Across every NHL team’s last 39 games, only the Boston Bruins’ David Pastrňák has more 5-on-5 points than Matvei Michkov (29). Just 20 years old, the Philadelphia Flyers forward is a budding superstar, and the numbers show it.
It’s pretty amazing how he got there, considering former head coach John Tortorella wasn’t a huge Michkov fan. Benchings, anemic usage, and poor deployment stagnated the then-rookie’s progress. But he persevered.
After Tortorella was fired on March 27 and Brad Shaw was named the team’s interim, Michkov got all the minutes he wanted and flourished: 12 points in nine games, leading a depleted Philadelphia lineup to a 5–3–1 record. He was playing superstar hockey.
General manager Daniel Brière chose to overhaul most of the coaching staff following the 2024–25 season. Though it was disappointing to see Shaw depart, the logic was fair. The Orange and Black needed the right guy behind the bench—someone who knows what it takes to win and can help young players develop.
Well, Brière went the exact opposite direction: Rick Tocchet was brought in. This was my worst-case scenario hire, and so far, it’s going about as well as expected. Despite clearly being the team’s best player, Michkov has been benched more than anyone, isn’t getting ice time, and played his last game alongside forwards Rodrigo Ābols and Christian Dvorak.
Related: Huberdeau Scores Twice in 2–1 Flames Win Over Flyers
This is Tortorella all over again, and the team isn’t really better off for it, either. The Flyers have won half of their games despite Vezina Trophy-caliber goaltending from Dan Vladař, and sit dead last in the Eastern Conference. It’s a familiar spot for Tocchet, who has as many bottom-of-the-division finishes as a head coach as he does playoff appearances (two apiece).
But this isn’t a criticism of Tocchet, who is simply doing things the way he always has. He’s a longtime coach in this league, with his first assistant gig dating back to 2002–03. Fans, including myself, saw him as “Tortorella 2.0.” So, the blame for stunting Michkov’s development doesn’t fall on the coach even in the slightest. It falls on the guy who hired him.
As a general manager, Brière has a shaky track record, almost reminiscent of predecessor Chuck Fletcher. Though young in his front-office journey, he’s sabotaging the best prospect the Flyers have ever drafted and his own managerial career.
Tocchet Hire Was Always Questionable
I’m not going to dive too deep into it, because I already shared some of my thoughts back in May. But to give a quick summary, we’re seeing why so many Vancouver Canucks fans were jumping for joy when Tocchet’s departure was announced.
Oct 13, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers assistant head coach Todd Reirden and Rick Tocchet during introductions against the Florida Panthers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Tocchet plays, to put it bluntly, a pretty boring style of hockey. His teams don’t shoot the puck, and it doesn’t make for the most enjoyable product.
This would be fine if he won everywhere he went and players developed gracefully under him. But neither of those is really true. Tocchet is one of the only head coaches to never make a Conference Final at any level as a bench boss, and he doesn’t boast many successful development stories.
So far, Tocchet is exactly what he was in Vancouver. Michkov is suffering for it—punished when he plays poorly, but also punished when he plays well.
Brière’s Parallels to Fletcher
Fletcher might be the most unpopular figure in this team’s history. An unclear direction, bad signings, questionable draft picks, and stunted development. All of these things are repeating under Brière’s watch, though, to the point of the two being borderline indistinguishable.
Let’s first start with the “unclear direction” part of things. After the Flyers missed the playoffs in 2020–21 under Fletcher, it was evident to many fans that a rebuild was the only logical course of action. The roster was old, the prospect pool was mediocre at best, and the cap was tight. Instead, he kept his veterans, even signing Sean Couturier to a massive eight-year deal.
Due to injury, the Flyers collapsed in 2021–22, finishing with the fourth-worst record in the league. Fletcher more or less stood pat in the summer, unintentionally helping the team land Michkov at No. 7 in the 2023 NHL Draft (although he was fired by then following major fan backlash).
Fletcher had a decent drafting track record, landing roster players such as Bobby Brink, Tyson Foerster, and Cam York without high-end capital. But under his watch, the Flyers also passed on some guys that were, at the time, seen as the “right pick.”
Matt Boldy and Cole Caufield were both on the board in 2019, but he traded back, opting for York instead. While that ended up being a respectable pick, the best players at the time are indeed the best players now. The same goes for 2021, when he passed on Logan Stankoven for recently traded Samu Tuomaala in the second round.
Brière has some of the same problems. First, you have the Travis Konecny contract. He’s notched points in each of his last four contests, but dating back 43 games, he has only two more points than Brendan Gallagher (26 vs. 24).
Even if we assume the 28-year-old bounces back, returning to true first-line form, he’s under contract until he’s 36 years of age. In theory, his prime will be long gone by the time the Orange and Black are contending.
That plays into the “unclear direction” parallel. Knowing that most forwards regress heavily by their mid-30s, the rebuilding Flyers signed Konecny anyway. If his best years aren’t already past him, they’ll almost certainly be spent on non-contending rosters.
Then, you have draft picks. I’ve watched both of Jett Luchanko’s Ontario Hockey League (OHL) games this season, and his play has been really encouraging. But he’s not Zeev Buium, either, who was on the board for the Flyers before they traded back in the 2024 NHL Draft.
Related: Flyers’ Travis Konecny Extension Is Already Aging Horribly
Aside from Michkov and Porter Martone, both slam-dunk picks, the Flyers’ drafting track record under Brière is decent but flawed. It’s early, but Jack Nesbitt doesn’t look like a 12th-overall pick—more like a second-rounder, which is where I had him pegged on my personal board. It’s a similar story with Oliver Bonk, who was selected 22nd ahead of arguable top-10 talent Gabe Perreault in 2023.
When you factor in the Cutter Gauthier situation, a player who is tied with Michkov for second place in 5-on-5 points in his team’s last 39 games, it’s not a good look for Brière. It’s hard to objectively distinguish him from Fletcher.
Now, the Flyers and the fan base alike clearly believe in the young general manager. But if the Michkov-Tocchet duo continues to falter, someone’s inevitably going to pay for it. Brière needs to do a better job of catering to the face of the franchise, or else it might be him.
