[Charlie O’Connor] Asked Tocchet today if he’d consider moving Michkov back to RW, or if he think he’ll keep him at LW the rest of the season. He didn’t rule it out, but it’s clear Tocchet still thinks Michkov is benefitting from the LW/RW switch & is skeptical it’s hurting him offensively:

43 comments

  1. Yea so if it doesn’t matter, please line him up on the other side. What a lame answer. Clearly it’s about him creating off the rush (RW) or just dumping it in / getting a weak angle shot off (LW).

  3. Mich has played RW his entire life and has done quite well there. How can Tocc take him off of it and then suddenly not be able to score and not see the correlation. I mean mich has yet to score from the left side at 5v5

  4. His opinion is basically that offensive position doesn’t matter. It scares me that this guy is a real nhl coach. 

  5. I dunno man, I feel like you’d want to let our best prospect develop at the position that they have been playing for their entire life, but that’s just me.

  6. I mean whether it’s right or left truly DOES matter and every statistical analysis indicates that Michkov is way more dangerous when playing at right wing. This shouldn’t be rocket science, yet it clearly is for whatever reason.

    ‘Yeah, I mean, listen, he’s struggling’. Oh yeah? So you do see that, yet refuses to change anything up with how he’s used and that he plays on the side he’s least effective at.

  7. Tocchet went on to say: “I mean moving him back to his right wing would sort of temper my status as a terrorist, wouldn’t it? Until the powers at be sit down and tighten up the definition of war crimes as stated in the Geneva Convention I can only do so much.”

  9. I’m sorry, this dude is a fucking idiot. It 100000% matters the wing he is on. The kid only knows how to play from the RW cause he has his whole life and that’s his position you fucking goon. Toc is not giving a fuck how good Mich is, he is trying to control him and Mae him play “his way”. Thank god Danny hired this ugly fuck to destroy Mich!

  10. Coaching malpractice man. Has been all year. Let’s take our 19/20 yr old hopeful star, change his position, demote him down the lines, take him off PP1 then criticize him at every turn.

    At least Torts let him play outside the odd benching. Good grief.

  11. LOL. This is like if the Phillies told Bryce this year to play 3B and hit from the other side.

    And if it doesn’t matter…why switch MM at all? What’s the point? Are they so full of RWs that they feel they need to put MM at LW so they can free up space for somebody?

  13. >everybody wants him to score…but you’ve got to be in positions to score.

    Crazy idea. Maybe you, Rick Tocchet head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers and guy incharge of in game player management(which includes michkov’s line position), put him in that position on RW where he’s been able to score from before.

    Just maybe. If you put michkov on his natural side, he will be better at getting into that position to socre

    Edit. Also there he goes again saying “look how good [team we play today] is.”

  14. In Russia, left-handed players like to play on the right, and right-handed players like to play on the left. Since childhood!

  15. Tocchet is proving to me more each day that he’s just another dumb brain boomer who prioritizes feelings over data. Insanity.

  17. Man this coach has me so checked out on the flyers it’s so sad cuz I really thought we were finally getting into a new chapter of flyers hockey. Where do they find these guys and think “yeah, let’s make our Russian star play a position he’s worse in, that’ll really do it”.

  19. He looked unreal the other night In the half of game I watched he needs to be with high offensive minded players not brink and cates. No offense to either guy because I like them but he was creating high danger offensive chances that no one finishes on. If we can see it at home but the coach can’t I’m at a loss.

  23. I’ve thrown some shit at Tocchet for being a bad coach, but it is (somewhat) fueled by the angry fan feelings. But this is legitimately one of the dumbest things I’ve seen a professional coach say ever. I’m sure someone can find something even more stupid, but this is… my god. It is like he’s not 100% wrong, but at the same time he’s just missing **so** much with his response. Also:

    > … through the neutral zone, for me, the faster you can go on your forehand is the better.

    Fucking hell Tocchet, that worked for you because you weren’t a high skill player. You were a good straight line player. Stop trying to make other players play your style.

    Watch Michkov attacking the offensive zone coming in on the RW vs LW. When he comes in on the LW, it feels like all he knows what to do is dump the puck in. From the RW, he loves to pull back, pass to a streaking player, or attack the high slot for a shot or to open another passing lane. He looks so much more dangerous coming into the O-zone from the RW.

    And yes, he needs more pace in his game. But I don’t think forcing a guy to play where he clearly is less competent is the way to improve his game. If he’s faster on the LW, it’d be likely because he doesn’t know what else to do.

    God I can’t believe it, but I think I miss Torts. He was an asshole, but at least he wasn’t a complete fucking brick.

  24. Toccs answer reframed is basically “I know we drafted a D but I’d much rather have him play in net, in practice there is just not much difference between the two in my opinion” /s

    God do I fucking hate him as a coach, I am happy to see people coming around TJ realize what a terrible hire he was. Purely a nepotism move to shell Shaw for Tocc, a decision that will keep us in the perpetual mediocrity we have been in for 15 fucking years

  25. If you told me before the season started what’s the worst case scenario for this season would be I’d say finishing in the standings with a pick between 11-16 and Michkov’s development being ruined by Tocchet. We’re right on that path right now.

  28. He is an absolute idiot. I cannot believe we gave him 5 years he should be fired asap.

  29. I lm sad that Tocchet is gonna make me hate him when he was always one of my favorite flyers… sad sad sad

  30. Sigh…I would’ve loved to be in the room when Tocchet was hired to hear the real reasons why they actually hired him. I mean, by all metrics and optics, this was always going to be a terrible, terrible hire. It’s not like he was a new coach, he was known coach with a long track record who was coming off a god awful season with a locker room in the middle of a dramatic split. I just do not understand this hire at all. It made and still makes no sense.

  31. Get ready for Michkov to be run out of town. Don’t worry though, Tocchet is all about “Flyers culture” so it won’t matter.

  33. I have more faith in Mich than I do Tocchet. His view of the situation is alarming.. wtf man, you are definitely a problem if this is how you coach the team.

  36. Really thought Kevin Patullo had philly’s Biggest Bozo of a Coach award in the bag this sports year but Tocchet is up there with him. Get this fucking idiot away from the franchise. I can’t believe there are so many smooth brain fans and media defend him to death

  37. I’m not anti-Tochett like a lot of the fan base. I also would have preferred we kept Shaw. But I also think NHL coaches are the least important coach of any major 4-sport but regardless.

    This, I don’t know. He’s not completely wrong but I just don’t like the way he answers things sometimes. It’s kind of wishy washy. Be more direct.

    “Playing your strong wing provides distinct advantages when playing in the defensive zone. It also helps zone entries. Offensively, players can move around. We all see MM struggling and we all want him to succeed. But I’ve actually seen a lot of improvement from him playing the left side and I would like to continue to develop that. There are definitely areas he’s still working on, but I think he’s getting there.”

    Rather than say “Oh, well it doesn’t matter what side you start on, BUT he has to start there???” Okay, then it obviously matters??? It’s confusing.

  38. They may as well trade him before they let his value slip any further. We know they’re not gonna bite the bullet and fire Tocchet and admit they fucked up so just go ahead and get your plodding 6’3 3C and a pick back and let Mich go be good somewhere that isn’t a bottom 5 franchise

  39. Man is he stubborn, the team’s lack of LWs apparently affects only Michkov directly. While Tocchet’s first impression of Michkov may have been bad, his first impression as the Flyer’s HC has been worse where Michkov is concerned. He has changed his position, reduced his ice time at every given chance, and taken veiled and not so veiled shots at him in the press. I am not really sure how Michkov can ever thrive in this environment?? Good Luck 🍀 to him as he will need it…actually, if by some miracle he does end up thriving it will be despite Tocchet not because of him.

  42. If it doesn’t matter what side he’s on then put him on the side he’s been successful at. You can’t say something doesn’t matter and then choose to do the opposite.

  43. Christ, what a fucking moron. Incoherent logic. I dislike this guy more and more every day

Leave a Reply