Flyers Hold Meetings to Avoid Michkov Frustration with Tortorella

The Philadelphia Flyers are taking steps to ensure their highly-touted prospect, Matvei Michkov , maintains a strong relationship with head coach John Tortorella, whose in-the-moment coaching style can sometimes create a rift between the two. As reported by Kevin Kurz in The Athletic, the Flyers have implemented weekly meetings between Michkov, Tortorella, and team staffer Slava Kouznetsov in an effort to improve communication and ensure Michkov understands why Torts is doing what he’s doing.

Michkov has been incredible for the Flyers, but he’s not perfect. Like any rookie prone to making mistakes, the situation is more complicated in Philadelphia where Tortorella is not known for being incredibly patient and a language barrier means Michkov doesn’t always understand the messaging.

Kurz writes:

The three of them have met in each of the last two weeks, according to a team source, who added that the aim is to make sure that Michkov understands why certain things are happening in-game, as Tortorella is someone who “coaches in the moment.”

The need for these meetings surfaced after Michkov was scratched from the lineup last week following an on-bench exchange. The team felt it needed to be addressed. What they don’t want to do is let Michkov do or say whatever he wants, but they also don’t want to frustrate the superstar and have the relationship between Tortorella and the Calder Trophy favorite turn south.

Michkov Has Responded Well to the Flyers’ Approach

Despite the occasional frustrations, Michkov’s response to being scratched has been seen as positive. In his return to the lineup against the San Jose Sharks, he set up Travis Konecny for a power-play goal and later scored the game-winner in a shootout. On Thursday, Michkov scored the overtime winner.

The hope is that continuing to talk him and coach privately with someone who can understandably relay the message will help.

Flyers management is aware of the investment they are making in Michkov, who may require more context and explanation behind certain decisions. If they can keep him engaged and on the same page as his coach, it’s only going to mean good things for the team.