VOORHEES, N.J. — About two weeks ago, Philadelphia Flyers online conspiracy theorists quickly equipped their tinfoil hats. Matvei Michkov, fresh off a particularly low 12:54 of ice time in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 11, had suddenly made his Instagram account private, while deleting the handful of photos that had previously populated his feed.
Had Michkov had enough of Philadelphia? Was the promising winger through with coach Rick Tocchet limiting his minutes? Was a trade in the works? Or even already done?
As is often the case with these sorts of things, there was a much simpler explanation. In an exclusive conversation with The Athletic on Monday, Michkov, in English, said that stepping back from the social media platform was done to “just (focus) on hockey.”
It seems to be working. Michkov is playing arguably the best hockey of his budding career. Headed into Tuesday’s Flyers home game with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Michkov is riding a five-game point streak, with six goals and two assists over that span. (His career best is six games, from March 22-31, 2025.) The run began three days after he went dark on social media.
Coincidence? Maybe. But maybe not. Tocchet mentioned on Oct. 13, when the Flyers were in the middle of their nine-game winless streak to start the season, that the coaching staff was doing its best to “cocoon” players from the negativity online, and that “social media will kill you if you really listen to it.”
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