The Philadelphia Flyers needed a boost on Monday after losing three of their last four, and who better to give that boost than Matvei Michkov. After being a healthy scratch for two straight games, the rookie returned to the lineup against the San Jose Sharks and had a goal and an assist on route to the Flyers 4-3 shootout win.
Colby Cohen talked about how the healthy scratch may have been a good decision by the Flyers on Daily Faceoff Live.
Colby Cohen: Look, had the Flyers not used the word healthy scratch like everybody else is doing with their young players, this would have been completely different. And I said that this was the right decision by the Philadelphia Flyers. The adults in the room, aka John Tortorella, Danny Briere and maybe Keith Jones, they made a decision to protect their prized piece. Their guy was not struggling, but just surviving. You don’t want a player who’s playing 13 minutes tonight at 19 and surviving. You want these players to be set up for success.
So you sit him down for two road games against teams that are top of the league and you give him a little bit of a rest and a little bit of a reset. You put him back into the lineup at a home game against a bad team, a team where he’s going to build some confidence. His legs were apparent, he looked like he had way more energy. You watch him get into the net, you watch him get in between the dots. He looked like the guy we saw early in the season. Forget the power play, even if he’s not playing well, he’s good on the power play. He’s better than anything they have on the power play.
But you’ve got to think long term with Matvei Michkov, and that’s what the Flyers are doing. It’s probably not the last time he’s going to be in the press box this year, so brace yourself. But again, these are people that know more than you. Let them do their jobs and let them develop their superstar because this year, the Flyers are bad. You’ve got to think long term with this kid.
You can watch the full episode here…
