Philadelphia Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet and star Matvei Michkov seemingly shut down the recent reports the Russian winger may want a trade out of the organization on Wednesday.
“There’s nothing to talk about because it’s not true,” Tocchet told the media in Edmonton as they Flyers get set to play the Oilers. “You can’t comment on somebody blogging something that’s not true.”
The 21-year-old Michkov said he’s happy as a member of the Flyers and is not paying attention to the rumours.
“I’m no read all news, I no talk in interview, I need concentration on tonight’s game,” he said.
The rumours come on the heels of Michkov getting into an intense verbal confrontation while on the bench with teammate Nick Seeler during Tuesday’s 3-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
Both Michkov and Seeler confirmed everything is fine between them and they had dinner together following the incident.
During Tuesday’s edition of Insider Trading, TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston said no formal trade request has been made by Michkov’s camp and the Flyers aren’t interested in looking to trade a player of his status.
“It’s possible it gets there, but what I can tell you at this moment in time, we’re certainly not there yet. In fact, even after a lot of attention on Michkov getting into it with Nick Seeler on the bench, obviously a difficult start for the Flyers this season. But the Flyers themselves have not received a formal trade request in this circumstance,” Johnston explained.
“And this is not a player they’re looking to trade. He’s in the third year of his career, still in his entry-level contract, scoring at half a goal a game. And while it’s been a tough start for the team, they’re not simply going to give up on this kid. If they do ever think to trade him, they’ll be looking for a prize centreman or a quality player coming back the other way. But at this point in time, the Flyers are certainly not focused on moving him.”
After making the playoffs for the first time in five seasons last year, the Flyers have started the 2026-27 campaign slow with a 5-10-5 record.
Michkov, who is playing in the final season of his three-year entry-level contract, has tallied 10 goals and four assists over 20 games.
Selected seventh overall by the Flyers in 2023, the Russia scored 26 goals and 63 points over 80 games during his rookie season in 2024-25.
He took a step back with 20 goals and 51 points over 81 games last season.
Following Wednesday’s game in Edmonton, Philadelphia will finish their five-game road trip on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.