Daily Faceoff's Anthony DiMarco just put Matvei Michkov's contract question in the spotlight while the Flyers sit 29th in the NHL.
Michkov is 21, was drafted seventh overall in 2023, and is playing on an entry-level deal that runs through this season. He'll be a restricted free agent at expiry, and no extension has been signed.
DiMarco's piece for Daily Faceoff asks what a "piping-hot and redemptive" start could mean for that next deal, as shared by MLarkinHockey:
Start with what he's done. Michkov has 10 goals and 13 points in 17 games, and five of those goals came on the power play. He also has a game-winning goal.
Last night against the Wild, he put four shots on goal and added an assist in a 4-2 loss. It was a quiet kind of productive, the kind that doesn't move the standings.
The standings are the problem. The Flyers are 4-9-4 with a -21 goal differential, and Michkov's own rating is -10.
Why Michkov's value is hard to price
Now put his season next to his career. Michkov has 56 goals and 127 points in 178 NHL games, so 10 goals in 17 games this year is a real jump in how quickly he's scoring.
But the -10 is a legitimate mark against him, and it sits alongside a career rating of -28. Philadelphia's front office will read both columns when it sits down with his camp.
Here's the opinion. Daniel Briere shouldn't let this drift into the summer. A player who has scored 10 goals while the team around him stumbles is the player you lock in before the next hot stretch makes the price go up.
None of the contract terms are on the table publicly, and nothing here suggests talks have started. That leaves the RFA clock running quietly in the background of a season that is going badly.
The next test comes Thursday, when Rick Tocchet's Flyers visit Mike Sullivan's Rangers, who are 8-7-1. Both teams own a 1-5-1 road record, and Michkov will try to add to those 10 goals.
