Michkov’s Slow Start: Injury, Out of Shape, or Usual Business

If you look at the 30,000-foot view of the Philadelphia Flyers’ first two games, what you would see is a team with little to no expectations going toe-to-toe with two of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers lost in regulation by a goal to the defending back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, then nearly defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime before a turn of events turned that potential win into a loss.

And while there are plenty of areas to clean up, one of the most noticeable parts of the box scores from both games is the stat line and ice time of Matvei Michkov.

Michkov, the 20-year-old phenom entering his second NHL season, has yet to record a point. Michkov played 14:54 of the season opener, largely due to the Flyers killing five penalties during the game. But on Saturday, Michkov played just 13:27 – only ahead of Garnet Hathaway, Nikita Grebenkin, and Jett Luchanko. The Flyers were on the penalty kill another four times in that game, but it was noticeable when Michkov didn’t get a shift in overtime.

That sent speculation swirling. Was this a coaching decision?

Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said he was simply using the guys who were skating best.

On Monday’s episode of Spittin’ Chiclets, both Paul Bissonette and Ryan Whitney stated they had heard Michkov entered camp “out of shape.”

At his pre-game media availability, Tocchet said that Michkov dealt with an ankle injury for part of the summer that “put him behind the eight-ball” on his training and preparation for the season, a new piece of information that could be the reasoning behind Michkov looking slower and starting the season off slow as a result.

Michkov picked up his first assist and NHL point in his second game last season, but really turned things around after that. In his next six games, he scored four goals and had eight points.

Michkov’s KHL seasons reflect the same. In his draft year, the 2022-23 season, Michkov went five games without a point to start the season, three of those with SKA. He finished with 20 points in 30 games. In the 2023-24 season, Michkov was held without a point in his first and only game with SKA, then had 19 goals and 41 points in 47 games with HC Sochi.

So, is it the injury, being out of shape, or just the usual for Michkov as a season gets underway? Time will tell, but the future of the Flyers franchise is certainly going to be closely monitored as the season progresses.

It’s something we’re going to correct. But I think he got behind the eight ball a little bit this summer coming into camp," Tocchet said.

"He’s healthy. It wasn’t a major thing. Something that affected some of his training. We know we’ve got to work with him. That’s the best way to explain it.”

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.