Matvei Michkov will aim to take advantage of the Olympic break

The Philadelphia Flyers have recently painted themselves into a corner when it comes to Stanley Cup Playoff contention, but even when things were going well, it was far from a banner season for sophomore winger Matvei Michkov.

Starting with his offseason mystery injury and continuing through his well-documented lack of conditioning that his own head coach loves to keep bringing up, Michkov has yet to find any kind of consistent play for over two-thirds of the 2025-26 NHL campaign. There have only been glimpses of the kind of ability he showed as a rookie that allowed him to pace all first-year players in goals last year and tie for second in points.

The truth about Michkov's rookie year, however, is that it was really split into three parts. In the first portion of the schedule, Michkov shot out of the gate to begin his NHL career and racked up 11 goals and 16 assists for an even 27 points in 27 games. It looked like we were seeing something special.

But then, for whatever reason, Michkov completely hit the skids and registered just 5 goals and 4 assists in 28 games. Thankfully, the NHL took a two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off at that exact time, and Michkov looked like a different (as in, much better) player once the Flyers got back to playing games.

Matvei Michkov is looking to replicate the same kind of success he had late last year

Michkov came out of the break flying and registered three straight multi-point efforts. All told, he posted 10 goals and 17 assists in 25 games after the 4 Nations break. He found his legs and some renewed energy over the final six weeks or so of his rookie year, and the hope is that he can replicate that feat again this year. Of course, there are a few other elements at play.

The first thing to mention here is the coach. It's not really clear if Rick Tocchet even likes Michkov or thinks that he's a long-term core piece for this team. Even during the middle portion of last year, when Michkov was struggling mightily, John Tortorella was still giving him over 15 minutes of ice time per night at that juncture.

But Michkov's average nightly ice time for all of 2025-26 under Tocchet stands at just 14:34 per game so far. Some of that does stem from Michkov's conditioning, but at some point, the coach is going to need to get him out on the ice more rather than staple him to the bench in certain situations or as punishment for every gaffe.

You don't want to call Michkov's strong finish to last year artificial by any means, but it should be noted that he scored 12 points in the final 9 games under interim coach Brad Shaw following Tortorella's firing. Michkov and the whole team got to relax a bit, and they posted a 5-3-1 record under Shaw while piling up some good numbers.

You'd think that would have gotten Shaw a longer look when it came time to name a permanent head coach last summer, but Tocchet was the choice, and there's no going back now. Surely, there was some understanding between Tocchet and the Flyers' front office that Michkov's development was of paramount importance, and that's what makes the whole situation this year so frustrating.

It's up to Michkov to salvage what he can in the final sprint to the end of the season. Presumably, he's been working hard to get into better shape for the remainder of the season, and he can use it as a springboard to a better summer and a hopeful breakout in Year 3 of his NHL career. The Flyers need it as badly as he does.

So, what's realistic here? Michkov currently sits at 13 goals and 16 assists. With a strong finish, he can boost those totals to something like 20 goals and 30 assists, cracking the 50-point mark. It would still be a step back from what he did as a rookie, but it wouldn't be the disaster that some are making it out to be. On the flip side, if Michkov struggles to crack even 40 points despite staying healthy all year, then we might need to re-evaluate. But if the playing time is there and Michkov is given more opportunities in scoring situations, especially upping his power play usage, the team should feel pretty confident that he can finish similarly to the way he did last year.

Michkov is the most talented player on the Philadelphia Flyers, but multiple factors have conspired this year to obscure that fact. Now, it's up to him to earn a larger role down the stretch, as well as the team's responsibility to reaffirm their commitment to him. You don't want to say that someone should be given special treatment, but the Flyers talked him up so much that they pretty much have to at this point.

With another playoff-less spring approaching for the Flyers, Michkov returning to form is one of the few things that can still bring some excitement over the final two months of the season. If he delivers, then the team and its fans will feel a whole lot better about the future direction of the club for 2026-27 and beyond.