Not long after the Flyers were bounced from the Stanley Cup playoffs, Bleacher Report put out an article about where the Flyers could trade forward Matvei Michkov. In fact, it was released minutes after the game had ended, which means someone had been working on it beforehand. Do a quick Google search. A lot of sites, from Fansided to Hockey News to Yahoo Sports, picked up on the article.
Now, a lot of this is plain conjecture. We have no reason to believe that the Flyers are trading Michkov. Some fake accounts had been attributed to the Flyers that said that they were thinking of shopping him. However, there are some disturbing trends here.
With the season on the line, head coach Rick Tocchet put the team in the hands of Jett Luchanko, a player who hadn't played with the Flyers since the beginning of the year, instead of Michkov. Michkov had taken some bad penalties against the Penguins, didn't score much, and pretty much disappeared against the Hurricanes. Was it youthful jitters and inexperience, or was it the fact that he isn't good in high-pressure situations? Out of the ten games that the Flyers played in the postseason, he had been a healthy scratch for three of them. That's not what you want when you have a rising star player.
And so here is where we are at. Is Michkov someone the team can count on in the future, or is his time up? To be fair, I've written a few stories before about the team moving him, including an out-of-left-field proposal to flip him for Brady Tkachuk. Realistically, is there a reason the Flyers should move?
Let's look at the pros and cons of moving the Russian phenom.
Move Him
Michkov started this year rather slowly and never truly picked up steam. He didn't seem to grasp the kind of style of play that Tocchet was preaching. Of course, there were stories last year that he had the same issues with John Tortorella. Is he uncoachable?
There are lots of players in all professional sports who think they know all there is to play. They are going to play how they want and do what they want. No coach can tell them otherwise. And while they have all the talent in the world, if they aren't truly committed to the team, that can cause distractions, resentments, ruin team chemistry, and end up keeping a talented team from becoming a champion.
One of the things about hockey teams and players is that most talk like that is hushed up in the locker room. It's not like the MLB, NBA, or NFL, where it is common for a player to do that. While it happens now and then in the NHL, usually it is quieter. Does Michkov want out? Who knows? There has been no noise about it from him or his agent.
If he wants off the team, move him before it becomes bad and public. If he is uncoachable, even if he loves Philadelphia, move him while he is worth something. It looks suspicious that a guy who was projected to be as good, if not better than Connor Bedard, during the draft was held out of action during the playoffs when said team was screaming for any sort of offensive firepower.
The longer the Flyers hold onto him while he doesn't perform, the lower his stock drops. Get the most you can for him while you can. You might be able to get a lot more for him than you realize.
Keep Him
The Flyers have a history of kicking young players to the curb before they blossom. Brian Boucher was bounced in favor of Roman Čechmánek, who in turn was dropped a year later. Boucher went on to have a good career in net. Likewise, after one bad playoff series, the Flyers gave up on Sergei Bobrovsky. He is now a two-time Stanley Cup winner, two-time Vezina Trophy winner, and is currently seventh all-time in goalie wins at 456. In two more seasons, he could be the fourth goaltender to win 500 games.
It's not just goalies the Flyers have whiffed on. They let go of young players like Vaclav Prospal, Patrick Sharp, Ruslan Fedotenko, Danius Zubrus, and Justin Williams way too soon. Why? Mostly because Bobby Clarke didn't want to spend the time to develop them.
The last thing this team needs to do is send Michkov away to some team, and he becomes a 30-40-50 goal scorer. Once again, the Flyers would look like fools to give up on a kid because he scored "just" 20 goals a year after he scored 26. Perhaps other teams adapted to him. Maybe he needs to get adjusted to Tocchet's style and has yet to do it. He did jump around on the lines, going from the first to the third line. He's also only 21 years old. Maybe the best is yet to come. Don't want to blow it now.
Conclusion
There is no easy answer here. If he is a problem, you need to move him. If he isn't and it is just "experts" squawking, then the Flyers should ignore the noise and hold onto him. Find the best way to support him and help him flourish.
At the same time, if you can get a great haul for him, there is no reason why this should be ignored. The Lindros trade brought a ton of success to the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche. You never know for sure. Right now, as Flyers fans, we need to watch developments if and when they occur. Also, we need to hope that we get it right this time.
One thing is for sure: as long as there is an air of mystery around him and his play, trade rumors will always swirl around him.
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