Diehard Exclusive
Unlock Your Full Philadelphia Flyers Experience
This premium content is a Philadelphia Flyers Diehard exclusive.
DIEHARD MEMBERSHIP
$79.99
/year
As a Diehard, you'll get:
Plus
Join Now
Cancel anytime. No questions asked.
Manage Membership
You're already a Diehard! Manage your subscription from your dashboard.
Already a Diehard?
Sign In
13 Comments (8 conversations)
Bob MCH
It would not shock me if MM is traded in the off season as part of a move to land a 1-C. T just does not seem to believe in the player, ice time the key tell. But who knows at this point.
David LaVeck
Good arguments for benching Michkov. The thing is Tocchet has essentially been benching him all season, it has just happened on the bench. Going into the playoffs there is a case to be made that Michkov was their best player, at least scoring-wise. The only time that he was moved up the lineup, he was the best player on the ice against a full team that was trying to win. It is almost as if his points mean nothing. To have over 50 points with 3rd/4th line minutes all season is a minor miracle. He has never been put in an advantageous position by his coach. He has scored despite this. In saying all this, he needs to get better defensively, he needs to hold onto the puck better, etc. The thing is that he scores despite all these deficiencies, that is amazing to me. It comes down to this: to take one of your best scorers out on a team that struggles to finish is foolish. I just hope they can win despite the team’s deficiencies. Tocchet refuses to put him on PP1 when all it does is struggle. It is almost as if he doesn’t want it to succeed which is bizarre. Why wouldn’t you mix it up until it clicks? IMO no one on PP1 has earned their spot this season yet the same players are there every time to lose the face-off and possession non-stop. I have no hope that Tocchet will ever do right by Michkov, the proof is there and you can see it without even looking very hard.
Charlie O'Connor
AuthorI guess I disagree with this framing. I don’t think he’s been “quiet benched” this season. He’s obviously not playing high up the lineup, but I think it’s a dramatic overstatement to call third-line minutes and consistent power play time a “benching.”
As for the PP, they really don’t have a PP1 or PP2. In Games 1 through 4, he was on a unit with Travis Konecny (the team’s top scorer) and Owen Tippett (a dynamic offensive player). And then Michkov, who has high-end offensive talent. Is that really a “PP2” just because Trevor Zegras isn’t on the unit too? I think it’s more that the Flyers have two PP2s.
David LaVeck
Fair enough, I was just folding all the low minutes throughout the season into a pseudo-benching which may or may not be fair. I can see it either way. I just see a player that is given far less than others and has to make do. I do admit that using benching is a little extreme but I was just trying to show he is being kept off the ice purposefully. I get it, this is a defensive team, and Michkov is not a defensive player hence he loses out.
By PP1, I mean mostly the same players that get the first shift, almost every game and the majority of the ice time. It needs to be rotated until a unit is found to work. Currently the two units as formed are not working. They lose the initial face-off more than they do not and possession as well. If the top unit is working then stick either it but it not, clearly.
The last thing I will say about Michkov is that he limits his own ice time, he never overstays his shift, there is no need to keep him off the ice he is doing it himself already.
Anthony Pozzi
He deserves to sit to my eyes thru 4 games their worst forward. He also has an extremely bright future.
But right now he has to earn his ice time , the players know who deserves to be in the lineup. Coach has to be responsible to 20 plus guys . MM is a young player struggling not the end of the world .
Vandit Kalia
Charlie, your successor over at Athletic has an interesting post, where he makes 2 points:
1). Michkov needed (and still needs) to be convinced that team comes ahead of individual stats
2). Other players didn’t want to play on the same line as him.
Have you heard anything along these lines?
Charlie O'Connor
AuthorThe first thing, sure, I haven’t heard that specifically but it lines up with Michkov’s general attitude. It’s not that he doesn’t care about the team, but he basically views it as his job to score goals in order to help the team so for him, individual success = team success. Which isn’t a very North American way to see it.
The second thing is new to me. It wouldn’t shock me, given the fact that I know players on the team have gotten frustrated with his style of play this season and even last season (I’ve mentioned this on the PHLY Flyers podcast) but I haven’t heard that specifically.
Vandit Kalia
Gotcha – thank you for that. I can see the first, but the second is surprising. Hopefully he was adjust better as his language skills improve.
Michael S
Tocchet has a dial that can be turned to “more potential offense” or “definitely more defense and pace and size and more shots.”
After Mich’s first four games, I’d turn the dial to the right just as Tocchet did.
Mich will be great next year. And, maybe he’ll be great against Carolina. He is not checking any boxes against the Pens.
John Weston
I’ve contended for a while, that one of my biggest concerns this season is that 39 does some of his best “thinking” when the team has a two goal lead. That needs to improve/mature, or be weeded out.
But the biggest elephant in the room, and question I am surprised went unaddressed in this article and other discussions regarding 39 is, one year from today, when the Flyers are back in the playoffs(gawd willing) just how much faster and more physically relevant do we expect 39 to be?
Exactly what will this offseason training and development look like? Is he going to go to Keeneland and have a huge development leap in conditioning from his 2 to 3 year old horse racing season?
I’m not sure there are enough droogs available to allow his skating/physicality to not be a liability(particularly in the playoffs), which then causes him have to choose one side or the other of the puck to be on. Because by now, we have a pretty fair hunch as to which side he prefers to spend his limited time.
I’m not calling a November PED suspension, but I also wouldn’t be shocked either….
Michael S
I hear you. But, it’s important to remember that this team is like the wood and rebar shell of a pool that is being installed. The concrete (I forget what pool material is called) gets installed after.
Mich is the material that gets installed after.
That’s not a bad thing at all, and his experience of being (weak) rebar will eventually be a huge asset. That dude is competitive. He will be fine.
Randy
I wish Tocchet would at least learn to say Matvei properly–it’s embarrassing and not a good look when some folks out there have convinced themselves he has it out for the kid, which I don’t necessarily believe.
He constantly mispronounced Grebenkin, too–like make some effort, dude. Problem w/ Russians, some are thinking….
And by the by, who wouldn’t love to see Grebs in this series? Imagine him banging Penguins into and off the boards! Next year.
Robert Thrash
100% could see the Flyers trading MM. Typical…