Matvei Michkov is spending his offseason the way the Flyers would want him to: on the ice, in the gym, and showing it.
The 21-year-old winger has already been posting videos on his Instagram story of himself lifting weights and working hard, with that routine starting as early as mid-June, three months before Flyers training camp. More recently, footage surfaced of Michkov skating in his hometown of Perm, Russia, alongside Flyers de facto translator and skating coach Slava Kuznetsov.
Here's a look at Matvei Michkov's practice at Perm's new arena, coached by Vyacheslav Kuznetsov. Molot's management gave him full locker room access and all the ice time he needed. pic.twitter.com/59b6DGwdTT
- Uggg (@Uggg_uggg) July 5, 2026
In the video, Kuznetsov says Molot-Prikamye Perm - the VHL team in Michkov’s hometown and the second division of pro hockey in Russia - has given the Flyers winger full locker room access and all the ice time he needs at its new practice facility. If Michkov is staying home for the summer, that’s about as clean a setup as he could ask for.
Plenty of Flyers fans would probably prefer to see him in Voorhees working directly with the team’s staff, but this arrangement still gives him a real runway before his third NHL season. Michkov is also set to play in the NHL-KHL Match of the Year on July 25, a charity exhibition featuring some of the biggest Russian names in hockey.
After that, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he heads overseas soon after, maybe in early August, to get a full month of work in before camp. Some Flyers are already training locally this summer, and that extra time can only help Michkov.
That matters because the conversation around his sophomore season never really stopped. For months, the question was whether the next rough outing would be the one that finally turned his year around. It took him a while to settle in for a variety of reasons, but he finished strong and emerged as the Flyers’ leading scorer during the push into the playoffs.
The explanation that followed him through much of the season was that an injury disrupted his offseason training and left him out of game shape when camp opened. That point has been repeated enough to wear thin, but it was the reason given for why his first 60 or so games were so uneven.
Even with the dip, Michkov still put up 20 goals and 51 points in his second NHL season. That doesn’t match the jolt he gave the Flyers as a rookie, when he scored 26 goals and 63 points while also learning the language, but it’s still a strong year by any normal standard. His defensive game also took a real step, and he’s now viewed as a positive impact player on that side of the puck.
The bar is only going up from here. The Flyers have already tasted the playoffs, and expectations around the team are higher even if general manager Danny Briere has tried to keep the temperature down by suggesting there could be a slight step back. He pointed to teams like the Capitals and the Devils potentially improving, and to the Flyers missing out on players such as Leo Carlsson or Zach Werenski despite trying to land them.
Michkov is going to be central to whatever comes next. If he gets back into the top six, scores more on the power play, pushes toward 30 goals and hangs around a point-per-game pace, that would be a major leap for him and a major boost for the Flyers. Add in a full season of Porter Martone and having an actual backup goalie in Joseph Woll, and a 100-point season doesn’t feel impossible.
For now, though, the clearest sign is the simplest one: Michkov is already working. And the Flyers can only like what they’re seeing from a player drilling away in a city that sits closer to Kazakhstan than any other country.
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