Daniel Bochner knew of Matvei Michkov because the gaudy 2019-20 scoring totals made it impossible to miss him.
As a burgeoning star in Russia, Michkov averaged almost three points per game on the under-16 international stage. He racked up an incomprehensible 109 points (70 goals, 39 assists) in only 26 games at the Russian under-16 level. He was producing offense at a rate rarely if not ever seen in his country.
“So he was pretty well-known,” Bochner said.
Bochner was the player development coach for the Russian national teams and SKA St. Petersburg, one of the most prominent clubs in the KHL, Russia’s top pro league. He first met Michkov when the prospect was 15 years old.
Now Michkov is 20 and vying to win the Calder Trophy (NHL’s best rookie). After arriving to the Flyers last summer two years ahead of schedule, the prized winger has lived up to the hype that originated all the way back home.
“I had no doubt that he was going to come in there and, as long as he was given opportunity and ice time, he was going to be impactful scoring,” Bochner, now a player development coach for the Hurricanes, said in a mid-January phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. “At the same time, I knew that there were other areas that he was going to have to get better at and I think that’s no different than any rookie coming into the NHL. It’s a big jump for anybody.”
From the start, Bochner saw special talent in Michkov. But as a development coach, his job wasn’t to pump up Michkov’s strengths; it was to identify a weakness and hope Michkov would want to attack it.
“He’s an extremely competitive person and within that competitiveness is that need to want to be better than other people,” Bochner said. “Then obviously within that is, ‘I need to get better at stuff, I’m not naturally better than everybody. I may be in some areas, but there are going to be other areas where I’ve got to outwork people.'”
Bochner approached Michkov with an area to refine.
“There was some knock on his skating early,” he said. “I never saw it as bad as other people saw it. I always thought that he was never going to be explosive with linear speed. But what I did want to improve with him was his lateral movement because I think that’s really important off the rush and it’s really important to be deceptive once you get into the offensive zone, which is sort of his bread and butter — his ability to create separation in the offensive zone, find open ice and then be able to capitalize on that with his scoring ability.
“That was really, when I first met him, something I picked up and that became a focus, retooling his crossovers, his edge work and just try to get him more comfortable in tight areas and then more comfortable with lateral movement when he has got the puck on rush offense. Making sure that he wasn’t just pushing with his outside leg, but he had that inside leg driving through, which is going to create more lateral force as he’s skating up the ice.”
Bochner worked closely with Michkov in SKA St. Petersburg’s development camps, which would run for about two and a half weeks. He was pleased with the youngster’s devotion to a monotonous and meticulous part of his game.
“Not only was he receptive, but he was also self-aware,” Bochner said. “We came up with a game plan and obviously when you try to make any adjustments with your technical skating, it’s sort of a boring process. There’s a lot of boring repetition, it’s not a ton of fun, especially with guys who want to play with the puck and shoot on goalies.
“It’s usually isolated movement patterns. So if you’re not interested and you’re not committed to making that better, you’re not going to be very receptive. And he was. We would go out there early, work on his crossovers, work on his skating. He was super receptive.”
The work wasn’t to make Michkov’s stride look more aesthetically pleasing; it was to make him stronger and more efficient in his movements.
“When you look at him, the skating technique doesn’t stand out where you’re saying, ‘Wow, what a beautiful skater,'” Bochner said. “But what he does is he’s able to skate off his check quickly, he’s agile, he can control the puck very well in tight spaces, he’s sturdy and strong on the puck. It’s not easy to take the puck off of him.”
And make no mistake, Michkov still worked on his offensive skills with Bochner. At the end of the day, scoring is what fuels the 2023 seventh overall pick.
“I am going to put that into practice because that’s what brings him joy, so you want that as a motivating factor, you want him to stay sharp there,” Bochner said. “But you want to identify the things where he’s having a low success rate. And that’s how I went about it with him.”
The Flyers have seen Michkov’s sheer competitiveness this season.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” Sean Couturier said last Friday. “Anything he does. Even in practice sometimes.”
The Flyers’ captain recalled a recent 2-on-2 drill in which Michkov thought he scored, but for some reason the goal didn’t count. As a result, Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster ended up scoring on Couturier and Michkov.
“I think he didn’t talk to them for the next day,” Couturier said. “He’s that kind of guy, really competitive. … I think that’s what makes him special. Those elite athletes always have that competitive edge and he definitely has that.”
Despite some slumps and learning moments, Michkov has had a highly promising rookie season. The offensive gifts have been as advertised. He entered Monday leading all rookies in goals (24) and even strength points (43). He’s tied for first in power play goals (seven), second in overall points (58) and tied for second in assists (34). And he’s the only player in the NHL with both three or more overtime goals and three or more shootout goals.
Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson is the likely front-runner for the Calder Trophy, while Sharks center Macklin Celebrini and Flames goalie Dustin Wolf also stand as Michkov’s competition.
Michkov’s 58 points are the most by a Flyers rookie since Mikael Renberg had 82 in 1993-94. Renberg’s mark is a franchise record for most points by a rookie in a season. Michkov is ninth on the Flyers’ all-time rookie single-season scoring list.
Starting with former head coach John Tortorella, the Flyers wanted to work hard at Michkov’s play away from the puck. As one may have expected with two competitive people, Tortorella and Michkov had their moments. But the Flyers feel Michkov has grown because of it.
“You want to let him play his game, but once in a while, kind of remind him that there are certain things at certain times you’ve got to take care of,” Couturier said. “How to manage a game, you can’t always cheat for offense when you’re playing with a lead, sometimes it’s better off to just defend. But I don’t want to be in his ear every shift, I kind of just let him play. I try to also encourage him when I see improvement and when he’s doing the right plays. It’s definitely a balance.”
At the start of November, Brad Shaw mentioned how Michkov liked to play on the move and, because of that, he’d sometimes drift out of good position. Essentially, Michkov likes to read and react for when the play may shoot up ice. He’s thinking offense.
“You might ask the coach who’s here in 10 years and [Michkov] might still have a little drift to his game,” Shaw, now the Flyers’ interim head coach, said last Friday with a laugh. “But I think it’s one of the reasons that he’s a great player, I think it’s a reason why he’s dangerous, is his ability to anticipate. And we’re just trying to get him smarter in that anticipation — ‘this one was good and this one was not so good.’ That’s all part of the process.
“He’s a very willing student of the game, which I love. He’s a guy that wants to get better as soon as possible, wants extra, not afraid of being shown mistakes. It doesn’t really affect him like some other young players. That’s a real asset to have for a guy his age, for a guy who kind of has his style of play, because he’s going to butt heads with coaches, he’s going to be stubborn in some aspects of how he would like to play.”
Bochner worked with Artemi Panarin the summer before the Rangers’ star became one of three finalists for the 2019-20 Hart Trophy (NHL’s MVP). He has also trained Canadiens prospect and 2024 fifth overall pick Ivan Demidov, Blue Jackets winger Kirill Marchenko, former Flyer and current King Andrei Kuzmenko and Oilers winger Vasily Podkolzin.
With Michkov, he could sense the clutch gene.
“He is a guy that when the game is on the line, he doesn’t run away,” Bochner said. “He’s the guy that wants the puck on his stick. There is an innate confidence that comes with that mentality. And when you have confidence and you have scoring ability, even if there are issues in other areas, you’re going to find the back of the net. Those two things combined, if you have confidence and you have scoring ability, that’s a deadly combo. And he definitely has that.”
As this season has gone on, Michkov has shown more and more of his personality.
“He’s very serious and stoic at times, but at the same time, he can quickly come out of that and make a joke or just lighten up the mood with something,” Bochner said.
Bochner will keep him in touch with Michkov through an occasional text message.
“I try not to bother him too much,” Bochner said, “but if I see him score a nice goal or something, I will send him a little note and he usually sends me back a nice emoji or a thumbs up.”
Those moments probably don’t happen without Michkov wanting to sharpen a weakness at a young age back in Russia. The boring work has made big goals and unreal highlights the expectation in Philadelphia.
“Even outside of him scoring, just his body language, you see that he wants the puck, you see that he wants to be the guy to make a difference in those situations,” Bochner said. “It’s pretty remarkable.”
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