Flyers

Here’s What Danny Briere, Rick Tocchet, Matvei Michkov, and More Had to Say About the Kevin Weekes Report

By Matt Schultz

Published: Nov 11th, 2026 · 5:39 PM EST

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It’s been a weird week of Matvei Michkov news.

On Monday, he and Nick Seeler got in an animated argument on the bench during the Vancouver win, which seemed to underscore a philosophical rift in the Flyers’ locker room:

Here’s a wide angle of the Matvei Michkov and Nick Seeler heated exchange. #Flyers https://t.co/wlUPHiIa94

— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) November 10, 2026

On Tuesday, in the wake of the Michkov/Seeler clash, Kevin Weekes reported that because of an “unimpressive start and internal turmoil,” Michkov is interested in moving on from the Flyers and getting a fresh start somewhere else:

**Breaking News** 🚨 📰 From multiple league sources, with the Flyers unimpressive start and internal turmoil, Michkov would likely want a new start elsewhere. He’s in the last year of his contract & is a prime trade candidate moving forward. #HockeyX https://t.co/4mYzKiN42G

— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) November 10, 2026

Later, it was reported that the Flyers hadn’t heard anything of the sort from Michkov or his camp. The team said they never received a trade request and were blindsided by the story.

Which brings us to Wednesday afternoon, when several key players and front office members were asked about the Michkov saga.

Danny Briere

The Flyers’ general manager spoke to Sportsnet’s Frank Seravalli to discuss the week’s news — here’s what jumped out to me from their conversation:

…the message from Briere was clear: The Flyers have no intention of moving Michkov.

“No, that’s not the plan at all,” Briere said. “We’ve never discussed that.”

The report from NHL Network’s Kevin Weekes cited “internal turmoil” with the Flyers as part of Michkov’s interest in “wanting a new start elsewhere,” but earlier on Wednesday following the GM Meetings in downtown Toronto, Briere took zero issue with Michkov’s emotion that spilled over to the bench during an in-game confrontation with teammate Nick Seeler.

“I actually like the fact that our guys are fiery and they want to win,” Briere said. “That’s what I saw [in Vancouver]. It’s showing competitive players. That’s what we’re looking for, that’s what we want. The reality is, the team hasn’t performed great this year and players expect more out of themselves.”

“If we had a culture where guys are yelling at each other and no one is responding, a culture that guys don’t care about winning, then we’d be in trouble,” Briere said. “But when you show a culture that guys want to better themselves and they’re not happy where they are, I expect that.”

“I’ve been part of many, many situations like that in my career. There just wasn’t social media then,” Briere said. “It doesn’t usually happen in a place that everyone can see [on the bench], it’s usually behind closed doors. That is OK. I expect that.”

Rick Tocchet

REPORTER: “The report yesterday from Kevin Weekes, your reaction to it and have you spoke to Matvei about it?”

TOCCHET: “I mean, there’s nothing to talk about, it’s not true. So there’s nothing to report. I mean, you can’t comment on somebody blogging something that’s not true.”

REPORTER: “Do you worry, though, about the usage of the term ‘internal turmoil?’ And is there any issues with —”

TOCCHET: “No, cause like I said, we, we had a little bit of that stuff last year and we dealt with it, so. No. Not at all. It’s a very close group.”

Matvei Michkov

REPORTER: “There was a report yesterday that you — whether you wanted to remain a Flyer or if you maybe wanted to go somewhere else. Can you just clarify kind of how you feel about being a Flyer and where — if that’s true?”

MICHKOV: “Yeah, you know, I no read no news. I no talk interview. I need concentration just on tonight game.”

REPORTER: “Have you had conversations with Danny and your teammates about the news?”

MICHKOV: “No. Danny talk concentration. Danny talk all team concentration just on hockey, and I agree with him. And I think everybody need concentration and strong play tonight.”

REPORTER: “Are you happy in Philly?”

MICHKOV: “Yeah. Of course.”

Nick Seeler

REPORTER: “The cameras caught you and Michkov on the bench there. What’s your interpretation of what was going on there? Is that just natural discourse, or?”

SEELER: “Yeah, I mean, that happens when teams are playing well too. I mean, he’s a competitive guy. He brings a lot of passion and, um, you know, we had no issue with it. So it’s, uh, you know, it’s good to show that you care and, um, he’s one of the guys that, um, obviously he’s having a really good year and, um, you know, he cares and, and uh, it really wasn’t a big deal at all until uh, you know, the media got a hold of it. I mean, we spoke after the period and it was done with, over with, and then all of a sudden after the game it was this big deal when it really wasn’t. But, you know, that’s kind of the day and age we live in.”

REPORTER: “With the news that came out yesterday, have you spoken with him in regards to that?”

SEELER: “What news?”

REPORTER: “The report that he possibly wanted to be traded.”

SEELER: “No. No, I haven’t spoke with him. I — I’m not gonna comment on that, Jackie.”

Sean Couturier

REPORTER: “I guess just first off, your reaction to the news that came out yesterday with Matvei, and have you spoken to him since?”

COUTURIER: “I haven’t talked about that, no. Listen, we’re here to win some hockey games and focus on our group. Um. Yeah. That’s all I can really say. “

REPORTER: “Do you still feel like it’s a tight room?… Cause the term ‘internal turmoil’ was mentioned. I don’t know —”

COUTURIER: “Yeah, that’s from the outside. Um, yeah, we’re still tight. Um, we’re still playing for one another. So, um, yeah. I mean, it’s outside noise. We control what’s in this locker room. We know we have a lot better hockey in us… We’ll; figure things out.”

REPORTER: “In terms of what happened on the bench the other night, the guys are saying that’s more of an everyday thing that I think a lot of people think it is?”

COUTURIER: “Yeah, some people try to make a story out of nothing, really. If you know the amount of times I got into it with Voracek or Giroux back in the day, I mean, there’d be — we would’ve bee shipped out, like I said, ten, twenty times. So, um, no, it’s normal. Part of the game. Emotions get — and you want to, you know, you want to voice your opinion when you think you can help the team and, you know, see things that maybe others don’t see. It’s all part of hockey. That’s part of a team sport.”

my takeaway on all this stuff

It just took me a good ninety minutes to watch all of these interviews and transcribe them and then rewatch them to make sure that my transcriptions were accurate, and after spending that much time listening and writing and thinking about what everyone said, here are my conclusions:

• The bench argument wasn’t a big deal. Every one of these guys laughed when they were asked about it, and that tracks to me. Teammates have spats all the time. Every team does this whether they’re good or bad or somewhere in between, and behind closed doors, it’s probably way worse than what was caught on camera. It means nothing. I buy what the Flyers are selling here.
• The “Michkov wants out” narrative is a semi-big deal. My guess is that Michkov’s agent gave the story to Weekes hoping it would put pressure on Danny to fire Tocc. From everything I’ve seen and read so far this season, you can’t tell me there isn’t tension between Tocchet and Michkov. Michkov does not want to play dump and chase hockey, and that’s all Tocc wants to do — it’s that simple. They’re just not a good match. And if Danny wants to avoid Michkov drama and the risk of losing yet another offensive phenom the way he did with Cutter Gauthier, he needs to replace Tocc with a coach that matches how Michkov wants to play. And it has to be done sooner than later.
• These veterans got to go. I’m getting a weird resentment-vibe from them when in comes to the young guys — from Seels in particular. Something’s going on there. And frankly, he’s not productive enough to be in the news this much. Nick Seeler is in the news way too much. Why is Nick Seeler talking so much? What’s going on there? We’re all set on your input, Nick. Thanks. And I’m all for having a veteran presence in the locker room. That can be important. These just don’t seem to be the best guys for it.
• Coots is dropping the ball as captain. It’s his job to be the team’s glue-guy, and instead he’s been part of the problem. Not good. Danny has his work cut out for him.