Matvei Michkov Scratched from Flyers Lineup by John Tortorella for Game in Tampa

Ask Flyers fans how much they would play Matvei Michkov and they'd have him on the ice for all 82 games and for about 23 minutes a night. 

But fans don't coach the Flyers, John Tortorella does. And his philosophy with players is that if what he is preaching to them isn't sinking in, then there's a good chance, at some point, they're going to find themselves watching their teammates play a game or two from the press box. 

It took all of 14 games for Michkov to become Torts' latest victim. 

Tortorella announced after the morning practice that Michkov, 19, would be a healthy scratch for Thursday night's game in Tampa. It's the first time in his brief NHL career that Michkov will will watch a game in civvies as an active NHL player.. 

"I told you guys: with young guys, they can watch games too, as part of development. It's trying to help him."

— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) November 7, 2024

"It's part of the process," Tortorella told reporters. "With young guys, they can watch the games too, as far as development, so it's trying to help them."

That's the part that fans don't want to hear. They have a staunch belief that the only way to develop players is to play them.

Sometimes you can do that, but if said players are repeatedly making the same mistakes, and the results aren't changing, then you have to try something different. 

So, sitting a game, maybe two, sometimes works. It allows a young player to focus solely on the practice element of the sport without worrying about playing, and trying to put a team on their shoulders, and doing too much. It allows them to concentrate on the things the coaches are trying to teach, without hurting the other elements of their game against an opponent.

Fans will argue that he was recognized as the NHL's rookie of the month a week ago - which is one of those honors that is exclusively about counting stats. Or that if you look at publicly available analytics, it'll show Michkov is the Flyers third-best player at 5-on-5. 

Per Evolving-Hockey, Matvei Michkov is the Flyers’ third-best 5v5 skater this season (min. 50 TOI)

He was benched because “His play at 5-on-5 has not been good for a while.”

I think we’ve seen the last of John Tortorella in this city. https://t.co/IPKyUtUBnn pic.twitter.com/Pj4kK8j9Km

— Justin (@justingiamp) November 7, 2024

But, considering how bad the Flyers have been at 5-on-5 as a team, is that really something you want to hang your hat on? For the season, the Flyers have been outscored 36-19 at 5-on-5. That 17-goal differential is the worst in the NHL. Only two teams have allowed more goals (Pittsburgh and Montreal), and only four teams have scored fewer (Anaheim, Nashville, Detroit, and San Jose).

Obviously, not all of that is Michkov's fault. His teammates hold equal responsibility. But while Michkov is tied for the NHL lead in points by rookies with 10 (along with Dallas' Logan Stankhoven), he also leads all rookies with the worst plus/minus figure at minus-8. 

Plus/minus isn't always a great measure, but it also shouldn't be discounted completely. That means he's been pretty impressive on the power play but isn't providing much offense at 5-on-5, and has been on the ice for more goals against, which means there's room to grow his game there. 

According to NHL.com of the 22 rookies who have played at least 10 games this season, Michkov ranks tied for dead last in on-ice goals for percentage (28.5%) and last in on-ice shot percentage (4.7%). Meanwhile, he has the third highest average of offensive zone faceoff starts (60.3%) Put that all together and MIchkov is starting more often than not in the offensive zone at 5-on-5, and yet he's not generating shots, or goals and still is on the ice for more goals against. 

Part of that has been the constant line juggle, which if you want to criticize Tortorella for, you have a much more valid argument, but even when he's out there with Flyers leading scorer Travis Konecny and team captain and defensive stalwart Sean Couturier, it's been overall less productive than the team would like. 

All of this to say, you can't say Torts doesn't have his reasons.

But some fans also think Michkov is on a rocket ship to stardom and is going to be the next Alexander Ovechkin, which is why they were apoplectic at this announcement. 

I'm sure Matvei will learn from watching 11 players he should be playing over

— Dan Knightly (@DanKnightly) November 7, 2024

Spoiler alert - he's not Alexander Ovechkin. 

But it is up to the Flyers brass and coaches to determine what he truly is and to help him get there - and part of that process, as Torts said - is sitting him out a game here and there.  

(SIDEBAR: Why does it look like the media was interviewing Torts in a fallout shelter?)

You had to see this coming if you are paying attention. After a win against St. Louis last week, Torts basically gave everyone a warning.

"There are going to be some major struggles with him 5-on-5 and we expect that," Tortorella said. "Where I'm going to have to teach him ... if we keep seeing the same mistake and he just is not totally concentrating on a certain part of the game, that's when - and I've been very honest with him about it - he's going to miss some ice. He's going to watch the game. That's the way it's going to be. He may miss games (plural), who knows. I don't know what's going to happen, but that's part of the development of a 19-year-old kid."

Michkov also saw limited action in the third period Tuesday against Carolina. The next step was a healthy scratch. 

Now, could he just as well do this with any number of other players? Sure, he could. There's plenty of blame to go around. But the other forwards who are disappointing have all been through this already. Maybe not so far this season (although it could be coming for a couple of them), but since Torts took over as coach. Doing it again to the same guys comes across as picking on those same guys for the whole team's problems. That usually doesn't sit well in a locker room. And Torts has had to repair many relationships with locker rooms over the years. But, if you want to preach a standard, as Torts likes to say, or have accountability within a team structure, then it needs to happen from time-to-time - if deserved. 

And there's also the fact that as a teenager, Michkov has never played more than 47 games in a season, so a smaller part of this may also be managing his time so he physically doesn't run into a wall at some point later this season. 

And finally, there are different levels of heathy scratching a player. There's pulling a guy from a lineup because you have no confidence in him. There's pulling a guy from a lineup because he's in the doghouse because of his play. And then there's pulling a guy from a lineup to help the player be better - which this seems to be.

Now, if Torts starts repeatedly playing mind games with Michkov - pulling him in and out of the lineup. Sending mixed messages. Moving him up and down the lineup - then we can have a conversation about the coach jumping the shark with his old school methods and taking things too far. 

But there have been some NHL-level evaluators who, when privately speaking about Michkov's game so far, have been a little underwhelmed. They will tell you he's got a heck of a shot, and he's a gifted playmaker once he's set up in the offensive zone - and especially on the power play - but that he doesn't support the puck well offensively, has limitations to his skating, and has a lot to learn about playing in his own end. 

All of that is OK because he's a teenager and learning the game at the highest level. He should improve in all of those areas. Which is why it's OK for him to miss a game - especially since this Flyers team currently has the worst record in the sport. Sitting out a November game in his rookie season is ultimately going to be an afterthought in a long career. 

And coaching requires some teaching moments, so chalk this up as one and don't be upset about it - for now.