Philadelphia Flyers rookie forward Matvei Michkov will be a healthy scratch for Thursday’s game against the host Tampa Bay Lightning, coach John Tortorella said.
Michkov is tied for the NHL rookie lead with 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 13 games, albeit with a minus-8 rating.
The seventh overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, Michkov was benched for a portion of the Flyers’ 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 31 and their 6-4 setback to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
Never shy to bench a player, Tortorella told reporters Thursday that “it’s just part of the process.”
“With young guys, they can watch games too as far as development. It’s trying to help him,” he added.
Tortorella told reporters after the game versus the Blues that Michkov might benefit from observing from a distance.
“He’s a 19-year-old kid playing in the best League in the world,” Tortorella said at the time. “I think he’s beginning to see what the National Hockey League is, as far as the speed, as far as time and space, all the things that come with it. There are going to be some major struggles within 5-on-5. We expect that. … But if we keep on seeing the same mistake, and it just totally is not concentrating on a certain part of the game … I’ve been very honest with him about that. He’s going to miss some ice. He’s going to watch the game.
“I didn’t want to sit him a period. I didn’t. I just wanted him to sit, relax, think about what I said to him. I think he missed two or three rotations, we put him back out there. That’s the way it’s going to be. He may miss games. Who knows? I don’t know what’s going to happen. But that that’s part of the development of a 19-year-old kid.”
Forward Anthony Richard, 27, will make his debut with the Flyers on Thursday, one day after being recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League.
–Field Level Media