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Greg Wyshynski, ESPNOct 5, 2024, 08:00 AM ET
- Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.
IT’S THE BIGGEST MYSTERY surrounding the Philadelphia Flyers, one whose answer could make or break their season:
“Can they coexist?”
Can Matvei Michkov, the 19-year-old Russian-born rookie whose offensive dexterity is only eclipsed by his boundless enthusiasm, find harmony with coach John Tortorella, whose legendary adherence to “playing the right way” has seen him bench or scratch young talent when they failed to meet his standards?
“I have no doubt that there’s going to be some fireworks here and there, just like he has with almost every single player,” Flyers general manager Danny Briere predicted. “At the end of the day, Torts is the coach and he’s going to manage him. He’s going to teach him to be a pro. Torts’ goal is to make Matvei the best player he can be.”
The ends may justify the means, but the means can be frustrating for his players. Just ask any player who has received some of Tortorella’s trademark tough love while being deprived of playing time.
While Tortorella is a demanding coach, he’s also a realist. The Flyers were 27th in the NHL in goals per game last season (2.82). Michkov can score goals as well as he can create them for others, hitting the highlight reel with frequency. Tortorella and Michkov connected over the summer to establish expectations for his rookie season.
“I can’t wait to see how he is going to create offense [in the NHL]. I think his brain is pretty special,” Briere said. “We haven’t had this type of player in a long while here.”
Out of offensive necessity — and in defiance of his reputation — Tortorella seems ready to let Michkov be Michkov, for the betterment of the Flyers.
“We are starving for the types of instinctive plays that he can make,” said Tortorella, in his third year coaching in Philadelphia. “I’m not interested in turning him into a checker. We want to lay the foundation. It’s going to take time. But are we going to beat him over the head with it? No.”
The Flyers don’t just need the goals that Michkov can generate. They need the vibes. At least that’s how Tortorella sees it.
Like when Michkov scored his first goal of the preseason into an empty net. He skated over and jumped into the glass near the fans, before enthusiastically hugging his teammates, in what was essentially a practice game.
“He scored an empty-netter in an exhibition game, and it was like it was Game 7,” Tortorella said. “I love that about him. I think it rubs off on the team.”
MICHKOV WAS AN INTERNATIONAL man of mystery heading into the 2023 NHL draft.
Some scouts claimed the winger had the highest talent ceiling outside of No. 1 pick Connor Bedard. But some questioned why Michkov skipped the scouting combine and met with only certain teams, fueling speculation that he was trying to maneuver his way to a specific landing spot — something the player has denied.
There was another wrinkle: Michkov was under contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League for the next three seasons, meaning that his NHL debut wouldn’t theoretically come until 2026-27.
Undaunted, the Flyers selected him seventh.
“I do have a contract, but I’m hoping as soon as I can get out, I’m going to come here,” Michkov said after being drafted.
“It is what it is,” Briere said at the time. “We know he has a contract for three more seasons. But we just felt after watching him play and meeting him, we felt he’s a talent we can’t pass up. If we have to wait, we’ll wait.”
The wait wasn’t long. Michkov spent one more season in the KHL and then jumped to the NHL this summer.
It was the second high-profile Russian player that Briere’s front office managed to bring over to North America. Goalie Ivan Fedotov, whom the team drafted in 2015, finally arrived with the Flyers last season after a rather circuitous journey. He’s expected to form a goaltending battery with Samuel Ersson this season.
Fedotov put up strong numbers in the KHL and helped the athletes from Russia win Olympic silver in the 2022 Beijing Games. The Flyers signed him in 2022, but Fedotov was reportedly taken by Russian authorities to a remote military base in the Arctic Circle for a year of service, which they claimed he was trying to avoid by going to the NHL.
“The military took him back. So it took a little longer for him,” Briere said.
Philadelphia tolled Fedotov’s NHL contract, assuming that he’d report one year later. Instead, the KHL announced he had signed a two-year contract with CSKA Moscow.
In 2024, after the CSKA Moscow season ended, it was announced that Fedotov’s KHL contract had been terminated, and he joined the Flyers for three games last season.
The Flyers have been guarded about how they managed to get Fedotov and Michkov under contract.
When asked about Michkov specifically, Briere said it was the young standout’s desire to compare his talents with the best in the world.
“You need a willingness from the player as well. Ivan wanted to be here. Matvei wanted to be here,” he said. “Matvei’s so competitive. He wants to show the world that he belongs up there with them.”
Michkov and Fedotov are critical players for the Flyers this season. They’re also products of Russia, entering the NHL at a time when the international hockey community’s relationship with the country is strained.
Russia and Belarus have been banned from the IIHF world championships for three years because of the invasion of Ukraine. The International Olympic Committee will decide about their eligibility for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy by May. In February, the NHL is holding a tournament that features four nations but doesn’t involve Russia, as the league couldn’t figure out how to move forward with another World Cup without its participation.
The focus for the Flyers remains on the ice, according to the GM, where the Flyers are pushing for their first playoff berth since 2020 and their first Stanley Cup since 1975.
The Michkov-Tortorella partnership will be a crucial component to that push.
MICHKOV UNDERSTANDS HOW MUCH buzz surrounds his arrival in Philadelphia. Like when he showed up to training camp and saw dozens of fans already wearing his jersey, which is something he said he’s never experienced before as a player.
The Flyers are doing what they can to temper expectations on Michkov’s first NHL campaign.
“I’m realistic. It’s going to be a tough season for him. This is the best league in the world. It’s a big step. It’s not going to be easy,” Briere said. “So my expectations are actually pretty low. I’m excited to watch him play, but he’s going to have to go through a lot before he’s the player that he expects to be.”
Tortorella has a menu of things Michkov will need to work on as a rookie.
“Shift length is something we’re going to concentrate on with him,” he said. “He hasn’t played 82 games.”
Tortorella drew a comparison between Rangers star Artemi Panarin — whom he coached with the Columbus Blue Jackets — and Michkov, in the way they can quickly accelerate when their team gains possession of the puck.
“It’s funny how you watch a guy like [Panarin], where it might be a little bit of a struggle to get back when you don’t have the puck, and how quickly it comes back when they do have the puck,” the coach said. “Bread is one of the best at it, and I think Mich has a little bit of that.”
Tortorella said there’s a discernible jump in quality of play from exhibition season to the regular season that Michkov will have to handle, and that “situational play” will be one of the biggest learning curves for him.
“I think that’s the key thing when you’re dealing with offensive players. There are certain times in the game when you’ve just got to be simple. You may have to fight another day to make that play,” he said. “That’s something I know we’re going to have to teach him. But I want to let him go. We’re not going to try to stifle him in any way as far as his creativity.”
For all the concerns about the coexistence between Michkov and Tortorella, the coach says he wants to just let him fly.
“You get happy for a 19-year-old kid, coming from overseas, spotlight on him a little bit, and he just goes and plays,” he said. “When I think of myself at that age, there’s not a chance I could be doing the things he’s doing. I was never mature enough. So it’s fun for an older person to look at a young kid enjoying himself and handling the situation like he has.”
John Tortorella, living vicariously through Matvei Michkov. Who knew?
