Matvei Michkov will be a healthy scratch in Tampa. ‘It’s part of the process,’ says John Tortorella

TAMPA, Fla. — In his two-plus years as Flyers head coach, John Tortorella has preached that nobody is above the law and backed up those words with his actions.

Thursday morning was the latest example.

Before the team’s morning skate, Tortorella announced that rookie sensation Matvei Michkov would be a healthy scratch that night against the Tampa Bay Lightning (7:30, ESPN+/Hulu). Second on the team in points with 10 (four goals, six assists), Michkov, the NHL’s rookie of the month for October, had played in each of the Flyers’ first 13 games.

“It’s part of the process,” Tortorella said. “With young guys, they can watch games, too, as far as development, so it’s trying to help them.”

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Michkov’s play has dropped off lately, from a production standpoint and the eye test. Over his last five games, the Russian winger has just one assist, a power-play helper in Tuesday’s , over his last five games6-4 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

But this move isn’t about his point production.

Tortorella hasn’t been happy with Michkov’s play away from the puck at both ends of the ice at five-on-five. It is why the 19-year-old winger was benched for stretches of the last two games, including most of the third period against the Hurricanes. He has elite vision to find his teammates and create scoring chances but struggles with puck support and proper positioning in each zone.

“I think he‘s beginning to see what the National Hockey League is, as far as the speed, as far as time and space, all the things that come with it,” Tortorella said after a win against the St. Louis Blues last week. “There are going to be some major struggles with him five-on-five, we expect that, where I’m going to have to teach.”

“In that teaching moment — I’m not going to tell you what it’s all about — but if we keep on seeing the same mistake and he is just totally not concentrating on a certain part of the game, that’s when — and I’ve been very honest with him about that — he’s going to miss some ice. He’s going to watch the game. It’s not me, you know, screaming at him. It’s telling him, this is how it works.”

Tortorella said at the time he was “very comfortable” with Michkov on the power play before adding that “he’s going to be held accountable.” The head coach sees watching a game upstairs in the press box as a chance to reset and gain a different perspective.

Michkov is not the first Flyer to be scratched — nor will he be the last. Tortorella has sat players like Morgan Frost, Travis Sanheim, Cam York, Tyson Foerster, and captain Sean Couturier.

“I’ve talked to him and had a good conversation with him,” Couturier said. “He’s young. He’s learning. [He] has a lot of pressure with all the adaptation of coming from Russia at 19 years old and not really speaking English. There’s a lot of new things, not only in his adaptation on the ice, but off the ice.

“I think he knows what he wants to work on, and what he needs to work on,” added Couturier, who has been Michkov’s center to start the past eight games. “I think it’s more about just trying to control the pressure, control the ups and the downs of a long season. It’s still early in the year, but you can’t get frustrated.

“You’ve just got to kind of never be too high, never be too low, and kind of have that approach, that’s kind of what I’ve tried to teach maybe him.”

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Winger Anthony Richard will come in for Michkov after being called up on Wednesday from Lehigh Valley. Richard got the call while he was on the golf course.

“We had the day off, and I was on the green and I had my Apple Watch on, and I kept feeling it buzzing, so it was either one of my family members or someone calling me,” he said. “I picked up my phone after finishing the hole, and it was the call to come here. I was excited, but I was lucky. I was flying yesterday morning, so I could finish the round.”

Richard, who turns 28 next month, had a strong training camp. He showcased high-end speed and tallied two goals and two assists in the preseason. Before the season, Tortorella mentioned speed as a key to success for the Flyers. Now, Richard will get a chance to do that in the top six.

“I’m a guy who likes to play offense, and I like to play in the O-zone, and when you get with good players, it’s always nice,” Richard said. “Usually, you get called up, and you’re more like a fourth-line role. It’s kind of putting you out of the aspect that brings you to the NHL. So in the first couple of years in the NHL, I was trying to play a more physical game.

“Now, being on the second line, it’s more [about] making some plays. Obviously, it’s still playing hard in all areas, but the focus is more on the offensive side, so I’m really happy about it.”

Like he told Richard in training camp, Tortorella said Thursday that he wants him to “take a chance offensively” and not “worry about making mistakes.” Richard says he has been playing better than at the start of the year and is more confident with the puck. He has four goals and nine points in seven games this season with the Phantoms and has played 24 NHL games over a nine-year pro career.

Richard has scored two of his goals on the power play and will be on the first power-play unit, in Michkov’s spot, which typically is in the right faceoff circle.

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“That’s a good spot for me. I’ve been playing there for a lot of years,” said Richard, who scored one of his preseason goals from the right circle.

“I guess they were trying to find someone to replace Michy, so hopefully we can produce there. I know the power play has been better the last few games, so hopefully we can score tonight.”

After against Sean Walker on Tuesday, the Flyers will see another former teammate on Thursday in Cam Atkinson. The forward’s contract was bought out in June before he inked a deal with the Lightning.

“I cherish every second. Still keep in touch with every one of those guys, and had them all over last night for dinner, which is great to see everyone show up, for the most part,” Atkinson said, joking that he may find out who liked him and who didn’t during the game.

“It’s a special group over there, and from the top down, just how ownership runs things and management, and, obviously, my history with Torts and [associate coach Brad Shaw]. Always wish them nothing but the best, except for when we play them. But, yeah, miss it, miss that area, miss living there, miss all of it.”

Acquired in a one-for-one trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets for Jakub Voráček in July 2021, Atkinson registered 78 points (36 goals, 42 assists) in 143 regular-season games with the Flyers.

He missed the entire 2022-23 season after undergoing surgery to repair a herniated disk in his neck. He struggled to find his game again last season and registered 13 goals and 28 points in 70 games. A healthy scratch for 12 games, he skated just under 16 minutes a game — his lowest average since his third season in the league.

“Torts and I have always had a great relationship,” said Atkinson, who has one assist in 10 games with the Lightning. “Even going through that process, he was very open and honest, as he always is. Not that I agreed with everything he did, but it is what it is

“At the end of the day, he’s got to coach, and I ultimately had to play better. We still talk. Guys think that he slept over my house last night,” he said with a laugh. “But we texted yesterday. I’m going to see him at some point today. And there’s never, ever any bad blood. And even if there was, I would never say one negative thing about him, because he’s definitely helped me out so much more than not. I respect him more than anyone.”

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Ivan Fedotov is expected to start in goal Thursday in place of Aleksei Kolosov, who left morning skate early after speaking with the training staff. Kolosov suffered what the team later called a lower body injury. … Defenseman Cam York skated with the team at morning skate for the first time since going on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. He was in a blue no-contact jersey. … Goalie Sam Ersson also was on the ice for morning skate after being injured on Saturday. Ersson also skated in Carolina but did not go on until the tail end of morning skate.