Flyers wingers Travis Konency and Matvei Michkov should, on paper, be a strong force on the ice together. Both have scoring ability. Both seem capable of keeping plays going in the offensive zone, whether working for the puck in the corners or weaving their way methodically into open space. And both had over 20 goals last season for Philadelphia, even if Konecny’s second half of the year was a drastic drop in production. With Sean Couturier down the middle between them, the thought was the line could be a means to get Michkov going while enabling Konecny to have a highly-talented linemate to feed to.
Well, it appears that combination is going to be put on hold at least for a while. If we are going by the line juggling Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet used Wednesday in practice, Konecny will see himself with two-thirds of Philadelphia’s most consistent line in Tyson Foerster and Noah Cates on Thursday night. Meanwhile, Michkov is still going to be paired with Couturier but will see winger Bobby Brink replacing Konecny. Fans might be irked at the line of Noah Cates, Brink, and Foerster broken up after being so darn effective the last calendar year. Yet if this is what it takes to get Michkov (and Konecny) going, and generating more five-on-five offense, then even the diehards would have a hard time arguing at keeping things the same.
“He’s a smart player, I don’t want him to play too safe, sometimes he’s playing too safe because everybody’s got to participate in a certain part of the system,” Tocchet said Thursday morning about Couturier on this new line. “So we got to make sure Couturier can be a little more aggressive too. But I think Bobby can help that line a little bit with his forechecking, getting to loose pucks. I think he can help that line.”
The coach also addressed having Konecny alongside Cates and Foerster. “We want to play aggressively,” he said. “I mean shutdown, we don’t want the Cates line to play a one-four, we want them to be aggressive. If you have the puck it’s the best defense. We’re just trying different things, maybe it helps getting TK going, it’ll gets some other people going sometimes when you switch lines.”
Konecny and Michkov this year
Konecny hasn’t had the glare on him the last two seasons despite the long-term contract he’s now 18 games into. Last year, a lot of the spotlight was around Michkov and his rookie season. This year Trevor Zegras has taken the team on his shoulders (particularly on the power play) and has been nothing short of fantastic. So obviously Zegras is going to get a lot more attention being the new guy on the block. Especially with a contract extension looming as a restricted free agent. Konecny is even in terms of plus/minus this year with five goals and nine assists heading into Thursday night’s game against the Blues. He has one game-winner against Seattle and is still looking for his first power play goal of 2025-26. Konecny is currently on a four-game goalless streak with his last goal in a 3-1 win against Nashville.
On the other side of the coin, Michkov got off to a rocky start as has been well-documented. He has four goals and five assists through 18 games and is a minus-4 on the plus/minus scale. He has just one power play goal and is still looking for his first game-winner. Both he and Konecny aren’t anywhere near their production pace of last season, so breaking them up now could end up being a blessing for all concerned. The duo just haven’t clicked the way each individual player has with other linemates. It’s not a personality issue or anything of that nature. It just seems that it’s not a fit.
So, having said all that, Konecny and Michkov aren’t mixing. A comparison between them would make one wonder just who has the 14 points so far this season and who appears to be struggling somewhat. Let’s take a look at just what Konecny and Michkov have done so far in terms of the five-on-five underlying metrics.
| Time On Ice | CF% | FF% | SF% | GF% | xGF% | HDCF% | |
| Travis Konecny | 255:40 | 47.20 | 49.04 | 48.82 | 47.83 | 44.60 | 47.30 |
| Matvei Michkov | 217:04 | 51.39 | 49.63 | 51.96 | 50.00 | 53.32 | 59.21 |
As you can see, Michkov is ahead of Konecny in all metrics outside of usage, with Konecny having roughly 40 more minutes of playing time over Michkov. Michkov, who has been paired with Couturier from the start of training camp (and prior to that), might find more chemistry with Brink on the other side while knowing Couturier probably better than any Flyer forward in his young career. At the same time, seeing Konecny with two younger forwards — who seem defensively sound while also driving play — could be the catalyst to see the winger get back in the swing of things like he was the first half of last year. At least that’s the hope with these changes.
Will separating them work?
There is a small sample of ice time with Konecny on a line with Foerster and Cates this season. It hasn’t been for an extended period of time, but when they were together, the ice was tilted in their favor. The trio have just under 10 minutes of ice time together five-on-five (9:36) but had a Corsi For percentage of 72.22 (13-5), and a Scoring Chances For percentage of 71.43. Again it wasn’t a huge amount of time, but they looked like they could turn into something. At the very worst it was a decent stopgap until Tyson Foerster returned from injury. But could this turn into something promising? Nobody knows, but they made a very decent first impression.
Here’s some other data showing how Michkov and Konecny worked when they were paired with Couturier and what they’ve done away from each other. It looks like separating them could be a step in the right direction.
| Time On Ice | CF% | FF% | SF% | xGF% | SCF% | |
| Konecny/Couturier/Michkov | 51:37 | 41.49 | 45.16 | 42.86 | 54.37 | 40.82 |
| Konecny/Couturier/Tippett | 50:10 | 54.26 | 54.79 | 58.82 | 53.99 | 51.22 |
| Brink/Couturier/Michkov | 34:34 | 63.34 | 61.76 | 69.57 | 48.36 | 50.00 |
Although the line combinations won’t be what you see for Konecny in terms of being with Couturier and Tippett, it appears that his metrics look better when he’s not with Michkov. His numbers are far better overall in those categories with a slight drop in the expected goals percentage. And as you can see from Michkov’s short time with Brink and Couturier, he seems to be thriving in that combination in several categories but, sadly, a slight drop in the expected goals for percentage. Looking at this data, it’s fairly evident that Michkov and Konecny might have all the time in the world for each other and the utmost respect for their teammate. But when push comes to shove they’re not wingers that for now work well with each other.
So, while the cries will be heard to reunite Cates, Foerster, and Brink if losses pile up, it hasn’t resulted in Michkov or Konecny finding their game. If sacrificing that line’s chemistry to get Michkov and Konecny going works, then it’s well worth it. As much as this writer loathes the notion of not seeing 71, 27, and 10 together, it’s worth it. These two wingers have to produce. Or at the very least find two linemates who can accentuate their strengths. The quicker Michkov and Konecny find their games and scoring touch again, the easier things should be in getting the even-strength offense going while having three potential scoring lines.
Tocchet is hoping the lines catch lightning in a bottle. Otherwise more juggling means more time needed to find chemistry. It’s a vicious circle you want to stop. Hopefully Michkov and Konecny being apart can make Philadelphia’s offense come together.
