Philadelphia Flyers' Matvei Michkov Gives Team Long-Term Hope – Hockey Writers – Philadelphia Flyers

General manager (GM) Danny Briere of the Philadelphia Flyers said that he does not consider the prospect of Matvei Michkov as the savior of his team's franchise. He might be telling the truth and maybe he plans to make a blockbuster deal one day to get a 19-year-old star to play alongside him. But if he's lying? That is somewhat forgivable.

Michkov's presence gives the Flyers the opportunity to experiment and make mistakes. Since he has the opportunity to carry a permit to the promised land if he receives just a little help, he is a great source of hope. Whether Briere makes a high-risk splash to help him is not that important—he might not need it.

Michkov's Limitless Upside

Just to get it out of the way, we often see a potential “explosion” as more likely than it really is. For Russian prospects, it's easy to turn to Nail Yakupov (who played almost all of his games in North America, anyway) and Nikita Filatov as examples of why players from that country are dangerous. However, neither of these two played anything like Michkov in style, outliers, and honestly weren't as good as him, either.

Among NHL-drafted players with at least 20 games played in their draft year and the following season in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), Michkov is on an island alone in terms of point-per-game production—nobody comes close. that closes. Even if we use the 18- and 19-year-old seasons, he's still on an island with Kirill Kaprizov and Evgeny Kuznetsov, who had their draft years removed from the sample size due to having a later birthday.

In terms of age, to the detriment of Michkov, Pavel Buchnevich and Vladimir Tarasenko are on the island but one away from the three players in question. Then there's everyone else who failed miserably to score more than single digits.

Seeing as the four players just mentioned that Michkov didn't have the pinnacle of stardom in the NHL, it would be a fair bet to have a kid in that area. However, the score probably doesn't even do proper justice to Michkov. Chances are he's a great player if he can score as easily as he does in the professional league, but they don't talk about his talent. In fact, only his on-ice game can do that.

Michkov is a player who, despite being young, is always one step ahead of his opposition. He is manipulative and clever in a creative way. He has the patience to wait for the right play to open up when he is in possession of the puck and he also has the intelligence to create that good play for his teammates when he is out. Showing this in the KHL is one thing, but doing it with lowly club HK Sochi while missing time due to illness is another. He has a powerful ability beyond this extraordinary ability to process the game—he is the hope of a generation by this definition.

Many people have suggested that Michkov's style will not mesh with head coach John Tortorella (even if that is false), and others have talked about his attitude as a problem (something that might not matter even if it were thought to be true). No matter how often the hockey media tries to bring the 19-year-old down, don't let the bad talk fool you—he's flawed, but he's special.

It would be trivial to reveal how many goals and points he can get up top, but he could be a one-of-a-kind talent. There are few elite players whose ability is outmatched by their IQ—Michkov could be one of them. You have the right to do the hard work of raising a franchise on your own, which is where the most important theme of this post comes from.

Flyers Already in Good Condition

It's important to note that the Flyers don't have the best track record in this regard. They failed Eric Lindros and Claude Giroux, their last two star talents. If Michkov lives up to the hype—which he probably will—then Philadelphia can't afford to be underperforming. But don't worry, because it seems they already have a reasonable plan.

Unlike what happened with Lindros, there are no major health concerns because of his style. Unlike what happened with Giroux, the construction of the system has been greatly improved.

That second part is important to get into. What bothered the Flyers teams about Giroux was that there were three or four players who had good seasons and others had minor or legitimate debts. Poor depth and a lack of anything resembling a competent defense made it a 102-point season from a superstar who, for example, was enough to win the playoffs on the last day of the season in 2017-18—it was a nightmare. .

But that era seems to be in the past. The Flyers gave Michkov a solid group of prospects, a slew of draft picks, and a handful of young players with a high roster—Giroux didn't have this when the team started building around him. The team didn't start adding top prospects until he was about 27 years old, and even then they didn't live up to the hype. Additionally, there were several players with uplines that could drive year-over-year growth.

Related: How the Flyers' Top Players Developed as Prospects

With good depth on the wings now and in the future including Owen Tippett, Tyson Foerster, Travis Konecny, Joel Farabee, Denver Barkey, Bobby Brink, Samu Tuomaala, Alex Bump, Alex Ciernik, and many others, there is a talented core here. The goal is very strong, and freshmen Cam York, Jamie Drysdale, and Oliver Bonk could be an excellent defenseman trio one day. There is a lack of centers with only Jett Luchanko being a big name and Jack Berglund having top-six upside, but Michkov's youth gives the Flyers time to make the right additions.

Giroux didn't see any of the Flyers' prospects reach their prime when he was in Philadelphia—players like Farabee, Foerster, Konecny, Morgan Frost, and others were all much better after they left. But most of the prospects on today's team are Michkov's age or younger—the draft picks encourage him to find better teams later on. With this in mind, there is plenty of time to encourage long-term optimism.

Talent Can Be Acquired Without High Draft Picks

The ultimate goal of playing NHL hockey is obviously to win the Stanley Cup. Teams that do this almost always have a professional player on their roster, and it's certainly possible to get these athletes by using high draft picks. The dream of finding another appears to be gone in the wake of the Flyers' near playoff berth in 2023-24 and Briere's refusal to sell struggling players in the offseason despite “rebuilding” in his own words. Barring a monumental fall or rare lottery luck, writing high expectations is close to zero.

While it would be nice to have a few stars, it is not necessary to win the Stanley Cup. It's definitely necessary to have a lot of stars, though—that's where the rage can come in.

The Flyers have several years to draft and develop prospects to add to their core, which could give them the extra star talent they need. Additionally, there should be several opportunities to trade stars or sign them in free agency to compete with league rivals.

If Michkov lives up to his potential and the Flyers can land a few more star players—which isn't a long shot—then the idea is that Philadelphia can hang on long enough that a deep playoff run is inevitable. If any team is good long enough, sometimes it's just fate that they win the Stanley Cup. It may not be the path that creates royalty, but it can lead to glory. The Orange and Black finally have their X-factor, and they can make this dream come true.

Michkov has a lot of pressure on him, and probably more than your average prospect. But the Flyers are by no means in a bad spot. It's been 49 calendar years since they hoisted the Stanley Cup—there should be continued hope that this can change.