The second NHL season for Matvei Michkov fell well short of the expectations many held for him.
His debut year, a 63-point haul (26g, 37a) that landed him fourth in the Calder balloting, gave way this season to a much quieter line of 20 goals and 31 assists for 51 points. The bigger worry was his playoff production: a single helper across eight games, on top of several nights when he was scratched while healthy.
As Anthony Di Marco of the Daily Faceoff reports, those troubles have left the winger arguably a touch more movable than people once assumed, with the franchise prepared to entertain calls on its roster during summer dealings. Philadelphia jolted the league by punching a playoff ticket, dispatching Pittsburgh in the opening round before getting swept by Carolina in the East's second round.
In his piece, Di Marco notes that while Philadelphia feels no urgency to move Michkov, the winger no longer appears quite so untouchable in the way many had assumed. Speaking with sources inside the team earlier that week, he writes, DFO learned the Flyers would "listen on everyone" if doing so bettered the roster, the same approach any sound NHL club takes. Still, because that remark came up amid a discussion about Michkov, Di Marco regards it as at least mildly significant, given that the label "untouchable" had long been attached to the winger.
He was sidelined for the fifth game opposite Pittsburgh as well as the fourth versus Carolina, each a Philadelphia loss. Over the playoff run his nightly ice time averaged only 11:49, a drop of 3:01 from his 14:50 regular-season clip. Rick Tocchet, the head coach, had already scaled his usage back well below his rookie 2024-25 average of 16:41 a night.
During his year-end media session, Michkov chalked it up to the coach's decision. As he put it, his responsibility is to get out there and carry out his role, and if the staff opts to keep him out, he must accept that, return to training, and keep pushing toward the best possible outcome. Whatever lies beyond his control, he noted, is simply beyond his control.
Criticism trailed Michkov for much of the year, with reports that he arrived at camp in poor condition and labored to bounce back from an ankle injury suffered over the summer. Philadelphia had already weathered a rocky stretch with him as a first-year player, when he feuded with then-bench-boss John Tortorella in both public and private settings.
Tocchet, speaking on a Wednesday, said the player already has an array of plans lined up for the summer, which he viewed positively. He pointed to areas Michkov could sharpen, such as separation speed and his shot, while stressing the same applied to virtually every young player and that improvement across all facets was the expectation.
Setting aside any off-ice questions and the room he has to develop, Michkov proved alarmingly ineffective at even strength during the postseason as well. Whenever he was on the sheet, Philadelphia's numbers cratered: a shot-attempt rate of merely 30.6 percent, expected goals around 31 percent, a 24.6 percent share of the scoring opportunities, and a high-danger share of just 20.2 percent. That degree of futility invites questions about whether this 21-year-old forward has mentally tuned out and whether the Flyers would welcome a move involving him before the closing year on his entry-level pact.
Tocchet pushed back on singling him out, saying it wasn't as though everyone played their best, and that a few players struggled. He stressed it was Michkov's debut playoff experience as a second-year pro, and suggested that if the same had befallen another young player, nobody would bat an eye, though the pressure magnified it. The team, he said, simply needs to give the kid space, noting he believes Michkov has made considerable progress this year even if he can't speak to the previous one.
Word is that Philadelphia hopes to add a "scoring-line centerman" before next year, and Michkov could serve as the chip to land the player it covets. Should that No. 7 pick from his draft year truly become available, he figures to attract a host of suitors eager to test whether they can tap into the upside he flashed more readily as a freshman.