Flyers Young Stars Advocate For Matvei Michkov

It took a major trade rumor scare, but it seems like the Flyers, from the front office down to the players themselves, are finally outwardly embracing young star Matvei Michkov as the future of the franchise.

Previously, it was reported that Michkov, 21, would prefer to explore a trade elsewhere due to internal frustrations within the team, though he denied it, the Flyers denied it, and his agent denied it.

The report, however, sent the Flyers into high alert, and Flyers GM Danny Briere scrambled from the NHL GMs meetings in Toronto to meet his team in Edmonton to address the situation.

Naturally, Briere met with the team prior to their game against the Oilers, and met with Michkov himself, as did Flyers president Keith Jones. Over the last few days, things seem to be trending in a positive direction.

In his latest "Saturday Headlines" segment for Sportsnet, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that the Flyers remain steadfast in their commitment to Michkov, and even sought out the opinions of his similarly-aged peers to reinforce their ambitions.

"One of the big stories of the week was Matvei Michkov and the relationship between him and the Flyers and some of his teammates," Friedman began.

"On their road trip and in Edmonton this week were Daniel Briere, the GM, Keith Jones, the president of hockey operations, and Dan Hilferty, the CEO of Comcast Spectacor, the parent company. Jones met with Michkov face-to-face, Briere met with Michkov face-to-face. . . The one thing they made clear to him, with a couple days now to figure it all out, is that he's part of the team's future and he's not getting traded. 

"The other thing I believe they did was they asked around with some of the younger players who are closer in Michkov's age about how they felt about him as well, and I think the feedback was positive. So, they are going to build this around Michkov and his young teammates. That is their goal here. They told him he was not in danger of being traded."

After scoring on a breakaway in a 4-3 win against the Blue Jackets on Saturday night, Michkov increased his team-leading goal tally to 11, and his 16 total points also pace the Flyers.

Over the course of this season, we have seen Michkov grow closer to rookie teammate Porter Martone, and the bond with his long-time center, Noah Cates, is still there, too.

Highly-publicized bust-ups with veterans like Travis Konecny and Nick Seeler had casted doubt over Michkov's future and fit with the Flyers, but as this story continues to develop, it's clear the Flyers are prioritizing the opinions of their stars of tomorrow.

Michkov, drafted seventh overall in the 2023 draft, is in the last year of his entry-level contract and is a pending restricted free agent in need of a contract extension from the Flyers.