Flyers

Matvei Michkov is 29 Pounds Lighter Than He Was a Year Ago

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Sep 10th, 2026 · 12:17 PM EDT

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There’s a guy on Twitter, handle @Uggg_uggg, who follows Russian players in the NHL and KHL and does some useful and appreciated translation work for us gringos.

He cut and captioned a clip from a recent YouTube interview, which is titled Michkov’s Vacation, in which we get some updated weight info:

Matvei's weight ended up being one of the main topics in the interview. He talked about it himself, how much he weighed, how much he's lost, the Philadelphia coach flying in to Russia, and that funny InBody body‑fat test story 😂

This one was hard. I spent way too long on it pic.twitter.com/UhrXJ2PhTB

— Uggg (@Uggg_uggg) September 10, 2026

“Last year I came in at (205 pounds), thought I was totally fine, in great shape. Turns out life ain’t that simple. Now I weigh (176 pounds).”

As you know, Michkov’s weight was the big story on Action News last season. Rick Tocchet mentioned at least four or five times that the sophomore winger came into camp out of shape. Then Michkov spent the early part of the year catching up, looked good after the Olympic break, then finished as a healthy scratch in a couple of the playoff games.

Funny enough, if you go down the Flyers’ current roster, there are only two guys listed at LESS than 176 pounds, and that’s Denver Barkey and Ilya Pautov. Did Michkov lose too much weight? 610-632-0975! Get this man to the buffet.

Jokes aside, 205 pounds makes him heavier than every other forward not named Nikita Grebenkin, Tyson Foerster, or Porter Martone, so you see how much swing is created by a 29-pound increase or decrease.

Bottom line, it looks like he’s in good shape and we won’t have to hear about Fatvei Michkov anymore. Hopefully all of that lives in the dustbin of history, now and forever.

Though I did find this clip curious:

Let me just drop a super subtle hint about what's going to influence Matvey's contract decision 😉 very, very subtle 😂 pic.twitter.com/22bHqhDXJv

— Uggg (@Uggg_uggg) September 9, 2026

A “banya” is a Russian bathhouse, like a sauna. In the video, you see them using the traditional tree whisk for massage purposes. He says they don’t have any banyas in Philadelphia, but I’m pretty sure there are six or seven of them up in Northeast Philly and Lower Bucks. Right? There a lot of Russians and Eastern Europeans up there. Someone get Matvei Michkov up to Bustleton Avenue or Southampton and get this man to the nearest banya.