Note: This was originally published on May 24.
It was a funny week in the Philadelphia Flyers’ world. One moment we’re hypothesizing which current members of the roster are most likely to be traded by this rebuilding hockey club, and the next we’re suddenly potentially getting the best prospect the team has ever had in decades two years before expected.
Matvei Michkov can come to Philadelphia as early as this summer and start his NHL career in just a handful of months from now. That feels insane to think about considering we were roadmapping the journey to the eventual arrival of the Russian phenom for the 2026-27 season — to then have rumors pop up about SKA St. Petersburg being willing to accept a buyout and following termination of his contract, so that the 19-year-old can play where he is going to hopefully play through multiple decades.
The arrival of a prospect like Michkov changes things. The 2023 seventh-overall pick has hit or exceeded expectations wherever he has played, and his offensive game could boost almost everyone around him by just existing. Almost everywhere he has played overseas — whether it is in the KHL for SKA or HK Sochi, or SKA’s minor-league team in the VHL — he has been relied upon to carry the offense. Just by seeing his goal-to-assist ratio and seeing that he has either scored more goals than assists or close to even, tells the story of him needing to take the weight off of everyone else and put it all on himself to finish the job. He is a unit.
That type of player just showing up early and being able to play for your team can change the direction of your entire organization. In the original timeline, the Flyers had time to strategize and form a strong foundation so that when Michkov comes overseas, they can hit the ground running and start trying to actually win some hockey games. Now, it might be in a little bit of a mushy middle.
Obviously, you welcome the top prospect in with open arms as early as possible and it doesn’t really matter how far along you are in your plan. Hockey is simple that way. No plan, just get a good player and be happy with it.
But, does Michkov’s potential early arrival change what the Flyers were planning for their offseason this summer? It all depends what exactly they were planning to do in the first place — but let’s just assume that a team that has screamed “We are rebuilding!!” at any chance they get, while also missing the playoffs, and have some older players on the roster that certainly will not be as good when the team is actively trying to be good; were planning on trading a whole lot of players.
Because why wouldn’t they? There are some players on this roster that could definitely do better elsewhere while also helping the Flyers accelerate their journey to becoming a better team in the future.
We know the candidates that might get moved this summer. But, on an individual, case-by-case basis, does Michkov arriving and being on the team change the likelihood of them staying? Let’s find out.
Scott Laughton
With two years left on his contract that carries a cap hit of $3 million, and long-term rumors of the Flyers moving on from him in this new rebuilding phase with teams being actually interested in acquiring him — this summer might be the time Scott Laughton is actually traded.
The writing is on the wall and despite him essentially being the heartbeat of this team and perhaps the largest leader on and off the ice, the trigger could be pulled.
And while it might be painful for most of us, his play just wasn’t up to par this past season. He was visibly a different player this past season and was certainly not as good defensively as an individual — so all that is to say that before any Michkov news popped up, we should have all expected Laughton to start the 2024-25 NHL season with a different team.
Now, the big question: Does the top prospect coming change any of this?
On the ice, it shouldn’t. Laughton was not really a factor in the success the Flyers had. Despite adding 13 goals and 39 assists and playing in all 82 games, other players like Ryan Poehling took what Laughton brings to the team and built on it.
Now off of it? There is certainly an argument that can be made that Laughton should stick around to keep the leadership foundation in-tact with the rookie coming over and can make an easier transition to the best league in the world for a young player. But that also feels like a silly decision to make considering that the Flyers are looking for a first-round pick for the player and could feasibly get something close to that value.
If that means the younger players have to step up into more of a leadership role with the absence of Laughton, then so be it.
Travis Konecny
Travis Konecny’s continued existence as a Philadelphia Flyer has to be the decision of the summer. He has just one year remaining on his contract and has been the team’s best player for multiple seasons now and just absolutely reeks of Philadelphia Hockey. This dude stinks. He is smelling to high heaven of Flyers aura and just fits in so well here and is a very good hockey player to boot.
All of that wrapped into one player seems like a no-brainer to keep him around, but considering that he is just about what every other team wants in a top-six winger, and the Flyers not necessarily being a good team for the future, they might end up moving him before training camp this fall. It’s less of an emotional response to their situation, and any decision to trade Konecny comes from a purely logical place.
But, come on. It’s Travis Konecny and he is just fun to have on the team no matter what the greater outlook of the team is. Also, this is not why we’re here. Michkov coming over, he has to have someone to play with on the power play and another player to be able to play on a different line as a right-winger to provide the offense. Konecny has been burdened and potentially, Michkov can lighten that load.
If Michkov comes early, the decision to trade Konecny should weigh much heavier and will show us what Flyers management thinks about the roster they have. If Michkov was to come in 2026, then why wait around to keep Konecny for those two seasons without your top prospect on the team? They would most likely trade him to make the team even better when the Russian winger would arrive. Now? It’s much more difficult and it would surely let Michkov flourish at the time that he would want to, and not find all the expectation offensively, to be on him.
Travis Sanheim
Sanheim has been the backbone of the Flyers blue line for better or worse the last few seasons. While Ivan Provorov was doing whatever he was doing (being bad) and other players like Cam York were developing, the lanky man from Manitoba was just going through the motions as a solid-but-not-outstanding defenseman.
He was already almost a St. Louis Blues player if Torey Krug decided to waive his no-trade clause last summer, and with roughly a million years left on his contract at a fairly solid rate, he might get some interest again this summer.
But should the Flyers move him? Especially considering that we saw what a blue line is like without anyone else but a pairing of Sanheim and York through the second half of this past season. Can the Flyers afford to make that move and potentially let the defensemen currently on the roster off in a downward spiral? It seems like there is just one anchor holding everything together back there, and that’s him.
So, with Michkov potentially inbound, is theoretically weakening the backend still in the cards? We would say that keeping Konecny would directly affect Michkov more than Sanheim staying or leaving, but the puck does have to make its way up the ice in some way.
If a deal is there, the Flyers will most likely take it just to have more financial flexibility in the future, but they should certainly think of a replacement in the form of a free agent or trade acquisition, that could be younger and just cost less. It can’t be Cam York and co. just hanging out back there as Michkov tries to have a successful rookie campaign.
Rasmus Ristolainen
Okay, speaking of defensemen, we actually kind of sort of missed Rasmus Ristolainen during the latter half of the 2023-24 season. He was off with injury and needs some offseason surgery to fully recover, but he should return to the regular level of him in Philadelphia which is “extremely, not bad”.
Any trade rumors surrounding Ristolainen is essentially the same as Sanheim’s situation but even moreso. Ristolainen is not as cementing as a player and the Flyers will certainly be able to live without him, and with three more years of his contract remaining, he shouldn’t be around here when the Flyers are truly a good team. Plus, some other teams want him and that is for certain. They should be able to make a deal and whether or not Michkov is on the team or not, shouldn’t even change general manager Danny Briere’s mind for one millisecond.
Joel Farabee
The only reason the Flyers should trade Joel Farabee this summer is if they get a better player coming back or an equally talented player that is a center. He is locked up at a decent rate, just had a career year with 50 points, and is still just 24 years old who is under contract until he is 29. That is some financial security for a team and you don’t want to be the team that traded him to then have him hit 80 or 90 points elsewhere, because they gave him the opportunity to play with a good center.
He is one of the only natural left wingers on the team, to add to his value to the Philadelphia Flyers Hockey Club, and he seems to be the leader of the vibes amongst the young players. Again, no reason to move him and especially when Michkov could be his linemate and they score a billion points together no matter who is at center.
Farabee’s most common linemates last season were Bobby Brink and Scott Laughton. One player who didn’t really earn the coach’s trust to be in prime scoring opportunities, and the other being a husk of his former self. And just to add to it all, his third most common forward linemate was Cam Atkinson. That is all you need to know. Farabee was dragging around his linemates offensively all season long — and now there is an opportunity to have the dynamo Michkov next to him instead? You can’t mess that up.
Morgan Frost
No, please. Frost has made such a leap into being a good top-six playmaking center last season. And considering Sean Couturier’s lack of health and Laughton being potentially moved, he might be the top-line center for all we know.
He was previously on the trade block just because he didn’t gel with the coaching staff, but now he has found a solid relationship with the people in charge and should be nowhere near any transaction this summer, unless a much better player is coming back for some reason.
Michkov can change a whole lot, but most likely, him coming early means that the Flyers will have to think extra hard about who they are moving this offseason. There should be some regular roster players traded to other teams, but if the rookie comes leaping overseas, there may be fewer than we expected.
