Flyers

Every Reporter Not Named Kevin Weekes Says Matvei Michkov’s Camp Hasn’t Communicated Anything to Flyers About Wanting Out

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Nov 11th, 2026 · 10:36 AM EST

---

Hockey insider Kevin Weekes reported on Tuesday evening that Matvei Michkov is interested a fresh start somewhere else. He’s a free agent after this season and seems to be at the center of every Flyers story, which can be boiled down to “do we allow creative offensive types to play risky hockey, or do we get a bunch of muckers and grinders to do things ‘the right way’?“

Shortly after Weekes’ dropped his news from the side of a highway, every other reporter in North America said the Flyers were unaware that Michkov is thinking of leaving:

Following up on this Kevin Weekes bombshell, I’ve been told that Matvei Michkov has not formally requested a trade from the Flyers.

In fact, this report was news to the Flyers front office. https://t.co/MeAxR6DcHG

— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) November 10, 2026

Further to @KevinWeekes report that Matvei Michkov… safe to say the Flyers are caught off guard by this. I’m told they haven’t been informed (yet) by Michkov’s camp about wanting out.

— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) November 10, 2026

Can confirm that this @KevinWeekes report about Matvei Michkov wanting a "new start" was not known to the Flyers before the report broke.

Briere won't be speaking tonight. He's traveling from the NHL GM meetings that happened today. I assume he's joining up w/the team ASAP now.

— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) November 10, 2026

The Flyers are in a tough spot here. Michkov obviously isn’t a stylistic fit for a Rick Tocchet team. Tocc wants four lines of muckers and grinders who play responsible hockey. Michkov wants to circle to the high slot and fire pucks on net and try shit that annoys people like Nick Seeler. That argument from the other night was definitely not a nothing burger.

They could certainly trade Michkov, and look for pieces that fit what they want to do, but losing another young goal scorer ala Cutter Gauthier would be a crushing blow to the organization. We’re talking “fire everyone” levels of incompetence. You can’t lose Michkov after losing Gauthier. We all accepted the Gauthier explanation at face value and talked ourselves into the return of Jamie Drysdale, which also opened the door for Trevor Zegras in Philadelphia, but regardless of the the circumstances that forced the trade, it’s now quite clear that the Flyers came out on the losing end.

The other option is to fire Tocchet after just 1.25 seasons, and find a coach who can work with a young and creative offensive player. But that’s never been a Flyers thing. They’ve always valued 200-foot guys who play for the crest and play a team game. This is an inflection point wrapped into a referendum sandwich and served on a very public platter.

Weekes is very solid and doesn’t make stuff up. Maybe his report has legs or maybe it doesn’t, but it certainly puts some urgency into solving a problem that looks untenable at the current moment. And to be fair to Danny Briere, he tried to warn everybody that the Flyers would take a step back this season. The Leo Carlsson fence swing didn’t come off. The path to a superstar 1C and 1D doesn’t seem to an obvious and linear one, even if the Flyers had the world’s greatest GM running the show. But Danny does have a budding star currently on the roster right now, and needs to figure out how to keep that player here and keep him happy.