Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers Fans Mixed as Tortorella Scratches Matvei Michkov

John Tortorella has confirmed that he’ll be making star rookie Matvei Michkov a healthy scratch on Thursday night for the Flyers.

by
NHL Trade Talk
November 7, 2024

Philadelphia Flyers fans are not happy on Thursday following news that rookie superstar Matvei Michkov is going to be a healthy scratch Thursday night as the Flyers take on the Tampa Bay Lighting. After winning Rookie of the Month honors in the NHL, there have been a few hiccups in Michkov’s game, but scratching him to seemingly send a message feels excessive.

Lineup update: Forward Anthony Richard will make his Flyers debut tonight in Tampa. Matvei Michkov comes out of the lineup.

Goaltender Aleksei Kolosov starts between the pipes. #PHIvsTBL | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/QXiRvWKBqi
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 7, 2024

The reaction from fans on social media was swift and as overreactive as one would imagine.

“That’s it! I’m out until this dinosaur isn’t behind the bench anymore,” said one fan. “I’ve been a Torts apologist for a while now. This is inexcusable,” said another. Hunter Brody of Brodes Media, tweeted, “Healthy scratching Matvei Michkov is a disgrace.”

When asked why he was making his star rookie a scratch, Tortorella responded, “Just part of the process.” He added, “We’re trying to help him.” There are a few fans and analysts who are arguing that this is overdue. Anthony SanFilippo tweeted, “His play at 5-on-5 has not been good for a while. Torts actually showed some real patience waiting til Game 14, to be honest.”

How Will Michkov React to Being Scratched?

Tortorella has benched Michkov before and the player took it well but was frustrated. He told reporters to move on from the line of questioning when asked about missing a few shifts and it’s unclear how this is going to sit. No doubt, reporters will ask Michkov about having to watch a game from the stands and it will be intriguing to see if he takes accountability for his struggles or feels as though he’s being singled out on a team that has seen several players go through stretches of lousy hockey.