Flyers have been proving that maxim true for a long time. No wonder their fans are so protective of the one player who represents even a glimmer of possible greatness.
It was a huge game against a team above them in the standings, but also on the outside of the Stanley Cup Playoff picture. The win moved the Flyers within seven points of the Metropolitan Division’s third spot, currently held by the New York Islanders, and the Boston Bruins, who are sitting in eighth in the Eastern Conference.
The Orange and Black had more energy, held off a surge by the Capitals in the third, and were able to snag the all-important two points.
Here are three things to know from the win that saw the Flyers score four goals for just the second time since beating the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 6.
Matvei Michkov played almost 16 minutes
Hitting the ice just minutes after general manager Danny Brière spoke about the latest Michkov-Rick Tocchet discourse, the Russian winger played 15 minutes, 54 seconds across 21 shifts. It was the highest total since he played a little over 16 minutes against the New York Islanders on Jan. 26 and his 12th-most minutes this season.
Michkov averaged 45-second shifts after he averaged 34 on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings, when he played a controversial 10:21. Was it a point of focus to have him take longer shifts?
“Yeah, a little bit,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “We talked yesterday, too, a little bit about if you feel like staying, get out there. Obviously, if you’re winded, get off. But, I thought he was moving.”
Michkov played well at times. He set up Bobby Brink for a chance late in the third and was a key contributor to Owen Tippett’s goal that opened the scoring just under six minutes into the game, marking the 19th time in 55 games that the Flyers scored first — and their 11th win.
On the goal, Trevor Zegras gained the zone and dished to Michkov, who carried the puck around the net. He took it around and up the right boards before threading the needle through two Capitals to Travis Sanheim at the left point. The defenseman then threaded the needle himself to Tippett in the right circle before the forward went across the crease and scored on the backhand.
“We knew we would have a little bit of room coming out of the corners there,” Tippett said. “I think that was a great pass to find Sanny, and Sanny made a great play to kind of calm it down and pass it right back to me.”
In hindsight — and after taking a deep breath from a busy night — Dan Vladař should have gotten one of the three stars of the game from this reporter.
The Czech goalie stopped 26 of 28 shots to win his 17th game of the season. He raised his save percentage to .904 and dropped his goal-against average to the 10th-best in the NHL (2.49) among goalies who have played at least 20 games.
Flyers goalie Dan Vladar (left) helped lift Owen Tippett and the Flyers to a much-needed win.
He allowed two goals — one a short-handed goal by Aliaksei Protas and the other a rebound goal by Anthony Beauvillier, who was left all alone in front. But while the team was facing some adversity, Vladař was pumping them up, too.
“He’s a leader,” said Tocchet, adding that while Vladař doesn’t wear a letter — goalies aren’t allowed — for him, he has one.
“I forget when he came by our bench [but] he said, ‘Guys, why are you guys holding your head down? Let’s go here.’ And I love that. It’s good to hear that. He’s our goalie, and [has] a lot of character. He’s been like that all year.”
Vladař was solid in net. In the first period, he made a save with 15:53 left, sliding across to rob Dylan Strome on a power play. Later in the frame, while shorthanded, he stopped Strome again as the puck popped up and he swiped it away with some help from his defenseman, Travis Sanheim, who swiped it further away — but he won’t be doing that in a few days.
“We play him in Game 1, too. I won’t be helping him out like I did,” he joked, noting that Sanheim’s Canada squad will be taking on Vladař and the Czechs on Feb. 12 (10:40 a.m.)
In the third period, he stopped Brandon Duhaime’s shot after Rasmus Ristolainen couldn’t get the puck out, and with six attackers on for the Capitals, off a faceoff deep in the Flyers’ end, Vladař stopped an Alex Ovechkin slapshot. It was one of nine low-danger shots he faced; however, according to Natural Stat Trick, he did see seven high-danger shots.
“That’s one thing that you cannot really control as a goalie,” he said about facing high-danger shots. “You’re there to stop the puck, no matter where the shots are coming from. Mentality is still the same for me, trying to keep as many as I can out of the net. And then having the confidence in the group that I think that we can be scoring two or three every single night.”
Jamie Drysdale (9) has helped power-play goals become a recent and much sought-after habit for the Flyers.
A power-play goal!
Jamie Drysdale has been on and off the power play all season, but lately he’s been getting power-play time. On Tuesday, he finally got on the board.
Zegras got the puck in the corner and threw a reverse hit into Martin Fehérváry to create time and space for himself. He skated up, utilized that time and space to find Drysdale as he slid into the spot atop the circles and fired off the one-timer that popped off the top of the pad of goalie Clay Stevenson and in.
The goal is Drysdale’s fourth of the season and first on the man advantage, giving him five power-play points.
“I think I had my chances, to be honest with you, I just couldn’t put the puck in the net,” Drysdale said. “Guys did a great job of finding me and finding holes, and it was nice to see one go in.”
Philly went 1-for-3 and has now scored on the man advantage for three straight games (3-for-8).
“Well, I like the shot by Jamie. That’s what we need is that … three feet [off the ground shot],” Tocchet said, using his hands to show the amount. “It’s that hard [shot] so we can get a tip on it. I think sometimes our shots are a little high, blocker side, and we talked about, before the power play, what we wanted, and we executed.
“I thought Trevor did a really nice job, like he was excellent. He went low. He body positioned the guy, the guy goes down, he doesn’t do that, maybe they get the puck out. So Trevor did a nice job to set that play up, and then obviously, Jamie, that’s the shots we need.”
Flyers general manager Danny Brière stood in the Gene Hart press box at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Tuesday and stated that he “wanted to address a little bit of the noise that is going around.”
Although he first spoke on the team’s recent “rocky patch,” the main objective was to — obviously — discuss the recent discourse swirling around his coach, Rick Tocchet, and one of the franchise’s rising stars, Matvei Michkov.
“We’ve never hidden anywhere. We’ve been up front with our fans. We have nothing to hide. So I don’t have a problem with that,” he said of the comments recently and the information divulged publicly.
“We’ve been up-front. That’s why I’m talking here. We have nothing to hide.”
Are Michkov’s days in Philly numbered? The short — and long — answers are no. After posting 26 goals and 63 points in 80 games as a rookie, Michkov has struggled to find that form. Entering Tuesday against the Washington Capitals, he had 13 goals and 28 points in 53 games, putting him on pace for 20 goals and 43 points.
“One thing I can tell you, first of all, is: Matvei Michkov is not going anywhere. Let’s make that clear. OK,” the GM said. “Matvei is going to be here for a long time. He’s going to be a good player here for the Flyers, and what he’s going through right now is all part of the learning process. So that’s out of the way. He’s not going anywhere. He’ll be here. He’ll be a good player.”
On reports Michkov wasn’t in shape for camp
In mid-October, the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast reported that sources told them Michkov was “out of shape” and when asked the same day, Tocchet revealed that the Russian winger suffered an ankle injury this offseason — which the coach said he “didn’t even know about” — which impacted the winger’s training and put him ”a little bit behind the eight ball.“
“One thing I know about Matvei is how driven he is. He wants to be the best player he can be,” Brière said Tuesday. “He admitted himself that he wasn’t in the best physical condition coming in. It’s going to be tough to catch up now. He’s in better shape than he was when he arrived this season.
“Unfortunately, everybody is in better shape than they were in training camp. So it’s really tough for him to catch up with the amount of games that we have, the amount of travel that we have; it’s just tough for him to catch up in season. He’s going to do that in the offseason. It was a good lesson for him, and just going to make him a better hockey player coming next year.”
Matvei Michkov has endured a sophomore slump, as he has just 13 goals and 28 points in 54 games.
Michkov said in early December he would spend the time during the upcoming Olympic break training to get ready for the rest of the season. “If you’re going to have good physical form, everything else will come along,” he said through a team translator.
But as Brière said, it is a short window.
The winger also said at the time he would start training in Voorhees at the Flyers Training Center over the summer.
“We hope so,” Brière said when asked specifically about that. “Yeah, he said that, and we hope that’s true. Again, being around Matvei the last few years, I know how driven he is, so I have no worry about the future. I think this is just a little hiccup.”
There’s been some conjecture that Tocchet is not happy with Michkov. It was the same when John Tortorella was here as the team’s head coach. As he did last season, Brière tried to temper that on Tuesday.
“I said it a couple of years ago, when Matvei arrived earlier than expected, we knew there would be some bumps along the way, and that’s kind of what is happening,” Brière said. “The other thing I can tell you, and I talk to Rick Tocchet on a daily basis, he wants Matvei to succeed. He wants to develop him to be the best player he can be, and along the way, there are tough lessons that come with that. That’s like raising a child.
“There’s tough lessons that he’s learning. It doesn’t matter if he’s playing 12, 14, 16, or even if he was playing 52 minutes a night; he’s learning along the way. It’s part of the process, and it’s going to make him a better player along the way.
“And Rick Tocchet wants that. He wants to be here for the long haul to lead this team. Him and Matvei, they have a good relationship. Sometimes they’re fiery. Sometimes when you’re not winning, things are done and said, but they always come back to the table. And they want the best for this team, and Rick wants the best for Matvei.
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet and winger Matvei Michkov have not seen eye-to-eye on everything this season.
At the Flyers Charities Carnival on Sunday, Tocchet was a guest on the PHLY podcast and was asked about Michkov’s minutes.
“Matvei did not come into camp in shape. It’s hard to play your way into shape. I have not told him, or any of our players, to [not] take a guy one-on-one, come out of the corner with the puck, make a play through the rush. Right now, he’s having a tough time in these situations,” Tocchet said.
“So, you could say other players try. Maybe they don’t have [the same] skill set, but we’re trying to get [Michkov] to that level, how to develop him. [That is] practice, making sure you are on time for treatments and stuff like that. There is so much that goes into [your development], the way you eat.”
Some would say these comments, especially about missed treatments, should have been kept in-house. Brière said the comments were not directed at Michkov, per se, saying it was about all the youngsters on the team learning how to be a pro from treatments, massages, workouts, and proper nutrition.
Totally not concerned about the answer from Rick Tocchet about Michkov’s ice time from PHLY pic.twitter.com/8j5KTdn0AU
“He showed up, he wasn’t in the best physical condition. That’s true. And Matvei was the first one to admit it. But Rick knows how important he is to the future of this organization. He wants to make it work,” the GM said Tuesday.
“The coaching staff has probably spent more time with him, trying to help him out. So there’s no problem with the relationship there. … I don’t see any issues between the two of them. They are both very critical of themselves, and they both have that inner drive. I played with Rick Tocchet, I see how Matvei is. They’re both very driven individuals, and they want the best for the team and for the Flyers.”
Flyers president Keith Jones went on the PHLY podcast, too, and said: “It’s important we keep reminding them [the coaching staff] to play our young players and involve them in the process of getting better, I mean that’s the only way they do get better.”
It was an interesting comment considering Michkov is the second-youngest player on the team and is averaging 14 minutes, 32 seconds a night, the ninth-most among Flyers forwards.
"It's important that we keep reminding them [the coaches] to play our young players and involve them in the process of getting better" 👀
“Those are always discussions that we always have within the staff. We always talk about that. And that’s part of the rebuild, right?” Brière said. “Everybody’s aware that we’re trying to build a team that’s going to be good and contend for Stanley Cups down the road, not just to make one appearance in the playoffs and then miss out the following year.
“We’re trying to create a team here that’s going to be good for years to come, so that’s kind of the direction that it was meant for.”
DENVER ― There’s been a lot of discourse regarding Matvei Michkov.
It ranges from his ice time to his spot on the power play to his deployment at certain times during the game. The latest one is about which wing he plays on.
When he was drafted to the NHL, and for most of his first season with the Flyers, Michkov played on the right wing. This year, like at the end of last season when he played on a line with Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny, he’s largely been skating on the left.
“Yeah, I mean, listen, he’s struggling, so you’re looking for all different things,” coach Rick Tocchet said about moving him across the ice. “But the bottom line is, we got him to play with some pace. That’s it. I know everybody wants him to score and all that stuff. You’ve got to be [in] positions to score.”
Traditionalists will tell you that Michkov should be playing on the left side anyway as a left-handed shot. A lot of it is more about where to line up on faceoffs and in defensive-zone coverage, as a left-handed stick will be able to use the walls and protect the puck to get it out on the left side.
A left-handed left wing is preferable to many coaches in the defensive zone because it typically pits a lefty against a right-shot defenseman, so they have their stick on the same side — and in the shooting lane — as the defenseman when they try to close them down.
“Whether it’s right or left, it really doesn’t matter. It’s just to line up,” Tocchet said. “When you’re in the offensive zone, it doesn’t matter where you [start]. So I think everybody makes a big deal. But through the neutral zone, for me, the faster you can go on your forehand is the better [side]. But that doesn’t mean you can’t go to the other side.”
Across the first 14 games of the season, Michkov lined up on the right side. He had two goals and seven points while averaging 14 minutes, 52 seconds a night. The first of those goals came in Game 4 of the season, and his second came in Game 14 on Nov. 6 against the Nashville Predators.
The next game, on Nov. 8 at home against the Ottawa Senators, he lined up on the left side with Couturier and Bobby Brink. He has stayed on that side of the ice since, regardless of his linemates — although he is back with Brink, but now with Noah Cates as the center.
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet and winger Matvei Michkov have had there disagreements about deployment and responsibilities this season.
At the onset of the switch, it seemed to be working too, as the 21-year-old winger had five goals at five-on-five in the first 10 games and six overall. But over the next 24 contests, he managed just two. Across the past 34 games since switching to left wing, Michkov has 17 points (eight goals, nine assists). He missed one game in January after taking a puck off his foot and has been skating on average 14:30 a night.
“I think there’s been some [better] pace in his game, but I think there’s more,” said Tocchet. “I know he had like [seven] shots last game, but a lot of them are just from the outside, just thrown on the goalie. I want more from him. I want him to do a deep delay, get out of there, move your feet, things like that.”
Matve Michkov’s event map during five-on-five from Wednesday’s loss to the Utah Mammoth.
When delving into the analytics, he is producing at the same 0.50 points per game clip when on the left and right, but he has gone from 0.14 goals per game to 0.24 goals per game since the shift. His shooting percentage has also risen from 7.7% to 11.1%, while his shots per game have risen from 1.86 to 2.12.
According to Natural Stat Trick, at five-on-five, he has also seen his individual shot attempts rise from 2.43 to 3.41 per game, his individual high-danger shot attempts go from 0.71 to 1.03, and his individual scoring chances from 1.5 to 1.82.
Although there are several factors to look at aside from shifting right to left — e.g., linemates, time on ice, the fact that he’sprobablyin better shape now that he’s further removedfrom his offseason ankle injury — statistically, he seems to have been slightly better on the left.
But regardless of side, Michkov’s production hasn’t been anywhere near as good as last year, when the talented youngster averaged 0.79 points per game and led all rookies with 26 goals. The Flyers will hope that starts to change as they close in on the Olympic break (Feb. 6-24).
Breakaways
Nicolas Deslauriers and Hunter McDonald stayed on the ice late, with the veteran showing the youngster some fighting techniques. … Dan Vladař shared a net with Aleksei Kolosov at morning skate as he inches closer to a return from an undisclosed injury. … Sam Ersson (7-8-5, .858 save percentage) was to start in goal against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.
Losers of five straight, the Flyers are spiraling.
To be clear, it’s not that they’re spiraling because they’ve lost five straight. The issue is how the Flyers have been playing during this stretch.
And have they been facing some adversity regarding injuries? Yes. Across the past five games, defenseman Jamie Drysdale missed three with an upper-body injury; forward Bobby Brink (upper-body) has missed five and is now on injured reserve; defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is day-to-day with an upper-body injury; and Dan Vladař was injured against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.
But all teams face adversity. The Flyers just need to play better.
Saturday, the Flyers face a New York Rangers team that is not just spiraling but plummeting. Facing the Rangers is a prime opportunity to get back in the win column, but it won’t happen unless the Flyers correct a bunch of things.
Aside from the power play, which is at 12.5% during the slide, and goaltending — the Flyers went from 2.80 goals-against per game in the first 41 to 5.00 in the past five — needing to, be better, here are five things they need to do to right the ship.
1. Stop taking bad penalties
Is every penalty a bad penalty? No. Is every penalty the correct call by the officials? Absolutely not, and there have been some horrendous calls this season against the Flyers.
But when the penalty kill has been struggling — it went from 80.2% across the first 41 games and is at 61.1% during the five-game losing streak — you have to stay out of the box.
The Flyers have taken 28 penalties during this stretch, which is the most by any team, have been shorthanded 18 times, tied for the second most, and have been shorthanded more than 5 minutes per game. They’ve also allowed the most power-play goals against (seven), three of which came on Thursday in the 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Flyers left Sidney Crosby all alone to score a power-play goal in Thursday’s 6-3 loss to Pittsburgh.
“Yeah, I think it’s just being smarter, not letting frustration creep in. I think it’s, I don’t know, a lot of away from the puck stuff that’s kind of creeped in recently, and I think that’s due to frustration,” forward Owen Tippett said after Wednesday’s game when the Sabres scored twice on the man advantage.
2. Maintain the diamond on the penalty kill
What’s going wrong on the penalty kill? A lot. But the biggest issue is that it has lost its structure.
“Yeah, just really disappointed, like, I’m pretty disappointed,” said coach Rick Tocchet after the Sabres game. “I’m a PK guy, and the reads that we gave them weren’t good. They’re just unacceptable for me, so we’re going to have to tidy that up.”
Tocchet prefers the diamond PK setup to take away point shots, the player in front of the net, and passes to the bumper. The diamond shape is designed to take away specific passing lanes from the player who is typically set up right in the slot in the 1-3-1 structure typically employed by NHL teams.
Buffalo scored two power-play goals on Wednesday, including this one, where all four of the Flyers’ penalty killers got caught too tight together in front of the net, allowing Rasmus Dahlin to walk in and score.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you should ignore the other guys — see Sidney Crosby’s goal Thursday from the right flank. But the Flyers’ structure has fallen apart, and if you’re going to be a team to take penalties, this needs to be airtight.
Remember the good old days of fans yelling, “Shoot the puck?” It was always kind of annoying and probably didn’t come at the right time, but maybe it’s time to start doing that again because, as Wayne Gretzky and Michael Scott said: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
The Flyers have never poured the shots on in Tocchet’s system. They averaged 26.3 in the 41 games before the losing streak, which had them ranked 25th in the NHL. And they have only put more than 30 shots on goal in a game 11 times.
Flyers center Denver Barkey skates with the puck against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, January 12, 2026 in Philadelphia.
Across the losing streak, that average has dipped to 23.8, which is the sixth-fewest — and only looks better than it is because of the 33 shots they put on Stuart Skinner on Thursday night, including 17 in the second period.That’s by far the most in a single period during a stretch in which the Flyers did not have more than 23 shots on goal in a game; in 12 of their previous 13 periods, the Flyers hit double digits just once.
The problem is that at five-on-five, they are getting chances but not scoring. Natural Stat Trick has the Flyers tied for 13th in the NHL at shot attempts (205), but with only 86 shots and six goals during the losing streak. The Flyers are also No. 2 in missed shots during that span (92).
“I think there were a few chances tonight that could have changed, maybe the momentum of the game, but at the end of the day, that’s the part of it, you’ve got to score more goals than the other team,” Drysdale said in Buffalo. “So I think we got better [as the night wore on]. We will be better.
4. Follow Owen Tippett’s lead
Tocchet has long talked about Tippett being a guy he can unlock and how, with his size, speed, and scoring ability, he can be a power forward in the NHL. He just hadn’t put it all together — until maybe now.
The winger has been using his size to lay timely hits — he has 10 in the past five games — that create turnovers, and speed and footwork to drive to the net.
During the Flyers’ loss to Tampa Bay on Monday, he used his speed and body to drive down the boards and set up Sean Couturier for a Grade A chance that went off the post.
And in the overtime loss to Toronto, he was the one who turned on the jets and tried a wraparound that just missed before Trevor Zegras thought he scored an insurance goal on the power play.
His speed pushes defenses back, which led to another Grade A scoring chance, this time for Denver Barkey as he streaked to the net against the Leafs.
Owen Tippett has six goals in his last 13 games.
Now, does Tippett miss the net too much still? Yes. But he has 31 shot attempts across the five games with 18 shots on goal. He also has two goals and one assist.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Flyers have 60 shot attempts to 43 when he is on the ice at five-on-five across the slide. Individually, he leads the team in five-on-five in individual scoring chances (12), shots (14), and individual shot attempts (25).
5. Let the kids play
The Flyers have three kids 22-and-under who bring different elements but have shown they can add to the lineup.
Barkey, 20, was a healthy scratch on Wednesday and bounced back with a two-assist performance against the Penguins. He set up Nick Seeler for a goal and connected with Matvei Michkov on a two-on-one after Couturier made a nice play along the boards to spring them.
Matvei Michkov had a goal and an assist on Thursday. Could he be coming out of his slump?
Despite playing juniors last year, Barkey has shown he has an extremely high hockey IQ and a motor that gets him up and down the ice with efficiency. Did he have two not-so-great games with turnovers leading to goals by the Lightning? Absolutely. But it’s obvious what he can bring, whether teaming up with Tippett or Michkov.
Grebenkin, 22, is a fireplug. He’ll make coverage mistakes and is still uncertain as to when to jump into piles vs. staying back, but he drives to the net, throws the body around, and stands up for his teammates. Considering Tocchet wants his team to go to the net more, he’s heeding the bench boss’s edict — and as noted, he did just that on Tippett’s goal against Buffalo.
And then there’s the polarizing Michkov. The 21-year-old is still learning the North American game, and does appear to be “stuck in mud” at times — watch his skating in the overtime against the Toronto — but his vision and desire for the puck is unmatched.
He scored against a goalie for the first time in 20 games in Buffalo, playing it perfectly by driving to the net on a two-on-one and shooting right off the pass. It’s what the Flyers need to do as a whole, as a lot of their shots are not quick enough, giving the opposition and goalies a chance to stop the play or make the save.
Across the past five games, he has shown that he can provide offense, but he also needs to work on his defensive game. Across all strengths, according to Natural Stat Trick, the Flyers have a 63.99% expected goal share when he is on the ice; Barkey is No. 1 at 81.86%, and Tippett is No. 2 at 67.50%.
And although he’s been on the ice for two goals by the Flyers and six against at even strength — plus the short-handed goal by Laughton — he has the second-highest expected goals for on the Flyers (4.27) behind Zegras 4.99. He even made a nice defensive play on Peyton Krebs in the first period on Wednesday, and has seemingly stopped taking bad penalties
The Flyers need offense — going from 3.02 goals per game in the first 41 to 1.80 the past five — and the Russian has shown he can bring that, whether scoring himself or setting up his teammates.
The Flyers are free fallin’. And not in a fun Tom Petty way, although they may want to leave this world for a while.
Skating on the second night of a back-to-back, the Flyers were handed a 6-3 loss by their Keystone State rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins. It is the Flyers’ fifth straight loss, in which they have been outscored 25-9. They lost 5-2 to the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday in Western New York.
Yikes.
A lot of the blame falls at the feet of special teams. The power play went 0-for-4 and had 12 shot attempts, with five shots on goal. But it’s the penalty kill that has struggled, and add some extra emphasis when you say struggled.
Between Wednesday and Dec. 31, when they allowed two goals on three chances to the Calgary Flames, the Flyers’ penalty kill was brutal at 59.1%. It ranked second-worst, with nine goals allowed in 22 opportunities across seven games. In the 38 games before that, the Flyers ranked sixth-best (83.1%).
So you’d think when facing the third-best power play in the NHL (27.9%), they’d be more disciplined. Instead, by the 13-minute mark of the game, the Flyers had already taken three penalties and were trailing 2-0 via power-play goals.
The first tally came off the stick of Pittsburgh’s Justin Brazeau after Cam York was called for hooking Rickard Rakell on the hands right after he walked in front and got a shot on goal. Before Brazeau scored, the Flyers actually had two shots on goal during the Penguins’ power play; however, with seven seconds left of their man advantage, Brazeau was left alone in front to tap in the puck past Sam Ersson.
Philly then killed off a high-sticking penalty to Travis Sanheim, taken 3 minutes, 53 seconds into the game. But 12:11 into the first period, Garnet Hathaway was called for tripping Kris Letang behind the play. Hathaway didn’t sit long in the box, as nine seconds in, Bryan Rust scored to make it 2-0.
Sean Couturier won the faceoff, but the Penguins recovered the puck, and Rust eventually got it in the left circle. He curled at the top before sending the puck past Ersson’s glove. It looked like York may have been used as a screen.
Early in the second period, after Jamie Drysdale got a shot on goal, the Penguins got the puck, and Thomas Novak sent a stretch pass up to Evgeni Malkin at the Flyers’ blue line. The future Hockey Hall of Famer sent a pass over to Egor Chinakhov, who got past the defense and scored short side past Ersson to make it 3-0.
According to Natural Stat Trick, although they were outscored 2-1 in the second period, the Flyers dominated in shot attempts 34-19. Sixty-one seconds after Chinakov’s goal, Rodrigo Ābols scored his third of the season. After Carl Grundström got the puck along the boards, he sent it to an open York, and Ābols tipped in the point shot as he cut across the crease to make it 3-1.
It was Ābols’ third goal of the season and eighth point (two goals, six assists) in the past 13 games. The Flyers had one goal on 17 shots in the middle frame.
Flyers goaltender Aleksei Kolosov replaced Sam Ersson in the second period and allowed three goals.
Then came an interesting move: coach Rick Tocchet decided to pull Ersson after the Flyers scored. Aleksei Kolosov, who was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Thursday after Dan Vladař was injured on Wednesday, entered after Ersson allowed three goals on 14 shots.
Kolosov allowed three goals on 16 shots in his first NHL appearance since he started in a 2-1 loss to the Flames on Nov. 2.
He did make two big saves, one on Brazeu from 12 feet out and another on Anthony Mantha’s quick shot from the right circle, to keep it close. But with less than two minutes to go in the second period, Pittsburgh’s Blake Lizotte stole the puck from Travis Konecny deep in the Flyers’ end. Noel Acciari got it and crashed the net, putting two whacks on the puck. It popped up, and Lizotte knocked in the floating puck past Kolosov to make it 4-1 Pittsburgh.
In the third period, Sidney Crosby added yet another power-play goal for the Penguins to extend their lead to 5-1. He was sitting all alone on the right side and got a cross-crease pass from Malkin for his 60th goal and 138th point in 93 games against the Flyers.
Connor Dewar made it a touchdown after getting a cross-crease saucer pass from Novak 77 seconds later.
The Flyers did get two more goals in the final frame.
Nick Seeler made it 6-2 with his second goal of the year and his second in the past seven games. Denver Barkey, who was a healthy scratch on Wednesday for the first time in his short NHL career, responded with a pair of assists, beginning with the setup to Seeler.
Barkey took a touch pass off the skate from Noah Cates and fed the Flyers defenseman above the left circle. Seeler skated in and sent a sharp wrister past the glove of Penguins goalie Stuart Skinner.
Later in the period, Barkey set up Matvei Michkov for his 10th goal of the season. Couturier started the play when he got the puck along the boards and attracted two Penguins. It allowed the Flyers to have some space in the neutral zone, and the captain sent a backhand pass to Barkey, who skated into the Penguins’ end with Michkov and just Parker Wotherspoon back. Barkey sent a perfect pass over to the 21-year-old, and Michkov shot the puck off the pass for his first goal past a goalie since Nov. 30. He had an empty-netter against the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 22.
Michkov dropped the gloves in the second period when he went after Lizotte for a hard, high hit on Barkey. He earned an extra for roughing on the play, and Crosby scored his goal on the ensuing power play. Michkov also had four shots on goal, with three coming in short succession atop the crease in the second period. … Owen Tippett had a game-high five shots on goal and nine shot attempts. He also had two hits. … Grundström had a team-high seven hits. His season-high of eight was set on Jan. 8 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. … Forward Nic Deslauriers was a healthy scratch with Barkey back in the lineup.
Up next
The good news for the Flyers is that they face a New York Rangers team spiraling on Saturday (1 p.m., NBCSP). New York has also lost five straight, getting outscored 27-10 in the last four since No. 1 goalie Igor Shesterkin went down with a lower-body injury.
The Flyers have been one of the NHL’s biggest surprises this season with a 22-13-8 record and are seeking a first postseason appearance since 2019-20. With the midway point of the season having just passed, Jackie Spiegel recently caught up with Flyers president Keith Jones to discuss the team’s strong start, timeline for contention, Matvei Michkov’s development, and more.
While Jones says the Flyers are still focused on building something “sustainable,” he did say the players deserve to be rewarded for their strong start and that the team needs to “enhance what they’ve done” as they push for the playoffs.
Jones called Denver Barkey one of the organization’s biggest bright spots in the prospect pool, and also mentioned Porter Martone, Oliver Bonk, Alex Bump, Jack Berglund, and Heikki Ruohonen as others who are making strides.
While Matvei Michkov’s decreased usage and lack of production have been hotly debated, Jones believes this season and the lessons he is learning will be invaluable to his ultimate ceiling in the future.
Note: This interview, which was conducted on Dec. 31, has been edited for brevity.
The Flyers have been one of the NHL’s biggest surprises this season with a 22-13-8 record and are seeking a first postseason appearance since 2019-20. With the midway point of the season having just passed, Jackie Spiegel recently caught up with Flyers president Keith Jones to discuss the team’s strong start, timeline for contention, Matvei Michkov’s development, and more.
Note: This interview, which was conducted on Dec. 31, has been edited for brevity.
Q: Close to the midway point. How would you assess things so far?
A:It’s been a really good, basically, first half of the season for us. Players have advanced, and have kind of fit in and found chemistry, which you figured would take a little bit of time with the number of new faces that we added. The coaching staff has done an excellent job of trying a few different combinations and then figuring out what worked and sticking with it. I think it’s been, from that perspective, a really good beginning to this season.
Q: What have you liked so far about Rick Tocchet as a head coach with the Flyers?
A: A lot. I like the way he communicates with his players. I like the way that he is straightforward, honest, doesn’t allow things to fester, addresses things immediately, and then works really hard to, from a game-to-game basis, improve on things that we may have struggled with in the previous game. His practices or his video [work] with his assistant coaches are very focused on correcting and encouraging, and I think that’s really important, especially with a young team.
Q: When someone is writing a TV script for a series, they sometimes write the ending in advance. Outside of winning the Stanley Cup, what does the end goal look like?
A: The only plan would be to create something that’s sustainable. And there are all kinds of variables, with any professional sport; injuries play a major part. So you can plan all you want and have things that just kind of change those plans, but overall, our goal is to become a playoff team that is a sustainable one. Not just a one-and-done.
So you build that through the foundation of your team, and I’m really pleased with what Danny [Brière] has done, along with Brent Flahr, in starting to really build up our prospect pool. We’re starting to see a couple of those guys arrive, and others getting closer to arriving. And it’s always good when you can have players develop together, build those relationships that can last them a decade or more, playing in the same organization, and that’s what we envision.
Keith Jones believes this season of learning will be good for Matvei Michkov in the long run.
Q: So you prefer to hold on to the assets right now?
A: Yes. In general, we’re not going to mortgage the future in order to have one year and say, ‘Oh, we figured this out. We’re a playoff team.’ So that’s still something that I know Danny’s very focused on and [governor Dan Hilferty] and I will encourage him to stay on that path.
Q: Is there anyone in the prospect pool who stands out to you?
A: I would have liked to tell you it was Denver Barkey, but he’s already arrived on the scene. We’re obviously very happy with the way that he’s progressed. And Oliver Bonk has started to get into form now with the American League team in Lehigh, and it’s been fun to see that team have some success as well.
Alex Bump continues to push and develop … And then we have Jack Berglund, watching him perform extremely well, which we expected at the World Junior tournament. … [With] his size, he has the ability to play in front of the opposition’s net, so he’s very good on the power play in that regard. So, as you build a team, you’re looking for pieces that can take over roles that you feel are necessary in order for you to advance. And he’s one of those guys.
Porter Martone, obviously, is very similar in that regard. He’s an outstanding playmaker for a player of his size, great set of hands. Another leadership type personality. … Heikki Ruohonen is doing an outstanding job for Finland, learning his way at Harvard, which is awesome.
Keith Jones believes Jack Berglund can be a big part of the Flyers’ future.
Q: Matvei Michkov is always a hot topic. How would you evaluate his season thus far?
A: I think it’s going to be a very important year in his career. I think that there’s going to be a lot of development. I think he’s doing a great job of working on the things that he’s being asked to work on. I love his level of compete. I love his ability to stay in there, stay in the fight, and I’m really pleased with the way he’s started to pick things up lately.
His attitude’s been outstanding, and I think when he looks back on his career in 15 years, he’s going to be pretty happy about some of the things that he went through this year in order to get to where he needs to go.
Q: The free agency market is so different today, with so many players already locked up. And you’ve previously discussed the need to upgrade at center. Is it more via trades now?
A: Yeah, there’s a lot that goes into it. You can see what Danny did this offseason, really calculated, smart additions to the team. And then you get to know the players even better when they’re under your watch. So a lot that has to do with internal growth and then also having the ability, whether it’s cap space, whether it’s prospects, whether it’s draft choices, to jump and go after something that’s really enticing. So we’re always looking.
Q: Can you just take us quickly through the Trevor Zegras trade and how you think his season is going thus far?
A: He’s done a great job. And it’s really proof of Danny’s willingness to wait for the right time, and he was really patient on this one with Anaheim. It’s been well documented that it was a long process. Trevor kind of fit what we were looking for, and he has been all that and more with what he’s done for us. So I give Danny a lot of credit on that one as well as he waited for the right time to find the right deal that worked for both teams at that time, and we’ve been able to really see the benefits of that in our lineup.
The Flyers have been one of the NHL’s biggest surprises this season with a 22-13-8 record and are seeking a first postseason appearance since 2019-20. With the midway point of the season having just passed, Jackie Spiegel recently caught up with Flyers president Keith Jones to discuss the team’s strong start, timeline for contention, Matvei Michkov’s development, and more.
Note: This interview, which was conducted on Dec. 31, has been edited for brevity.
Q: Close to the midway point. How would you assess things so far?
A:It’s been a really good, basically, first half of the season for us. Players have advanced, and have kind of fit in and found chemistry, which you figured would take a little bit of time with the number of new faces that we added. The coaching staff has done an excellent job of kind of trying a few different combinations and then figuring out what worked and sticking with it. I think it’s been, from that perspective, a really good beginning to this season.
Q: What have you liked so far about Rick Tocchet as a head coach with the Flyers?
A: A lot. I like the way he communicates with his players. I like the way that he is straightforward, honest, doesn’t allow things to fester, addresses things immediately, and then works really hard to, from a game-to-game basis, improve on things that we may have struggled with in the previous game. His practices or his video [work] with his assistant coaches are very focused on correcting and encouraging, and I think that’s really important, especially with a young team.
Q: You talk about staying in the moment, but you are sitting in a playoff spot. Are you still looking at things through the glass, that this is still a rebuild?
A: I think we’ve been clear that the players will decide. So obviously, it’s a very important stretch over the next six to eight weeks of play. And the players have done a really good job of putting themselves in a position where we’re going to look to enhance what they’ve done. Previously, that was not the approach. It’s really important that we reward our players for playing so hard for one another and for us.
Keith Jones and Danny Brière say that the team’s rebuild and no upward trajectory has been a collaborative effort.
Q: Two years ago, management had a similar statement about the players deciding the approach. But then Sean Walker was traded, and things kind of fell apart. Do you use that as a warning now?
A: I think it’s just a different time for us now in our development. So I think it’s a combination of things. I think looking back on what we did there was the right thing to do, and that’s why we did it. Same as last year. But this year feels different. And we’re a couple more years into what we’re trying to eventually accomplish. So it’s just about being there for one another to remind each other where we’re at in this process, and having the support of [governor] Dan Hilferty and [Comcast CEO] Brian Roberts on top of that, really makes it a job that we want to get right.
Q: When someone is writing a TV script for a series, they sometimes write the ending in advance Beyond winning a Stanley Cup, what’s the end goal here look like?
A: The only plan would be to create something that’s sustainable. And there are all kinds of variables, with any professional sport; injuries play a major part. So you can plan all you want and have things that just kind of change those plans, but overall, our goal is to become a playoff team that is a sustainable one. Not just a one-and-done.
So you build that through the foundation of your team, and I’m really pleased with what Danny [Brière] has done, along with Brent Flahr, in starting to really build up our prospect pool. We’re starting to see a couple of those guys arrive, and others getting closer to arriving. And it’s always good when you can have players develop together, build those relationships that can last them a decade or more, playing in the same organization, and that’s what we envision.
Q: Do you look at things from the perspective that the first step is playoffs, and then being a sustainable playoff team, and then, after all that, building a Stanley Cup contender? Or does it all happen at once?
A: If you’re a consistent playoff team, you’re a contender in my eyes. There are always tweaks that can take place when you’re in that position. You’ll see teams that are there right now; they’ll trade some of their draft equity and younger players in order to really enhance their opportunity of winning. So eventually we’ll get to that place. We’re not there right now, but I look forward to when we are there.
Q: So you prefer to hold on to the assets right now.
A: Yes. In general. We’re not going to mortgage the future in order to have one year and say, ‘Oh, we figured this out. We’re a playoff team.’ So that’s still something that I know Danny’s very focused on and [Hilferty] and I will encourage him to stay on that path.
Could St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas be the type of player the Flyers cash in some of their future chips for?
Q: In working with Brière, how much is it his vision or is it a team vision with you, Hilferty, and him?
A: Well, he’s the general manager. When it comes to players and acquisitions, that’s Danny’s job. My job is to help him with that, enhance that, give him the resources that he needs to make that happen. But Danny’s a general manager, and he’s a really good one.
Q: Is there anyone in the prospect pool who stands out to you?
A: Yeah, I would have liked to tell you it was Denver Barkey, but he’s already arrived on the scene. We’re obviously very happy with the way that he’s progressed. And Oliver Bonk has started to get into form now with the American League team in Lehigh, and it’s been fun to see that team have some success as well.
Alex Bump continues to push and develop … And then we have Jack Berglund, [we’ve been] watching him perform extremely well, which we expected at the World Junior tournament. He’s the captain of Team Sweden, and he’s producing at a high rate. That’s really exciting for us. With his size, he has the ability to play in front of the opposition’s net, so he’s very good on the power play in that regard. So, as you build a team, you’re looking for pieces that can take over roles that you feel are necessary in order for you to advance. And he’s one of those guys.
Porter Martone, obviously, is very similar in that regard. He’s an outstanding playmaker for a player of his size, great set of hands. Another leadership type personality. He is the captain of the Canadian team. It’s a great honor for him, and we’re thrilled about that.
Just like Denver Barkey, he was the captain of the London Knights that won the Memorial Cup. Oliver Bonk was an assistant captain. These are the type of players that we want in our organization. That’s a handful of them. Heikki Ruohonen is doing an outstanding job for Finland, learning his way at Harvard, which is awesome.
Q: Max Westergård has also looked impressive at World Juniors. What have you seen from him?
A: Yeah, he can fly. Brent Flahr shines in the fifth round. He’s had some great fifth-round picks.
Q: Speaking of the fifth round, let’s talk Alex Bump. Why wasn’t he the one to get the call-up recently?
A: He just needs more seasoning, that’s all. There are just little parts of the game that he’s going to figure out, and it’s much easier to figure out down there before you come up here. He’s doing everything we’re asking him to do. He continues to improve. He’s done some amazing things offensively, which we know he can do, and he’s not far off. But he’s an exciting prospect for us.
He’s showing great patience as well. He demonstrated that last year at the end of his college season, not burning a year on his entry-level contract and electing to go down and play in the American Hockey League. He’s sharp. He gets it. And he’s going to be rewarded for his patience, and we will be for ours as well.
Rookie Alex Bump, who is second on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms with 20 points in 28 games, could be close to earning an NHL debut.
Q: How do you balance development then? Using Alex Bump as an example. He’s building his game, and maybe he is finally ready to make the next step, but there’s no room. How do you balance that?
A: You want the player to force you to make room, so that’s affecting his game in the minors to the point where you can’t keep them down there anymore. So they’ll let you know, just like our team up here lets us know where they’re at. Just by observing and watching, and paying attention, the players will tell you when it’s time to come up.
Q: Matvei Michkov is always a hot topic. How would you evaluate his season thus far?
A: I think it’s going to be a very important year in his career. I think that there’s going to be a lot of development. I think he’s doing a great job of working on the things that he’s being asked to work on. I love his level of compete. I love his ability to stay in there, stay in the fight, and I’m really pleased with the way he started to pick things up lately.
His attitude’s been outstanding, and I think when he looks back on his career in 15 years, he’s going to be pretty happy about some of the things that he went through this year in order to get to where he needs to go.
Q: How would you gauge your defense now with Rasmus Ristolainen back?
A: Solid’s a good word. Underrated is probably another good word too. There’s a really good mix of intelligence and athleticism, size. I like the balance that’s there.
And I like having the option of Noah Juulsen there as well; I like that he brings physicality, has a tremendous attitude, and doesn’t change whether he’s in the lineup or not. He’s a really good team guy, and those are important parts of the puzzle, too, because there are not enough chairs when the music stops on a nightly basis. So you need players who are not so much accepting of that, but are willing to do whatever it takes to get back in the lineup.
Q: Are there any areas you want to improve on with the roster?
A: As it jumps out to me right now, there’s nothing immediately. We’re always looking to get better. If something’s there, we’re going to do it to get better.
Q: The free agency market is so different today, with so many players already locked up. And you’ve previously discussed the need to upgrade at center. Is it more via trades now?
A: Yeah, there’s a lot that goes into it. You can see what Danny did this offseason, really calculated, smart additions to the team. And then you get to know the players even better when they’re under your watch. So a lot that has to do with internal growth and then also having the ability, whether it’s cap space, whether it’s prospects, whether it’s draft choices, to jump and go after something that’s really enticing. So we’re always looking.
Q: How do you handle the salary cap rising? Does it change things?
A: We love it. We think it’s great. I wish it would go up another 50 million. But we’re lucky, because we have great ownership, that’s the one huge advantage that we have. So we welcome it.
Flyers forward Trevor Zegras has been a revelation in his first season with the team.
Q: You were the team’s president when Travis Sanheim almost got traded to the St Louis Blues. He was just named to Hockey Canada’s roster for the Olympics. What’s it been like watching his development and growth, and looking back, are you happy you didn’t make that trade?
A: It’s been awesome. The only reason you would ever make a trade like that is because you’re getting a boatload back, and depending on where you’re at in your evolution, those trades sometimes do happen. But are we surprised that Travis is doing the things that he’s doing? No. So we’re really pleased for him. He’s obviously a huge minute-muncher for us on the back end. It’s a joy to watch him skate and come barreling up the ice. He’s just a super good kid, and we’re all really proud of him.
Q: Brière seems to be finding diamonds in the rough. For example, there was Walker, Ryan Poehling, and now Carl Grundström. Can you explain what Danny Brière is doing?
A: He’s very patient and methodical, thoughtful, and there are 1,000 phone calls a day that he’s making. So it’s from a relentless work ethic and a really high level of intelligence in the hockey world. Yeah, not surprised that he’s doing as well as he is.
Q: Can you just take us quickly through the Trevor Zegras trade and how you think his season is going thus far?
A: He’s done a great job. And it’s really proof of Danny’s willingness to wait for the right time, and he was really patient on this one with Anaheim. It’s been well documented that it was a long process. Trevor kind of fit what we were looking for, and he has been all that and more with what he’s done for us. So I give Danny a lot of credit on that one as well as he waited for the right time to find the right deal that worked for both teams at that time, and we’ve been able to really see the benefits of that in our lineup.
Q: Can you just expand on what you mean by he fit what we were looking for?
A: You’re always looking for high skill level, talented players, and at the time, he was a distressed asset. So that’s what you have to do. You have to be thoughtful and a little bit lucky, and provide an environment where the player can shine. Our players help in that regard, too. So it’s a full organizational effort, starting at the top.
Q: What would be your message to the fans right now?
A: First of all, thank you. I see our fans all the time, and I appreciate them supporting us. I think that we’re trying to get it right for them. We’ve [Danny and I] played in front of them, in playoff positions, and we want our guys to experience that as well because I know they’re just terrific hockey fans that can really bring you to another level when you play in front of a packed house, and that’s what we’re working towards.
I thank them for continuing to come out to games, follow the team, and I just would let them know that, which we do often when we see them, we’re going to do everything we can to try to get this right.
The Flyers returned home to the friendly confines of their training center in Voorhees after a solid 3-2-0 road swing, one that included three stops in Western Canada.
But they are a man down Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks (7 p.m., NBCSP) with Matvei Michkov out due to injury. The Flyers announced before puck drop that Michkov is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Earlier in the day, coach Rick Tocchet said Michkov, who did not practice Monday but returned to the ice for an optional morning skate Tuesday, was a game-time decision with a foot injury.
“Mich had an X-ray that was negative yesterday. He’s got a little bit of swelling, but he’s going to skate. It’d probably be a game-time decision on him,” Tocchet said on Tuesday.
It’s worth noting that Michkov stayed on the ice late Tuesday with the expected healthy scratches, so that indicated he was unlikely to play tonight.
According to Tocchet, the winger took a puck off his foot on Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers. “We didn’t know until [Monday],” Tocchet said.
Per #Flyers coach Rick Tocchet, Matvei Michkov took a shot off his foot and mentioned it today. He is getting checked out. https://t.co/dhb9dBmtCI
It appears to have happened Saturday during the Flyers’ power play in the third period of their 5-2 win. Skating in the neutral zone, Trevor Zegras went to zing a cross-ice pass to Christian Dvorak standing at the opposite end of the blue line. Instead, the pass attempt went off the left skate of Michkov as he skated by. Michkov picked up his leg and seemed to wince after the contact.
The apparent injury happened seven seconds into a one-minute power-play shift by Michkov. The 21-year-old winger did skate two more shifts, including a 43-second shift that started with 70 seconds left in the game.
Michkov has nine goals and 23 points in 40 games this season, with his best game coming against the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 30. He had the secondary assist on Bobby Brink’s goal, the eventual game-winner against the Oilers, when he took his time and hit Cam York as he skated down the middle. York’s shot went in off the leg of Brink.
It is the first time in his NHL career that he will miss a game due to injury. Michkov was a healthy scratch for two games last season under then-coach John Tortorella.
Breakaways
The Pittsburgh Penguins waived former Flyers defenseman Egor Zamula on Monday for the purpose of terminating his contract, and he cleared on Tuesday. Zamula, who was traded by the Flyers last week, was suspended by the Penguins for refusing to report to the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. An unrestricted free agent, Zamula signed a one-year deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
In mid-October, Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said the quiet part out loud.
“I know he’s the lightning rod for everybody around here,” he said of Matvei Michkov.
A talented offensive player, the recently turned 21-year-old Russian, who arrived in North America two years earlier than expected, led the Flyers — and all NHL rookies — with 26 goals and finished second on the team with 63 points last season. He also won the league’s rookie of the month award twice, becoming the first Flyer in 30 years to do so.
But this season, Michkov has struggled to find that spark with 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in 34 games. He has also taken several unnecessary penalties and seen his ice time decrease from 16 minutes, 41 seconds last season to 14:43 this year.
Although Natural Stat Trick has the Flyers with 51.74% of the shot attempts when Michkov is on the ice — tops on the team — and an expected goal-share of 53.6%, which is No. 2 among players who have played at least five games, he has struggled defensively and shown a tendency to cherry-pick at times.
As Tocchet said, he is a lightning rod, so, of course, he is often a topic of conversation.
On Saturday, the television broadcast caught Michkov, Tocchet, and assistant coach Jaroslav “Yogi” Svejkovský having an animated conversation on the bench. The conversation appeared to happen right after Michkov drew a minor penalty when New York Rangers winger Will Cuylle cross-checked him from behind.
“It happens all the time. It’s not Mich, it’s just a story, because it’s Mich. It wasn’t even an argument. It was about when he should switch, and not with [Denver] Barkey. And he’s getting it, when to switch and when not to on the power play,” Tocchet said, although it’s not clear if he meant to say power play as he did appear to stop himself, and the Flyers were heading to their first power play of the game.
“But that was all. He was just getting frustrated on when to switch and when he shouldn’t switch. I know it’s a lot of media people like to let him do what he wants. But there’s a time to switch and when not to switch, and that’s really what it comes down to.”
It is worth noting that Michkov and Barkey picked up assists on Travis Sanheim’s power-play goal directly following the Russian’s animated conversation with Tocchet.
Michkov has five assists in December but does not have a goal this month. A follow-up question asked the bench boss about Michkov having the right attitude but getting frustrated when he’s not scoring.
Flyers right wing Matvei Michkov, 21, has just 19 points in 34 games this season.
“Guys who want to score goals get frustrated, but you can’t let it affect your overall game,” Tocchet said. “You’ve got to continue to go to the spots, you keep going to the middle, keep getting to that slot area when you already have two guys down low, like — don’t go behind the net — like things like that.
“He’s just got to stay with it, because he’ll get those chances. He had some chances against the Rangers. … Now he’s got [to] play a little faster and separate himself. That’s what it comes down to. You can’t get frustrated, and just keep working.”
Barkey and Michkov switched one time before the bench interaction. It came with 11:49 left in the first period, and it occurred after Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin froze the puck. So was it about switching shifts and the short shifts by Michkov that have been discussed recently?
“We tell our players, when you’re tired, get off. So if he’s tired after 20 seconds, get off. I don’t know. I don’t know what you want me to say. Yeah, he’s getting enough shifts. He’s coming off short because sometimes he’s tired. I don’t know what the big deal of that is,” Tocchet snapped.
The fourth question about Michkov noted that Tocchet and the Russian winger were seen speaking before practice. Does the coach like that he’s willing to work on things, showing his sheer competitiveness?
“We’re 17-10[-7], we have a good record. I’ve answered six Michkov questions. I mean, enough is enough,” Tocchet said.
“We’ve got [Dan] Vladař having a great year. [Jamie] Drysdale is playing really good five-on-five for us. [Cam York’s] doing a really good job. We’ve got a lot of other players playing good and a team game.
“I mean, this is the fifth question. I appreciate it, but you’re trying to make something that it’s not. He’s got to learn to play the game, and he’s trying. He’s a lot better defensively. He’s a lot better playing a team game, and that’s how you win hockey. It’s not about catering to one person. I hate to tell you guys. That’s it.”
Breakaways
Goalie Aleksei Kolosov was sent back to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Monday morning. Vladař (upper-body injury) and Christian Dvorak (lower-body injury), who both missed Saturday’s game against the Rangers, were at the team’s morning skate. Tocchet expects Dvorak to play, but said Vladař is a game-time decision. … Barkey will make his Xfinity Mobile Arena debut on Monday against the Vancouver Canucks (7:30 p.m., NHLN, NBCSP). … Defenseman Noah Juulsen and forwards Garnet Hathaway and Nic Deslauriers are expected to be healthy scratches.
