A whole lot has been made of the relationship between Matvei Michkov and Rick Tocchet as just about every single fan of the Philadelphia Flyers has an opinion on the prized prospect and the head coach of this team. Well now we’re getting some deeper insight from someone that knows Michkov very well and he praises Tocchet for what he has been doing in the playoffs.
Michkov’s former agent, Sergei Fedotov, appeared on one of those classic Russian sports talk shows that you see clips from during the offseason as some Russian superstar decides to actually tell the truth about his experiences in North America — that sort of deal. And during his appearance, Michkov’s recent playoffs performance came up.
Michkov’s former agent has some interesting insight
They heralded his assist on the series-winning goal, but also went into more details and their opinion on Rick Tocchet leaving Michkov out of the lineup and not giving him a massive opportunity, as he’s more in a depth role for the Flyers right now.
Fedotov was Michkov’s agent at the 2023 NHL Draft, when he was selected seventh overall by the Flyers. But when he was granted release from his KHL contract and then promptly signed with the Flyers later, he also switched his representation to Paul Theofanous. And now, PuckPedia has J.P. Barry listed as Michkov’s agent.
After comparing Michkov’s supreme backhand pass to Cam York to finish off the Pittsburgh Penguins and move on to the second round of the playoffs to something that we have seen from the legendary Sergei Federov during his twilight years, and praising the 21-year-old for having such an immense impact on finishing that series, the former agent got right into it.
When one of the hosts very casually brought up the fact that he was a healthy scratch for Game 5 after not impacting the game (and not playing much at all) for the first four games of the playoffs, Michkov’s former agent went on about how if he’s going to be successful, then he needs to be handled a certain way.
“That was all noise. The whole thing abot him supposedly not being on the plane? Total bullshit,” said Fedotov. “You know, Tocchet may have played the role of a good sports psychologist right there. That’s it. … And I know that kind of thing actually works on Matvei. Like, he’ll grumble about it. [Grumbling sounds] ‘Okay, let’s do it.’ And that’s just who he is.
“You just have to understand how to manage him from a psychological standpoint. Because in that sense, he’s a Rubik’s cube. You have no damn clue when you need to say something to him, and when you shouldn’t say anything at all. I dealt with this all the time working with him as his agent.”
We’ll ignore the whole fake rumor started by a fake Twitter account about Michkov and some flights — if you don’t know what that is about, don’t worry about it at all and be glad you have some media literacy or stay off that website — but it is very interesting to hear this from someone who worked with and knows Michkov very well.
It’s a notion that is so common in young players (and people in general) that they need to be motivated in a slightly different way, or just handled in a different way to end up getting where they need to be. On one hand it’s just something that a coaching staff and NHL front office is paid to do — to manage people and their different personalities. On the other hand, it really shows some of Michkov’s youth in a certain way.
Regardless of what happens for the remainder of the playoffs, Michkov needs to have a massive summer and come into Flyers training camp ready to impress Tocchet and play the way that he wants to play. Then, maybe, and depending on what roster moves the Flyers make this summer, he will be given that prime top-six opportunity that so many fans want.
Michkov will get a chance to build off of his great Game 6 performance on Saturday, as the Flyers travel to the Carolina Hurricanes for Game 1 of the second round.
