February 04, 2026
The Philadelphia Flyers won a hockey game on Tuesday night. Everyone was mad, or so a glance at social media would lead you to believe.
Because beforehand, the team had lost four straight games, and 10 of its last 13 dating back to Jan. 8, in a brutal 2-8-3 stretch that has pretty much killed any ambition of taking a run after a playoff spot this year.
Beforehand, too, was the Flyers Charities Carnival on Sunday, an annual celebration where players and fans meet for a good cause, but that was this time overshadowed by comments from head coach Rick Tocchet in regard to popular winger Matvei Michkov and his ever-curiously low ice time this season.
"We've talked about it, and I'll be very frank... Matvei did not come into camp in shape," Tocchet told AllPHLY on the concourse of Xfinity Mobile Arena, just a day after the young Russian winger skated only 10:21 in an overtime loss to Los Angeles. "It's hard to play yourself in shape. I have not told him or any of our players, 'take a guy one-on-one, come out of the corner with a puck, on a rush, make a play'... He's having a tough time in those situations."
"Other players try," Tocchet continued, trying not to single out Michkov entirely. "I mean, I get it. Maybe they don't have the skill set. But we're trying to get him to that level, right? How to develop him: practice, making sure that you're on time for treatments, and things like that. There's so much into that, the way you eat, like that's it. You don't become a star because you think – I'm not talking about Matvei, I'm talking in general – any person."
But here's the problem: Matvei Michkov is not just any person, not to the Philadelphia Flyers, and certainly not to a fan base that, in the past decade, has been conditioned to approach this franchise with little more than apathy.
Rick Tocchet comments on Matvei Michkov's season low 10:21 TOI 👇 pic.twitter.com/u58CSTNNaw
— PHLY Flyers (@PHLY_Flyers) February 1, 2026
Matvei Michkov, from the second he slid to the Flyers at seventh overall in the 2023 draft to the moment he arrived in North America two years ahead of schedule and even now, represents hope.
He represents the kind of mega star that, if he can reach his ceiling, the Flyers haven't truly had ever since Eric Lindros went bulldozing through the NHL in the 1990s with his head down.
He represents the Flyers' repeatedly stated rebuild working if his stardom can be realized, and, to be very frank, Tocchet, general manager Danny Brière, and president of hockey operations Keith Jones keeping their jobs through all of it upon his successful development.
He's not any person. The 21-year-old is ultra-important to this whole operation. He's a vital piece in trying to bring the Philadelphia Flyers back to relevance, both in the sport and in their own city.
But this just hasn't been his year either, and it's quickly fallen to not being the Flyers' once again.
That Michkov has been struggling, that he came into camp out of shape, and that his ice time has been lessened because of it hasn't been any kind of secret. Tocchet, the Flyers, even Michkov, they've been open about it over the course of the past several months, along with stressing that they're taking the steps to correct this.
But none of that has stopped any annoyance from fans, constant questions from media, and now this soundbite of Tocchet from the AllPHLY interview catching fire on social media when it comes to Michkov's usage.
Why is your rising star's ice time dipping as low as a fourth-liner some nights?
Why is he not on the ice in situations where the Flyers need a goal and the offensive skill to go get one (like those many overtimes they really could've used an extra point or two from)?
And hold up, what did Tocchet mean with that bit about making sure to get to treatments on time?
Amid the losing, amid seeing what was a decent couple of months that looked like genuine progress on the ice fall by the wayside, and amid seeing Michkov as a true core piece failing to make much of an impact through any of it, it all became enough to send Brière out to perform damage control ahead of what stood as Tuesday night's 4-2 home win over Washington – not that that latter part seemed to matter much in the moment.
"One thing I can tell you is Matvei Michkov is not going anywhere. Let's make that clear," Brière told a swarm of press huddled around him in the press box. "Matvei is going to be here for a long time. He's going to be a good player here for the Flyers, and what he's going through right now is all part of the learning process."
And he went on, about how the team's recent rut is part of learning and part of a rebuild that the Flyers still very much see themselves in, about how hard it is and how long it can sometimes take a young player to survive, let alone thrive, in the NHL as it relates to Michkov's current situation, and with an emphasis on the relationship between Michkov and Tocchet as a player and coach being OK.
"There's tough lessons that he's learning," Brière continued about Michkov. "It doesn't matter if he's playing 12, 14, 16, or even if he was playing 52 minutes a night, he's learning along the way. That's part of the process, and it's gonna make him a better player.
"Rick Tocchet wants that. He wants to be here for the long haul to lead this team. Him and Matvei, they have a good relationship. Sometimes, they're fiery. Sometimes, when you're not winning, things are done and said, but they always come back to the table. They want the best for this team, and Rick wants the best for Matvei."
But then again, nothing Brière could say in the moment would really matter much. The fans he was trying to speak to already made up their minds.
The Flyers wanted to take a step forward on the ice this season, but right now they're on track to miss the playoffs for a sixth consecutive year after playing pretty well through the first half. Their future star has struggled to take off in Year 2, and for some, they want to believe he isn't being allowed to, while Brière's run as GM so far and the validity of his rebuild process are falling under harsher scrutiny for the first time since he took over full-time in the summer of 2023 – just before he drafted Michkov.
The Flyers won Tuesday night. Michkov skated 15:54 and got an assist from setting up Owen Tippett's opening goal.
He looked pretty good, actually, and the team didn't crumble this time. But take a look at Twitter* and everyone will just be mad.
Definitely something #LetsGoFlyers fans like seeing. It’s obviously been a bumpy season so far from Matvei Michkov, but I fully believe Rick Tocchet is going to make him a better player. Solid play here to create the goal. Puck protection & vision ✅ =🚨
— Jack Jablonski (@Jabs_13) February 4, 2026
pic.twitter.com/MgrmI941mx
*Author's note: I'm not calling it X.
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