The Philadelphia Flyers may have a mess on their hands with Matvei Michkov, but they are not acting like a team ready to move on.
According to TSN’s Chris Johnston, the Flyers have not received a formal trade request from Michkov as of early last night, and they are not currently focused on trading him. Johnston said, “And this is not a player they’re looking to trade.
He’s in the third year of his career, still in his entry-level contract, scoring at half a goal a game. And while it’s been a tough start for the team, they’re not simply going to give up on this kid.
If they do ever think to trade him, they’ll be looking for a prize centreman or a quality player coming back the other way. But at this point in time, the Flyers are certainly not focused on moving him.”
That stance matters because the noise around Michkov is getting louder, and not in a good way for Philadelphia. Charlie O’Connor called it a disaster if Michkov truly wants out, saying, “Obviously, if Michkov truly does want out, it’s a disaster for the Flyers.
He’s one of the key pieces of their rebuild, arguably the key piece. It’s a full-fledged organizational failure to let the situation get to this kind of boiling point.”
Anthony Mingioni was just as blunt about what this kind of situation does to the Flyers’ image. “Obviously, a disastrous start to the season gets amplified.
The Flyers can’t afford to lose Michkov. If he really wants out, the optics are cataclysmic for them here.”
Even with that backdrop, the idea of a trade does not appear to be close. The Seattle Kraken and New York Islanders would both be expected to at least look into the situation, but there are obvious hurdles. Emerald City Hockey noted that the Kraken should be interested in Michkov’s scoring ability in theory, while also wondering whether he would run into the same issues under Lane Lambert as he does with Rick Tocchet.
Stefen Rosner said Islanders GM Mathieu Darche would be expected to check in with the Flyers about Michkov, though he added that it is hard to picture Philadelphia dealing him within the division. Rosner also said the Islanders would still be expected to ask about Owen Tippett, Travis Konecny, and Michkov.
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