Who Torts scratches sometimes makes no sense to me, but in this case, I get where he’s coming from. However, having watched Michkov’s teammates consistently whiff on his excellent setups, I think his work on 5-on-5 would be a non-issue elsewhere.

This makes sense – even a star has to play within the system and structure of the team in order to maximize his talent and the returns to the team.

Separately: yes, as Jason says – Michkov desperately needs an elite talent as a linemate!

Having the team develop AND lose a lot because of leaky backup goaltending is low-key a pretty good outcome.

We didn’t see Lindros a healthy scratch in his rookie year. This is nonsense. Let the kid play, he’ll figure it out. Confidence is critical. Torts is not the right coach for a rebuild. You get him after the talent is obtained, not during or before. He has to go. MM has to play, all the time, let the locker room teach him if he needs some tweaking, don’t sit him. Dumb move. You don’t sit stars. Nope. Torts is wrong here. The kid plays his heart out. His mistakes are growing pains, through effort, not a lack of effort or outright rebellion. He will learn on his own. Get Torts outta here. Wrong coach for this team. Time for a coaching change.