Matvei Michkov’s ice time is a eal head-scratcher. Michkov is clearly the Flyers’ most dangerous player right now—he’s leading the team with 6 goals (plus 1 assist for 7 points) through the first 11 games of 2026-27, with a ridiculous shooting percentage, and he just scored twice in a 3-2 win over Colorado.
Yet his ice time keeps hovering around 14–15 minutes a night (season average roughly 14:51). Last night against the Avalanche he played just 14:37 total (about 12:46 at 5-on-5), and even career AHLers/rookies like Jacob Gaucher and Cole Knuble logged comparable or higher even-strength minutes while he was producing. Recent games have been in that same range: 14:29, 13:40, 14:46, etc.
“I feel good on the ice. I want to play, I want to support team more,” Michkov said last night.
This has been a recurring theme under Rick Tocchet—defensive details, turnovers, short shifts, and usage decisions have limited him even when the offense is flowing. Fans (and some coverage) have been pointing out that a guy driving play and scoring at this rate should be pushing closer to top-line/PP1 minutes more consistently, especially on a team that struggled early. When he’s on the ice, things happen; the minutes just aren’t matching the impact yet.Frustrating to watch when he’s this hot.
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Do you really know how to run a hockey team Jamey? With the condensed schedule you have to run a team like this. You have to spread the minutes out like this. Do I really have to explain this to you? How long have you been doing this? You forgot to mention that michkov is a minus 7 so far, if you’re going to mention stats, mention all of them. Sanheim has been playing very heavy minutes and he looks tired, this is what happens. Even when the team wins, you crap all over the coach. Also, with a condensed schedule you accumulate injuries, which we have, and somehow we beat the Av’s. How about some positive attitude for a change.