The Philadelphia Flyers are a week into training camp and have only played two preseason games, but some of the potential line combinations for the upcoming season are coming into focus.
New head coach Rick Tocchet has stressed that he likes to have duos of players on a line together, allowing the two to build chemistry while being joined by a third forward.
There have been a few different duos seen playing together in practice and game action thus far, but perhaps none more than Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov.
Zegras and Michkov are unquestionably the two most talented players on the roster, with each having plenty of moves in their bag of tricks. When the Flyers acquired Zegras, some thought that playing him with Michkov would work, but the defensive side of their games may not allow it.
Well, it appears as if Tocchet may be willing to give Zegras and Michkov a long look together — as long as they’re joined by a responsible forward.
“You play with Zegras and Michkov if I do keep them together, I might need a reliable guy,” Tocchet said on Wednesday. “Obviously, it’s my job to get those guys to play reliable, but a little too many odd-man rushes against the Islanders in the second period.”
Zegras and Michkov were on a line with Nikita Grebenkin in the Flyers’ preseason opener against the Islanders on Sunday. They showed some chemistry and are only building on that connection in practice.
Long after practice is over, Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras are still putting in work. pic.twitter.com/9nRKgPTILS
— Siobhan Nolan (@SGNolan) September 25, 2025
Michkov and Zegras are yet again spending a ton of extra time after practice out on the ice together, working on passes and chatting it up. Second straight day they're getting additional work on the ice done together.
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) September 25, 2025
They were also joined by Christian Dvorak, who could be a candidate to play with the two skilled forwards.
“I’m not saying I’m going to put somebody different, but sometimes when you play with two highly-skilled guys like that, you have to have that responsible guy. It might work,” Tocchet said, “and I think Dvorak is that guy that can win battles in the corners and get the puck to a guy like Zegras or Michkov.”
Dvorak would certainly help out in the faceoff dot, which is one area where Zegras truly struggles. The skilled centerman has a 40% faceoff rate in his career, while Dvorak is coming off back-to-back seasons of at least 55%.
It’s still in the early goings, but the thought of Michkov and Zegras on the ice together, not only on the power play but at 5-on-5 as well, should be enough to get even the most casual of fans excited for the season.
MM39 🆚 TZ46 pic.twitter.com/VLVgUi8wNP
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) September 25, 2025
