Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov is the latest Philly sports savior. Can he match the hype?

Kevin Dineen left the Wells Fargo Center disappointed last Thursday.

The Utica Comets coach was filling in on the visitors’ bench for the New Jersey Devils, who lost to the Flyers in the preseason finale for both teams. But it wasn’t just the defeat that upset Dineen, it was the absence of Matvei Michkov on the ice.

“I would have loved to have seen him play,” Dineen, who was a Flyers captain in the 1990s, told The Inquirer this week. “At the end of it, you know what? We’re hockey guys, and you’ve got a hockey player who has some very unique skill sets, and you want to see it live.”

In the nearly three months since the 19-year-old winger arrived in North America, he has become a central talking point within the hockey universe. Everyone knew the talent he possessed from clips on the internet of him playing in the Kontinental Hockey League, but as with John Tortorella, it’s about the eye test — and Michkov has put stars in everyone’s eyes since hitting the ice here last month.

» READ MORE: History says John Tortorella’s teams break through in Year 3. Will the Flyers do the same?

Maybe it was his nifty goal against the New York Rangers in the Rookie Series, tucked in and punctuated with a celebratory punch of the glass. Or how about when he had the rarely seen sense to knock an outlet pass down on one knee before chipping a perfect backhand pass right to a streaking Morgan Frost in the neutral zone for a two-on-one? Could it have been the pure determination and overtime winner against Boston that got you out of your seat?

Whatever it is, it has been impressive. High-end stickhandling. The ability to snipe and produce scoring chances from anywhere on the ice. Creativity. He may not throw his body around, but he definitely likes to muck it up. Michkov plays with an edge and is known more for his quickness and edge work than his speed.

“I’m not interested in turning him into a checker,” Tortorella said during training camp. “We want to lay the foundation, and it’s going to take time. It’s my job as far as play away from the puck. Are we going to beat him over the head with it? No, because we are starving for the type of plays that he can make, the instinctive plays that he can make.

“I do not want to overload him. ... But I want to let him go. We’re not going to try to stifle him in any way as far as his creativity.”

Starving is a strong word, but it has been a while since the Flyers have seen a guy built like Michkov. The Russian phenom was drafted seventh overall by the Flyers in 2023 — likely that low because he had a three-year contract in Russia (and geopolitics being what they are) and wasn’t expected to come to the U.S. until that was completed. The waiting is always the hardest part, and other teams weren’t willing to wait.

The Flyers were. And the wait turned out to be shorter than expected.

» READ MORE: Flyers rookie sensation Matvei Michkov is the real deal. His team is ready to protect the investment

“We’ve said it to our fans that it’s going to be a process,” general manager Danny Brière said in June. “That we weren’t going to turn this around overnight. That it would take time. I think he’s a clear example of that. Yeah, we took a big swing, but we hope that this turns out to be a home run.”

But that night of the draft in Nashville, before Brière and the Flyers’ brass assuredly headed to Tootsie’s on Broadway to celebrate the pick, he wasn’t ready to put the “superstar” tag on Michkov. He wasn’t ready then, but it’s certainly being tossed around now. And it’s not the only S-word being mentioned in the same breath as the youngster. It is a word Brière hates and, for your safety, it’s best to not say it within earshot of Tortorella.

The taboo word?

“He’s not our savior,” Tortorella said adamantly in the second episode of the Flyers’ docuseries The Standard. “He’s 19. He’s going to be developed. He’s going to be taught. But I know he brings something that we dearly need.”

Michkov doesn’t turn 20 until December, but for Flyers fans, the talent he brings fits the definition of “a person who saves someone or something (especially a country or cause) from danger, and who is regarded with the veneration of a religious figure.” OK, maybe leave the worship part to other teams, but the real and imminent danger is the Flyers’ continuation in mediocrity.

In the Philadelphia sports spectrum, other players have been held close to this distinction — even if those around them hated the word, too. Quarterback Donovan McNabb, the No. 2 overall pick by the Eagles in 1999, was called “pretty special” by future Hall of Famer Michael Strahan after an Eagles win against the hated Giants in his third NFL season; he led the team to five NFC championship games and within a fingertip of a Super Bowl XXXIX victory.

Heck, former 76ers guard Allen Iverson’s nickname was The Answer. The Hall of Famer, the top pick in the 1996 NBA draft, was the league’s MVP in 2001 and led the Sixers to the NBA Finals that year, losing to a Lakers team with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.

And the Flyers had Eric Lindros.

Even before he was drafted first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in 1991 — and subsequently traded a year later to Philly — expectations were high on the hulking power forward, a five-tool star who had size, speed, skill, finesse, and grit. When Lindros was a 16-year-old, then-Flyers general manager Bobby Clarke famously said he “could play in the NHL right now.”

After Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, Lindros was anointed The Next One.

“He was such a dominant player at the junior level, physically just bigger and stronger than everybody else, and certainly in Philadelphia when he got there, kind of just immediately put the Flyers on the map,” Dineen recalled. “Not a social media type of era, for sure, but it certainly was the buzz and he was the real deal. He was just so big and strong and the youthful exuberance that went along with it. It was certainly an exciting time.”

Dineen got a firsthand look at Lindros, not just as a teammate but as a roommate. Lindros, at 19, had bought a condo in Voorhees, but by November of his rookie season, he was asking if he could live with Dineen and his new wife, Annie, because, Dineen recalled, Lindros said he was lonely. The two players would even head to Penn, where Annie was pursuing her master’s degree, and sit in on classes.

“We would hop on the train and we’d go in there, and we’d go into these big auditorium classrooms, and we’d sit through some classes. It was kind of funny to see a kid kind of turn around and kind of look and go, ‘Why is Eric Lindros in the class?’” Dineen said with a laugh. “You know, I think that was just a sign that he was a kid that really wanted to be a kid, too.”

» READ MORE: NHL predictions: Will Matvei Michkov lead the Flyers back to the playoffs? Who wins the Stanley Cup?

They must have been stunned seeing a player who would go on to tally 865 points in an injury-shortened but highlight-filled 760-game career that included 659 points in 486 games in orange and black.

But you do have to remember that these players are just kids. And unlike Lindros, who stood at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds as a power forward entering the league, Michkov is listed at 5-10 and 172 pounds. In the Metropolitan Division alone, five of the seven teams have an average height of 6-2; the others, including the Flyers, average 6-1.

“The teammates back then, we all tried to protect him as well, because we didn’t face any of that pressure, like that type of pressure that he was facing,” said Mark Recchi, Lindros’ teammate for his first two-plus seasons.

“And so you always try to help him as a teammate. And I’m sure that’s exactly the way Michkov’s teammates are going to handle it right now with him. They’re going to try and take that pressure off and help him any way they can, and that’s the biggest thing.”

Recchi is now an ambassador with the Flyers and was in Voorhees during training camp when the building was packed, with several fans sporting brand-new Michkov jerseys. It took him back more than 30 years.

“It was huge. It definitely brought more people and a lot of people at practices all the time,” Recchi said. “The hype around him and the excitement from the people, it was great. There was such a great energy with it.

“It did [bring him back watching Michkov] because he gets a chance on the ice and people are oohing and aahing, cheering when he gets the puck. He did a couple of shootout things, everybody’s getting excited. It was fun to see that. I think the Flyers have a bright future, and he’s going to be a big part of that. And I think the fans recognize that.”

Yes the future is bright, and the fans will want to wear shades, but the dark glasses cannot hide the pain of almost 50 years of futility. The last time the Flyers took a twirl with Lord Stanley’s Cup, Michkov wasn’t even a twinkle in his grandparents’ eye. There have been six “almosts” since then, including one with Lindros in 1997, but almosts don’t count.

Brière said at Michkov’s introductory press conference: “We hope that the sky’s the limit for him, but we’re certainly not expecting him to be the savior of this team.” The Flyers may not want to put the pressure and expectations on the shoulders of a 19-year-old, but he is the face of the future. His arrival was early, and maybe the Flyers thought they’d be further along in the rebuild when he did come, but he is here now.

However, you cannot help but think Michkov wants the pressure when he said in that same press conference: “I want to win every game and will do everything possible for the team to win.” Pressure is a privilege, and Michkov said “here to win,” “playoffs,” and even “Stanley Cup” throughout the 20-plus-minute chat he had with the media.

And the ears certainly perked up as the young star mentioned a strong desire to lead the Flyers back to the playoffs before he even put the sweater on.

It makes one wonder what a kid who set KHL records for his age group — broke some of Alex Ovechkin’s, too — can do.

“He’s something special,” fan Justin Gross said at the Rookie Series in Allentown while wearing — what else? — a Michkov jersey. “The Flyers haven’t had a generational talent like this since Eric Lindros, so it’s just something to be really excited about.”

Indeed.

Excitement is certainly building. You can feel it in the fans as they swarm to Voorhees to catch a glimpse. You can hear it in the roar when Michkov’s name is spoken by Lou Nolan — even in the preseason — at the Wells Fargo Center. And you can feel it in the room, as a new season approaches with some promise.

Whether Matvei Michkov is the official savior is up for debate, and hindsight will be useful down the road, but what he is doing is putting the Flyers back in the conversation. He is making Flyers games a must-see event again. And he is saving Flyers nation from the danger of an unimaginative and uninspiring year.