Insider Drops Bombshell About the Flyers...

We have a bombshell trade report to discuss on this episode of NHL Digest, so let's dive right in. As Kevin Weeks has reported from multiple league sources with the Flyers' unimpressive start in internal turmoil, Michkov would likely want a new start elsewhere. He's in the last year of his contract and is a prime trade candidate moving forward. For those of us who are taking a look at what's going on with the Flyers this season, it has not been good, right? This is a team, after making the playoffs last year, while I don't think people are expecting... A step? Most people are expecting much of the same thing, either being the third place team in the Metro or just right outside in that conversation. But the Flyers have gotten off to a really horrid start, to be honest. They've won five games out of their first 20 and have not looked good doing it. It is also worth noting when it comes to Matvei Michkov, one of the big issues with the Flyers is that they don't. Play him enough, right? This is a player who Rick Tockett constantly finds reasons to bench. Despite being their lead point scorer, he is only getting, he's getting under 16 minutes a night. And while that is a step up from last season, realistically, he should be getting 20 minutes. And I understand the plus minus doesn't look that great here. We'll talk about that in just one second. The Flyers have been an absolute mess. And this really boiled over. If you watched the game last night, there were. arguments on the bench between Michkov and Seeler as Seeler wanted to get a pass honestly I don't really know what he's you watch the play at least reportedly that's what the argument was about you watch the play yes he's kind of open but he's not really in a particularly incredible spot like it's not like he's wide open to bang the puck home with nobody with him like he sealers out there open but like he's kind of towards the side I doubt he'd even get that shot through but you can tell there's a lot of turmoil with this team a lot of struggles early right again Michkov last year with Rick Tockett coming out to the media and calling him out of shape coming into camp all this stuff I think has led to this Relationship deteriorating a bit to the point where we can see a trade here. And I'm sure for Flyers fans, the last thing you want to see is Michkov trading. You see every video we do talking about the Flyers. Everyone talks about how this guy has to play more. But there are two teams in particular that I think are also getting off to pretty rough starts that it could make sense to see a trade. And for those of you whose teams are not included in this video, I do think almost every team in the NHL would have some interest in Michkov. It's just about what they're willing to give up. And I think these two teams are willing to give up pieces right now. But first, I want to talk more about what Michkov is because even though, and for the record, 14 points in 20 games so far, that's solid production. I think there's a lot more to this player. His deployment on the Flyers has been very strange. Even when he's... playing decent minutes a lot of times he's not playing with the top offensive players on the team which honestly for a team that cannot score goals makes no sense we talked about it earlier before the Flyers had won a game this season this is a team that the way they deploy their players and the type of style of hockey they try to play you have a lot of interesting offensive wingers here this is a team that can really fly the zone create some interesting chances instead they try to play this hard style of defense that frankly does not fit the roster So I do think a change of scenery would elevate Michkov's production. You look at his career high. It's his rookie season where he put up 63 points in 80 games. That's before Rick Tockett came to the Flyers. Now, how much more is there with Michkov? I think that's an interesting conversation. I'll also note that his shooting percentage is really high this year. That is going to go down to its norms of around 12, 13%. Still, I think this is a player. Playing with the right players, playing in the right opportunity, that can get 80-plus points a season. I think this is an above-point-per-game type player. What else he can be, that we'll see. I'm not ready to say this is a guy who's going to score 90 points when in three years we haven't seen that point-per-game clip yet from him. But I think a big part of this is the Flyers. And with that, I do want to get into these two teams that I think can trade for him. And I'm also going to talk at the end of this video about the potential of an offer sheet Because with disagreements with Flyers and... Again, they didn't get to that contract, an eight-year contract, which is, this is the type of player you should have locked up. They locked up other players like Forster, which made no sense, and not Michkov. I think that also plays a factor here in what could eventually happen. But the first trade we're going to discuss is between the Chicago Blackhawks. This is the team that first came to mind when it came to mapping Michkov. And I will note, it's not a perfect fit. We all know the Blackhawks desperately need scoring wingers. They also do need more size to their game, and Michkov isn't quite a fit in that sense, but he is a heavier player. I understand he's not a tall guy. I don't think he gets enough credit for, at least he plays heavy. I know he lost a lot of weight going into the season. Maybe that's a bit of an inaccurate statement at this point, but I think the style of play that he has fits well with what Chicago... is looking for here. And I think this would be a really interesting fit as for what the return would be. I think this would center around Frank Nazar. You look at the shortcomings of the Philadelphia Flyers. I think the biggest contributing factor here is this team just does not have center talent. They don't have center talents and they don't have a top pair defenseman that can control the power play. And any trade... For Michkov, I think they're going to want a big-time center in return. Now, obviously, Bedard is not going to be that center. I cannot see the Chicago Blackhawks trading Frondell, but I do think Nazar would be a really interesting piece if they have to add more in order to make it work. So that's the big piece here, taking a look at what he's done. He's another player who, at this point, I'm starting to think needs a change of scenery. The plus minus also isn't great with Nazar. The Blackhawks, we can do a video. I think Casey just did a video on how they're kind of a disaster this season. But you look at what he's done in the past. This is another very young player, bit of a smaller guy, 22 years old, so similar age. And he's had a lot of success in the past in the NHL, just hasn't been able to fully break out. His career high is 41 points in 66 games. So not the same as Michkov's production in his peak. Even last year, Michkov was more productive. Nazar has shown he can produce. He's a center, at least right now, projects to continue being a center in the NHL. So I think the Flyers would value that. And then, of course, there are other pieces I'm including in this trade because Michkov is the better player. The interesting one here is Kevin Korchinski. And I'd love to know in the comments what you think of Kevin Korchinski. He hasn't had a lot of ice time this season, struggling to find a role in the NHL. Still 22 years old. I don't like giving up on defensemen this young. He's 6'3". If he kind of pans out as a guy who can really move the puck well, which is something I think the Flyers should look for, because he isn't all that proven, though I still think he has a decent bit of value considering where he was drafted and what he can do if he does pan out. Honestly, I think the Blackhawks have done a horrible job at developing Korchinski. And if you want to question if the Flyers would do any better. That is a totally fair criticism, but I do think there still is a very good player in Kevin Korchinski if he can be brought out. I think the potential is there for him to still be a top four NHL defenseman. So two good pieces there for the Flyers if they make this trade. And then the third piece I have here is a first round pick from Chicago. Kind of messed up inputting here. I would not expect Chicago to give up their first round pick, but they also have the first round pick of the Edmonton Oilers. And in addition, they also have the first round pick So I think the higher of those two could really finish out this trade. Let me know in the comments what you think about this, Flyers fans. That might sound a little underwhelming, but I do think this is a solid trade package for both teams. Got to understand with Michkov. I do think he has that sky high potential at this point. I don't know if he's going to hit it with the Flyers and there's some distressed assets situation going on here. The other team I do want to bring up for a trade package is the Detroit Red Wings. And this is a really interesting one straight up. I can see a Matvei Michkov, Simon Evanson, Simon Evanson trade. And this is one where I feel like we'll kind of get a little pushback from Flyers fans. It's really interesting when it comes to Simon Edvinson. Detroit Red Wings fans value him a ton. The Red Wings seem to value him a ton. And based on rumors, teams like the Sharks, who are desperately looking for that number one defenseman, value him a ton. And yet Detroit hasn't offered him a contract. If you're going to lose Matt Michkov, we talked about the two needs for the Flyers being a number one defenseman and a... Top line center, and in the case of Simon Edvinson, I think he is that number one defenseman. How good of a number one defenseman will he be? That's a fair question. Better than whatever the Flyers have had, though, as their number one defense. And you look at his stats last season, he had nine goals, 16 assists. I think there's a lot more offense there. Again, he did not get a lot of power play time. He was awesome in terms of blocking shots, 22 minutes a game. I think he's going to continue to take more of a bigger role. Also, Flyers seem to like their big defenseman. He is 6'6". He skates very well, which I think is important. Some of these teams are so obsessed with the size of the defenseman and not the fact he can play defense. He is the full package and at age 23, I think there is a lot of room for him to continue to grow. It's important to keep in mind with defensemen. They do take a bit longer at the very worst. I think Simon Edvinson is a great number two defenseman on. Most teams, I do think he does have some potential to be a number one. And when you compare the fact that while I do believe Michkov will be a number one winger on a team, he also hasn't completely proven that as well. I think this would be a good fit. The question is, would Detroit go for it? We've seen with Detroit some crazy rumors that they wouldn't even accept Misa for Simon Edvinson straight up. I wonder if this is a situation where Michkov is more the proven. player, they'd more consider that. Or if this is a situation, they would want more. If Detroit would want more for Edvinson, then I would not do this for the Flyers, but I think it is an interesting option. Finally, I do want to talk about the points that this could end up being an offer sheet situation. In fact, it has a lot of the ingredients to do that. We know there's some disagreements between Michkov and the Flyers management, right? Take a look at what the compensations would be about. The interesting thing here is I don't think you can get Mishkov without going over that $11.7 million mark for four first round picks. The question is, would any team be able to willing to risk it to do it? I do think for the Flyers, honestly, you get four first round picks with how this has gone. You probably accept, but I would really love to know what you think about that in the comments below. If any team could get him for that 9.3 to that $11.7 range, That would be. incredible. The one thing I will note, if you look at the Flyers, they do have a lot of cap space. So I don't think they would let him go in that range. Some of the teams I look at as legitimate threats to offer sheet. This player are teams that have a lot of first round picks and also feel like they're in a situation where, well, they're not going to be bad, right? Cause you don't want to be giving up really high picks. So some of the teams I look at, I know The logo is behind me, but the Islanders have a ton of money and frankly, not a lot of good players they need to sign and they're desperate for a talented winger. So that's a team that looks like a legitimate offer sheet threat. Some of the other teams I think could be dark horses there on the Seattle Kraken have been forever looking for a star player, a star winger. And while Michkov isn't perfect, right, you still have to continue to develop him from this point. I think that's a player they would take a chance on. The Rangers would make a ton of sense. The problem is they already traded two of their first round picks, so they're actually not eligible for an offer sheet here. And then one more team I kind of see as like that dark horse is a team like Ottawa or maybe even the Carolina Hurricanes who have the money and despite being a Stanley Cup champion, have the pick. So I do question if Michkov would fit. That Carolina style, the same could be said for the Ottawa Senators, but this is a player that even. Even though he might not perfectly fit a system, I think most teams would be incredibly interested in it. And I'd love to know your thoughts on this in the comments below. Flyers fans, I'm sure you want to see Rick Tocchet fired instead of Matvei Michkov. I wonder if this would settle the situation. It is worth noting that Emily Kaplan has said that this is not an official trade request. This actually took the Flyers off guard. So this is going to be a situation that... Likely continues to keep on giving. I'm really excited to see what happens here. Of course, Flyers fans, I'm sure it's frustrating. But yeah, I'm curious to know your thoughts about this in the comments below. If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the channel. Catch you on the next episode of NHL Digest.