The Philadelphia Flyers have had a terrible first quarter of the 2026-27 season, and after how things have gone over the last week, it feels like things can't get much worse. However, just when everyone thought the Flyers had hit rock bottom, they found another way to disappoint.
Friedman backs Weekes' report
Well, on the most recent episode of 32 Thoughts the podcast, Elliotte Friedman revealed that he does in fact believe that Kevin Weekes' report on Matvei Michkov seeking a fresh start elsewhere wasn't made up. In fact, he believes that someone who is connecting with Michkov shared his frustrations with Weekes, which led to his report.
Naturally, when the insider who is widely considered to be the best in the business speaks on the matter and reveals this information, it makes the fan base sweat. Especially when Friedman informed the listeners who didn't know already that Weekes' agent is Paul Theofanous, the same agent as Michkov's.
This whole situation has been stressful, but now that Friedman has spoken about it and shared his theory on it, it has made it even worse. Of course, that is not on Freidman, Weekes or any other reporter or website that has reported anything. But rather on the Flyers and Michkov for letting this situation get to this point.
"“I guarantee to you that someone, whether it was Michkov or someone around him, was angry, upset, [saying] ‘I’ve had enough of this'—it's emotional, it happens. It then got to Kevin, and he reported it as such.”"Friedman
Friedman went on to compare the situation with Michkov to one with Josh Anderson when he was a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Anderson was unhappy with the Blue Jackets and wanted out. That information found its way to Friedman, who reported it; the only thing was the Blue Jackets' organization wasn't aware of it. Anderson was eventually traded to the Montreal Canadiens, which should worry the Flyers fans a bit.
Friedman believes Briere will do the right thing
That said, Friedman also did make sure to mention that he believes Flyers GM Danny Briere will do all he can to keep Michkov happy and wanting to play for Philly. Not only does he recognize that Michkov is a world-class talent. But also to avoid a similar situation to what happened with Cutter Gauthier when he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks due to him being unhappy with the organization and having turned into a superstar.
The rest of the Flyers' 2026-27 season is going to be filled with drama and rumors, unless the organization can find a way to deal with it in-house. Which may mean it's time to move on from Rick Tocchet, who seems to always be in the middle of the drama with Michkov.
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