Scratch that: Flyers should eye benching Michkov as series shifts back to Pittsburgh for Game 5

PHILADELPHIA -- For the Flyers it's time to have that conversation. 

And by that conversation, I don't mean THAT conversation or even that conversation. The emphasis here is different. 

You see, THAT conversation would be about panicking. It's nowhere time for THAT conversation, even after a 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. 

It wasn't the Flyers best game, but it also wasn't an awful one either. Dan Vladar had an uncharacteristic game, completely flubbing one shot by Sidney Crosby, having it chunk off his glove and past him into the net. Later he had a miscommunication play on a puck behind the net, turned it over to Rickard Rakell, and, well, gave the Penguins an easy goal. 

He later assured everyone that everything is fine, the team is fine, and that they are still in command of the series by being up 3-1 in the series. He's right. 

The team got off to a bit of a slow start and muddled through the first half of the game trying to figure out how to beat the neutral zone pressure that Pittsburgh was employing in Game 4 that was a bit different than Games 1 through 3. 

Eventually, they did, and were much better in the second half, but they ended up chasing the game for too long and never being able to tie it back up. 

So it's off to Pittsburgh, again, for Game 5 Monday night. 

This is also not that conversation, which is the one where you talk about the team not knowing how to close out a series. About them being too young and too inexperienced to figure it all out. 

We aren't there, yet, either. Especially when you consider that a similar sentiment existed before the series about this team not knowing what to expect in the playoffs, especially against a savvy, veteran team like the Penguins. 

The Flyers already dispelled that notion by winning two games in a hostile barn, and not only that, having not one, not two, but seven players register their first career playoff goals across the first four games of this postseason. 

The most recent was Denver Barkey, who scored after coach Rick Tocchet switched up a couple of the lines mid-game in Game 4 and Barkey was reunited with Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett on a line that had some success for a short time together in the regular season. 

🚨 DENVER BARKEY GOAL pic.twitter.com/CVa62voZZD

— Barstool Philly (@BarstoolPhilly) April 26, 2026

"I think I just try to keep my game the same," Barkey told me after the game about the line switch. "Whether I'm playing with (Noah) Cates and (Matvei) Michkov or Tippett and Zegras, they're all just highly talented players. I'm just trying to find open ice, especially in front of the net. That's where you score goals."

But that leads up to "that conversation" (no emphasis) that needs to be had now. 

Because it was evident that once Barkey was moved from the line with Cates and Michkov to the line with Zergras and Tippett, it was like he was a different player. 

Barkey was one of the Flyers who was going well in Game 4, especially after the line change. Even Tocchet mentioned it when asked in the postgame press conference. 

"I had him with them ... about three weeks ago and it's when (Barkey) was playing really well," Tocchet said. "I just felt I had to make a switch. There were a couple of lines where nothing was happening, so it did give a little bit of a spark."

The two lines, in particular, where nothing was happening was the line with Barkey, Cates and Michkov and the line with Tyson Foerster, Zegras and Tippett. 

Prior to the switch, Barkey had some troubles and had a reduced role across the first three games, getting limited minutes, the fewest of any forward. 

Foerster has not played well in the series. He's still one of the more reliable defensive forwards, but the Flyers need him to produce, and he's not. One would think having him play with a creative playmaker like Zegras and a speedy power forward like Tippett would be ideal for his game, but it hasn't been. 

Foerster seems to excel more in a role where he's expected to play with that 200-foot game that makes him the Flyers most important forward at times. 

It's why when he played on a line with Cates and the since-traded Bobby Brink, he excelled. It was a line that made life difficult on the opponents top lines because it defended well, frustrated the opposing skill players, and forced them to defend in return because of an added ability to put the puck in the net. 

That version of Foerster has been missing in this series, and Tocchet hopes that reuniting him with Cates will get him back on track. 

But I'm burying the lede here. This story is all about "that conversation." And it's the one that everyone is avoiding like it's the Black Death, but it's also the elephant in the room. Heck, it took me 25 paragraphs to finally get to it and here it is:

The Flyers need to sit Michkov. 

It's clear as day. He's overmatched in these playoffs. Other than the odd shift here or there, he's lost. He's not helping the team win. Nor is he gaining the experience needed in a positive way for his future.

The game is too much for him right now. This is the compendium of the struggles he's had all season. And this isn't the time to nurture him through it. 

It was fine and dandy when the team was winning in spite of him. When you're winning games, coaches tend to stick with what's working and don't like to make change, barring injury. They are superstitious that way, sometimes to a fault. 

In the case of Michkov, it's not like he's the individual reason the team lost Game 4, but if he wasn't contributing to the team's success in Games 1 through 3, then his inability to contribute anything in Game 4 stands out a bit more. 

He played 11:18 in Game 4, which was actually an uptick in minutes from Games 2 and 3 where he played 9:32 and 8:08 respectively. And all that the increased ice time showed is he's not fitting into this playoff series at all. 

He has one more shot on goal in the series (four) than he does minor penalties (three). His penalties have come at inopportune times as well. The one he took he Game 3 ended up rooting him to the bench for nearly the entirety of the third period. 

But the most egregious errors that Michkov makes aren't tracked on a scoresheet or in a box score. But rather are little plays that he makes where he's stationary and not skating hard. He simply gives the puck back to Pittsburgh with a lazy flip play into the neutral zone rather than skating with the puck or making a more crisp, tape-to-tape pass.

There are effort plays that players make all game long and Michkov tends to lack in those areas.

His best skills are certainly in the offensive zone, but the game doesn't just come to you there, you have to go and take it, and with some exceptions, Michkov doesn't have that same drive to take it this season that he did in his rookie campaign. He's often caught trying to cheat the game rather than operate skillfully within it. 

Head coach Rick Tocchet met with the media following Game Four of #PITvsPHI. pic.twitter.com/pzdJVdidJl

— x - Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 26, 2026

"Well that's what happens when you don't move your feet, you're giving pucks back," Tocchet said after Game 4. He wasn't technically referring to Michkov, because the question was open-ended about the team and not directed at one player specifically, but if you know, you know. While the reply was general and at times can apply to others, the guy who it most fits is Michkov. 

""We talked about that after Game 2," Tocchet continued. "It seemed like a few guys were sluggish tonight, so we're going to have to figure that out. Get some energy there."

That energy is certainly going to come from guys who aren't playing. A guy that I know Tocchet really wants to give an opportunity to is Alex Bump. He feels that plugging him onto a line with Cates and Foerster could provide a much-needed jump start to a line that needs it, and get Foerster back to where he needs to be as well. 

There was a thought that maybe Bump could be an option to replace Barkey earlier in the series, but after how Barkey played in Game 4 once he was moved back with Zegras and Tippett, it wouldn't make sense to take him out of the lineup now. Tocchet has to see how that line looks for more than just a period-plus. 

Pulling Michkov from the lineup may incite a riot on Flyers Twitter, but it doesn't matter. You ignore that noise now. This is about winning a playoff series. About surviving and advancing, not appeasing the vocal minority. 

And right now, Bump is a better option for the lineup than Michkov. 

This isn't about the long-term. This isn't about stunting development. This is about winning in the here and now. 

And taking Michkov out of the lineup and replacing him with Bump will give the Flyers the best chance at winning right now.

If you don't think Tocchet isn't considering it, you might not be paying close enough attention to what he said.

"I just think we had some individuals ... I don't know if it's complacent.. but we didn't do the small things - chipping the body. Winning some puck battles," he said. "We'll look at some video. We'll figure out who we get in line for the next game."

Sounds like bringing a new player in to me.

This is the conversation that needs to be had. Before it gets too late. It's time for Tocchet to make the switch and it's time for everyone who follows the team to understand why and accept that it needs to happen for the good of the team advancing in the postseason. 

Other players need to be better as well. There can be no passengers on the bus at this time of year. If other players don't improve soon, we can have similar conversations in future columns. 

But for now, Michkov is the guy that needs to come out.

Make the switch, Rick. It's time.