Hard at work across the pond.
While he may not have spent most of his summer in Voorhees like many have hoped, Philadelphia Flyers fans can rest assured Matvei Michkov is hard at work having a productive offseason.
As has been discussed ad nauseam at this point, Michkov, 21, had a rough season for his standards, scoring 20 goals, 31 assists, and 51 points in decreased ice time from his rookie year, with his fitness level coming into question throughout the season.
But, after leading the Flyers in scoring after the Olympic break, only to again hit a wall in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Michkov is back on his grind... with the help of a familiar Flyers friend.
Recently, Michkov was spotted working out on the ice at Perm's (his hometown) new arena, where Molot-Prikamye Perm allowed Michkov and other players full access to use the ice.
Our friend, Uggg_uggg, posted the video of the Flyers' Russian dynamo to their X page on Saturday.
Most importantly, Michkov was joined by his de facto Flyers translator Slava Kuznetsov, who is also an experienced skating coach.
In layman's terms, the Flyers have an eye in the sky helping Michkov along as he heads into the last season of his entry-level contract, looking to build on two productive but uneven NHL seasons to date.
While he isn't necessarily a poor skater, Michkov is not fast and seldom produces bursts of quickness to beat defenders one-on-one, so more time with Kuznetsov should only mean good things when it comes to addressing that weakness, in addition to building a stronger foundation of conditioning.
Some fans have questioned whether or not Michkov is still doing the right things, spending a significant portion of his offseason back home in Russia.
Those concerns can swiftly be dismissed, as there is now video proof that the young Flyers star is very much taking his offseason training seriously, especially under the guidance of an experienced Flyers staff member.
Plus, we can imagine Michkov is extra motivated now that the Flyers went out and offer sheeted Leo Carlsson in a bid to get him a true No. 1 center to play with for the next decade.
Flyers training camp is still two months away, so Michkov still has plenty of time to continue his training in preparation of a monster third NHL season.


