Philadelphia Flyers Head Coach John Tortorella Benches Star Rookie Once More
The Philadelphia Flyers have a star on their hands in Matvei Michkov, but once again, he's been benched by veteran Head Coach John Tortorella as tensions between the two seemingly continue to grow.
The 2024/25 season was expected to be a wild ride in Philadelphia, and thus far it has been, with Matvei Michkov and John Tortorella not always seeing eye-to-eye, as the two got into a major shouting match on the bench of a recent Flyers game.
Given the differing philosophies of the two, who experience a 46-year age difference, it was always expected that this would happen, with the veteran coach notorious for being hard on his younger players.
After benching him late in a game recently, it has happened again on Sunday, with reporters noting that Michkov was absent from the ice for the final nine minutes of the first period of their game against the New Jersey Devils.
He would end up playing 13 minutes for Philly in the 3-1 defeat, the least amount of minutes beyond Pelletier, Deslauriers and Abols, and for a player right in the thick of the Calder Trophy race as one of the teams most dynamic forwards, it's safe to say that fans aren't too happy.
With the loss, the Flyers are now well under .500 and will likely not be making the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025, and with the team potentially looking to move towards the future in the summer, his time as the Flyers Head Coach is unclear.
For now though, the team are sticking by Tortorella despite the average results and his constant poor treatment of their younger players, but if they see Michkov as the future, the front office may have a big decision to make very soon.
