Flyers turn to Russian teen sensation Matvei Michkov to lift them into the playoffs

VOORHEES, N.J. (AP) — Matvei Michkov’s first dose of culture shock in American hockey hit the teen sensation when he skated in the opening days of Philadelphia Flyers’ training camp.

Flyers fans were already dressed in his No. 39 jersey. Lots of them. Kids. Adults. The Flyers open the doors to the public for most practices, and fans — who haven’t had much to cheer for since 2010 — flocked to South Jersey to catch a glimpse of the talent whose buzz has already drawn comparisons to another franchise great, Eric Lindros.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to see the fans already showing up,” Michkov said through a translator. “It helps go though the hard training. Sometimes, we’re doing it for the fans and it helps overall.”

The 19-year-old Russian also noted he’d never seen so many fans before wearing his jersey.

He better get used to the early fame.

In a sports city loaded with the biggest athletes in sports — from Bryce Harper to Joel Embiid to Jalen Hurts — the once-mighty Flyers have languished in obscurity with rosters filled with mostly indistinguishable skaters.

Michkov could be the breakthrough star the Flyers desperately craved as they make the climb back into the playoffs — and relevancy.

The hype comes with one critical caveat, per coach John Tortorella.

“It’s not going to be the Mischa show, because I think it’s unfair to him,” Tortorella said. “I’m going to watch that very closely, because I want to give him every opportunity to get his feet planted in here and go about it the right way.”

The Flyers are even still amazed Michkov is in the States to help push the team into the playoffs for the first time since 2020, and in the 50th anniversary season of their last Stanley Cup championship.

His slick playmaking had scouts projecting Michkov might have been drafted right behind Chicago’s Connor Bedard in 2023 had he not been tangled in a long-term deal with his team in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League.

General manager Danny Briere preached patience when the Flyers selected Michkov with the seventh pick in the 2023 draft, knowing he had three years left on his KHL contract. After tricky negotiations, SKA St. Petersburg instead let Michkov out of his contract over the summer, paving the way for the 5-10, 176-pound right wing to arrive in Philadelphia ahead of schedule.

The early returns impressed the Flyers.

“You could tell he has a lot of confidence, he’ll try some stuff that most guys won’t,” Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson said. “I know in the scrimmages we had here a little bit before camp, he scored some nifty goals on me. So it’s kind of like, all right, I got to be ready for everything here when he comes in.”

With opening night not until Oct. 11 in Vancouver, the Flyers have experimented with line combinations. Morgan Frost, a first-round pick in the 2017 draft, has centered a line that included Michkov and Owen Tippett.

They’ve let their play do the talking, as Michkov, who turns 20 in December, crams to learn English.

“I think sometimes it’s a little harder for him to say what he wants to say,” Frost said. “I think everyone’s trying to make him welcome, and he seems to have a great attitude and he has fun out there.”

Michkov’s transition to America has been eased somewhat with the Flyers use of a steady translator — who sat with Michkov in the Phillies dugout before a recent first pitch — and playing with Russian teammates Egor Zamula and Ivan Fedotov.

Michkov, who is from Perm, Russia, is just one of the boys in the locker room. Before a recent practice, Michkov was left a message at his locker written in both English and Russian, just so nothing was lost in translation.

“Did you already find US woman,” Zamula said, laughing. “I’m like ... Right away? It’s too soon guys, focus on hockey.”

Teammate Erik Johnson was the instigator, just a little fun to loosen up the training camp grind.

“I’m going to help him as much as I can, joke with him, have fun with him,” Johnson said. “Maybe try and teach him some new words. I don’t know what those will be, but we’ll see. I’ll try and help him on a day-to-day basis. Maybe do some trivia, I don’t know, just little stuff to kind of make it fun and help him with his English.”

He needed little help in Russia with his hockey. Michkov was the property of SKA St. Petersburg, where he appeared in one game before being loaned to HC Sochi for the remainder of the season. He had 19 goals and 22 assists for 41 points in 47 games. He recorded 11 multipoint games and finished the season with five goals and eight points in his last nine games.

“He’s got some personality,” Tortorella said. “Sometimes it goes the wrong way with a coach and a player, but at least it’s personality. I think it’s boring sometimes in this league where there’s no personality with the guys. He does. You can see the puck follows him. He’s skilled, you can see that.”

Philadelphia is just now coming out of a rebuild deftly orchestrated by Briere and beginning to transition into a contender.

Who knows? The missing piece just might be a teenager out of Russia.

“He’s got those hands, that vision, he can make plays,” Flyers captain Sean Couturier said. “We’ll see, but I think we got to be careful also not to just judge right away. He’s only 19, and he’s coming to a new country. I don’t know how many times he’s been over here, but there’s a lot of new stuff in his life. I think we got to be patient and let him grow into the player he can be.”

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