How Flyers want to help Michkov go from ‘absolute ground floor' to top

VOORHEES, N.J. — After Matvei Michkov's first shift in the opening minute and a half of Thursday night's game, John Tortorella went to the 19-year-old for a word on the bench.

Michkov sat out his following three 5-on-5 shifts. The stretch was broken up by a power play in which the rookie winger was still featured on the top unit. But Michkov didn't take his next 5-on-5 shift until there were 5:58 minutes left in the first period.

Tortorella clearly didn't love Michkov's first shift. The youngster from Russia had a turnover in the defensive zone and missed an opportunity to break up the Blues' ensuing chance.

Before the start of the second period, the head coach gave Michkov a supportive pat on the back.

"There are going to be some major struggles with him 5-on-5. We expect that," Tortorella said after the Flyers' 2-1 win over St. Louis. "Where I'm going to have to teach, and in that teaching moment, I'm not going to tell you what it's all about, but if we keep on seeing the same mistake and he just is not totally concentrating on a certain part of the game, that's when — and I've been very honest with him about that — he's going to miss some ice, he's going to watch the game.

"It's not me screaming at him; it's telling him, 'This is how it works.' If I think other guys are going and you're struggling in certain situations and it's repetitive, you're going to have to sit and watch for a little bit. And that's all that was."

Despite going scoreless in the Flyers' last three games, Michkov was named the NHL rookie of the month for October. He put up four goals and five assists over 11 games. He's second on the Flyers in points with nine and second among the team's forwards in minutes per game at 18:26. He has had a big impact on the power play with three goals and three assists.

After the top line went off for 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in the Flyers' 7-5 win last Saturday afternoon over the Wild, Michkov, Travis Konecny and Sean Couturier have combined for one point (a Konecny goal) the last three games. Michkov played a season-low 13:56 minutes Thursday night.

"He's a great kid, he wants to do so well," Tortorella said. "But it's a lot, it's a lot for him. The power play has been good, I think it struggled a little bit here the past few games, but 5-on-5, that line really hasn't been that great and he has struggled 5-on-5.

"I didn't want to sit him a period. I didn't. I just wanted him to sit, relax, think about what I said to him. I think he missed two or three rotations and then we put him back out there. That's the way it's going to be. He may miss games, who knows. I don't know what's going to happen. But that's part of the development of a 19-year-old kid."

The Flyers ran the same forward combinations at practice Friday that they've had over the past two games, both wins. They'll go for a third straight victory Saturday when they host the Bruins (1 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

Travis Konecny-Sean Couturier-Matvei Michkov
Owen Tippett-Morgan Frost-Tyson Foerster
Joel Farabee-Scott Laughton-Bobby Brink
Noah Cates-Ryan Poehling-Garnet Hathaway

What Michkov has done so far is even more impressive when you consider the hurdles he has faced. He came to America this summer and is still learning English. On top of assimilating into a new culture, he's transitioning to the best league in the world as a teenager. And there are systematic differences with the Flyers after Michkov developed in the KHL, Russia's top pro league.

"I can't imagine," Flyers assistant coach Brad Shaw said Friday. "With the language barrier, that alone, his age, he has got a lot of things working against him on that learning curve as far as steepening it. But he's a driven guy, you see how competitive he is and there's no doubt that he'll sort those things out and become a better hockey player.

"We're on the absolute ground floor. He's 19 years old. He's going to be a way better player next year; I can't imagine where he is in five years."

The Flyers' coaching staff had been using Russian defenseman Egor Zamula as an interpreter for communicating with Michkov during film sessions, practices and games. Last weekend, Tortorella said he felt it had become too much.

The coaches are working to communicate with Michkov themselves.

"It has been more with diagrams and video and kind of that sort of stuff," Shaw said. "Much more visual instead of audial. Every guy learns in a different way, too, so you're hoping that he's a visual learner and that he can incorporate this stuff into his game sooner than later. It's a challenge, for sure.

"But I think both sides are very willing to work through it and find a common solution. And at the end of the day, we're here to help him become a better hockey player and help him help us win hockey games. The quicker we can do it and the more efficiently we can do it, we're all way better off."

And the Flyers are better off with Michkov's dynamic ability to create offense.

"He's got a knack for east-west, sort of through the top of the zone and finding lanes that I'm not sure I've seen a guy — especially a forward — have that ability," Shaw said. "He has got a lot to learn as a pro hockey player, but I think it's fantastic that he has come out and made the impact that he has already and shown people what he can do with the puck."

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