It is enough for the Philadelphia Flyers to have lost 11 of their last 13 games before Tuesday night’s game against the Washington Capitals. But now, they have a potential crisis on their hands as head coach Rick Tocchet and winger Matvei Michkov are having a fairly public conflict.

Throughout the entire season, how the Flyers’ young Russian star is getting barely any more minutes than bottom-six wingers has been a point of contention for fans. We saw the dazzling displays of talent during his rookie year and all we want is more, clearly. But then the drama started. Discussion of Michkov showing up to camp out of shape has not exploded into something uncontrollable among this fan base and at the center of it is Tocchet.

Rick Tocchet comments on Matvei Michkov’s season low 10:21 TOI 👇 pic.twitter.com/u58CSTNNaw

— PHLY Flyers (@PHLY_Flyers) February 1, 2026

During the Flyers Carnival on Sunday, Tocchet appeared on PHLY’s livestream and was asked by friend of the site Bill Matz about Michkov’s ice-time. Tocchet repeated the same point that he showed up to training camp out of shape and that it is difficult to “play yourself in shape” among other things like a somewhat vague mention that your playing time can also be affected if you don’t show up to your treatments and other off-ice team appointments.

Well, of course this blew up and caused a firestorm among Flyers fans. Some are calling for Tocchet’s job already and it has essentially spiraled out of control. So much so that national media in both Canada and the United States have caught wind of this. People nowhere near Philadelphia are now hearing about this drama that has gone on all season long but really came to its climax this past weekend.

Elliotte Friedman gives national spotlight to Flyers drama surrounding Tocchet and Michkov

And maybe the biggest NHL insider of them all was able to dedicate some time to discussing this problem and even giving a potential and severe solution.

On Tuesday’s episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Elliotte Friedman spent a whole lot of time going over this potential PR crisis for the Flyers and really called on it to be addressed by the team and for general manager Danny Briere to come out and nip it in the bud. Of course, starting with a weird analogy.

“In the DC Universe, Kyle, there is something called the Bat Signal. You know what I’m calling for today? The Briere signal,” Friedman said. “So, we’re going to flash the Briere signal, because I think he is the guy who is best able to put an end to this. And I know he talked the other day, but this calls for extra measures. If I was running the Philadelphia Flyers, what I would do — because Briere is the calmest, he’s not going to let emotions get control of him — I would just say that he’s calling a press conference and clearing the air.

“It says, ‘We’re putting this all out here. This is what happened.’ You know, there’s talk about Michkov not showing up in shape, and now there’s also talk about how Rick Tocchet discussed that the possibility of Michkov being late for treatment. If I was Briere, I go out and say, “Okay, these were the issues. It’s over. Today is day one of a new day. … And we’re closing the book on the past and we’re moving on.’”

That would be a very bold thing to do. Sometimes we get in our own little bubble and what seems massive, is really just whatever hockey thing is being discussed online and it never really escapes. But, with the gray area of what is now strictly online and what actually affects the real world of the NHL, this feels like something that should at least be addressed.

Maybe it is addressed in a subtle and not obvious way of Tocchet suddenly giving Michkov the minutes that fans have been clamoring for. And after a few weeks straight of the 21-year-old getting to play over 16 minutes a night, most of this is water under the bridge. Or, something more drastic, like what Friedman suggested involving Briere, needs to be done.

And it is put very clearly by Friedman later, Michkov means too much for the future of the Flyers for something like this to cause a potential rift between the team and the player.

“Matvei Michkov is too important to the Flyers. And, I understand, look if he’s showing up out of shape or he is late for treatment, those are issues the Flyers have to deal with and Michkov has to be better at. But, in this new day and age, it’s a two-way street. They have to say to Michkov, ‘Okay, this is hat we were upset about. We demand you do better, but we’re giving you a new slate to prove to us anything we didn’t like last summer, anything we didn’t like right now, to this point, we’re giving you a clean slate. We’re putting you out there but if you go back to what we didn’t like, it’s on you. But we’re ending it right now.’

“He’s too important, and you have to finish this season on an upswing. I can imagine the Flyers as an organization weren’t happy with some of the commentary on the weekend. I think generally you like to keep that stuff in-house. That’s why I think Briere is the best option to come out and say, “Okay, sometimes a relationship has to hit rock bottom before it can get better. … So this is rock bottom.’

Did Michkov lose a potential barrier to Tocchet?

Something else Friedman touched on as a hypothesis as to why this is really blowing up now is a recent trade that the Flyers made. Back in December, the Flyers decided that defenseman Egor Zamula was no longer in their plans. They waived him, he didn’t want to stay in the AHL so they ended up trading him to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He didn’t report over there and then his contract got terminated so he could go and sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets as a free agent.

But, as Friedman points out, the fellow Russian was someone who Michkov could have relied on off the ice for some team dynamics and potentially with his head coach.

“You know, some of the things I wonder about, Zamula is not there anymore. And he was kind of like the Michkov sounding board. And I do wonder if that’s a factor too. But you have to make this work — it’s too important,” Friedman said.

It is very interesting. Michkov lost both Zamula and goaltender Ivan Fedotov recently and that trio was seen together often enough throughout last season. There is Nikita Grebenkin (and sometimes Aleksei Kolosov) on the team as some other Russian representation but that doesn’t instantly guarantee anything. Especially since Grebenkin himself is just a rookie and has even less experience in the NHL than Michkov. While Zamula did not have much value on the ice, it is interesting to wonder if what he did for the rookie off of it meant even more than we could have imagined.

The Flyers have just two games before they head on the lengthy break for the Olympics. Just two games to play this week until they return on Feb. 25. Maybe this break is coming at the most perfect time and this issue can sort itself out, or no games being played will cause this to fester and infect the entire fan base even more drastically and it could get even worse than it currently is.

It’s never a dull moment with the Flyers.