Flyers’ Matvei Michkov must learn — and adapt — after season of inconsistency (original) (raw)

VOORHEES, N.J. — It was an uncomfortable start to Matvei Michkov’s season-ending media availability on Tuesday at the Philadelphia Flyers’ training facility. Asked his general thoughts about his season that just concluded — a softball, of course, primarily designed to get him talking — Michkov declined to answer.

“Hard questions,” Michkov said, in English. And then, “no comments,” he added in Russian, as interpreted by Flyers team staffer Slava Kuznetsov, seated next to him.

OK then.

It quickly got better, though. Michkov did open up a bit over the next 11 minutes, and his answers should at least temporarily calm the waters when it comes to his future with the organization.

• Regarding his getting healthy scratched in the season-ending Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday: “It’s a coach’s decision. I’m a player that should go on the ice and do my job. If the coach decides I have to miss the game, I have to take it. Go back on the ice and train and work for the best. Unfortunately, can not control what (I) can not control.”

• Regarding his relationship with coach Rick Tocchet: “Very simple. Working relationship. Good relationship.”

• Regarding his playoff struggles, in which he had just one assist in eight games: “I was trying to help on defense and trying to do what the coach told me. What the coach told (me) to do, that’s what I was trying to do. It was first playoff for me, and I can’t say it was easy. I’m not happy (with my game) in the playoffs.”

• Regarding his relationship with his teammates: “A lot of young players came to the team. A lot of them. Good guys. I can see there’s a fire in their eyes. They want to work. It’s good to play with the guys and compete with them, and will help me to grow, as well.”

• Regarding the playoff games in Philadelphia: “Unreal atmosphere. A lot of kids were wearing my No. 39. I’m a little bit ashamed I couldn’t score for them in the playoffs.”

To be clear, the Flyers are still committed to Michkov, as reiterated to The Athletic by a team source this week. They still believe he can become a high-end NHL player. Whether that will happen is less certain than this time a year ago, but it’s likely inaccurate to suggest the Flyers have some sort of gigantic problem on their hands here.

The relationship has reached a pivotal moment, though, as Michkov prepares for the third and final year of his entry-level contract.

The Flyers have done just about everything they can do as an organization to try and set Michkov up for success — from helping his mother and younger brother get settled in South Jersey, to having Kuznetsov and European scout Oleg Znarok around for Michkov to lean on, to icing a competitive team and surrounding Michkov with talented players.

It’s now up to Michkov to want it as much as so many fans and those running the team still do.

Consider who’s in charge — general manager Daniel Briere, an undersized winger who nearly got pushed out of the league before the rules changed; president of hockey operations Keith Jones, a seventh-round draft pick who had to scratch and claw to stay in the league for nine seasons before injuries finally forced him out; and Tocchet, a sixth-round pick who literally had to fight his way onto an NHL roster early in his career.

Is it reasonable to believe any of those three is ever going to be willing to give a young player something that he hasn’t yet earned? That’s not how any of them have ever operated as players or staffers, and it’s unlikely to change now — particularly considering their team’s success this season, including the strides that just about every young player not named Michkov made. The upstart Flyers’ overachieving, coupled with the growth of so many on the roster, emphatically validates how Tocchet handled Michkov this season, refusing to simply hand him minutes just because Michkov is a No. 7 pick.

That also would have been a good way for Tocchet to lose the room, by the way. That wouldn’t have been good for anyone.

Whether Michkov, who showed up to training camp last September not physically prepared, is willing to make the kind of commitment on and off the ice isn’t anything anyone knows at this point. On one hand, Michkov immediately went on the practice ice at the training facility just after speaking with the media, an eye-opening positive sign that he’s trying to put this season behind him right away. On the other hand, when asked if he would stick around the area to train in the offseason, as he said months ago he would, Michkov dodged the question. “I just need to work,” Michkov said.

He also didn’t answer another fairly straightforward query about whether he knows what the team wants him to improve upon, although he later said that a meeting with Briere wouldn’t be until Thursday. That’s also the day that Briere is slated to speak with the local media, so perhaps we’ll get more clarity then.

That would seem to be pretty important. It was that disconnect that got Michkov pulled from the playoff lineup in the first place, something that Tocchet informed the front office about before ultimately swapping in Jett Luchanko for Michkov in that final loss to the Hurricanes. The coaching staff and front office were in sync, figuring that the Hurricanes — a fast team — were out-skating the Flyers and exposing Michkov, in particular, who just couldn’t keep up. While Luchanko doesn’t have the skill set of someone such as Michkov, everyone figured he would at least get to the places on the ice he needed to get to because of his legs in a must-win game. Michkov couldn’t.

There’s also the ongoing matter of the language barrier. It would seem the Flyers are hoping to speed up that process. Over the second half of the season, Kuznetsov didn’t make some of their road trips, removing what had perhaps become a crutch for Michkov. That’s something else that the Flyers are probably hoping Michkov will improve this summer, now that it’s been nearly two full years in North America.

Sean Couturier saw that part getting better, but there’s still work to do.

“I wouldn’t say he feels comfortable yet, but he’s speaking better English,” said the captain. “I think he’s communicating a little better. But he’s still young. He still has huge potential. Huge upside in his game. … It’s only his second year in the league, and I’m sure he’s going to learn from this past year. Knowing him, knowing his character, I’m sure he’s going to be super motivated to prove everyone wrong next year. That’s what you want to see.”

Other Flyers leaders voiced their support for Michkov, indicating they still have sympathy for the 21-year-old.

“He’s a guy that’s always putting in the work, always in the shooting room, on the ice doing extra stuff,” Travis Konecny said. “That part of it is there; it’s just trying to find where he’s comfortable at dinner, or whatever it is, to help him get to that next step. It takes time for some guys.”

Said Travis Sanheim: “I think you saw throughout the season ups and downs from him personally. I think it’s to be expected. He’s a young guy. We all went through what he’s gone through. … We’ve all been through struggles and good times. Ultimately, you can learn from those experiences and get better, work harder, and ultimately it’s going to make you a better player.”

Will Michkov handle his struggles properly, the way a guy like Sanheim did earlier in his career? That’s up to him to decide.