Tocchet’s Job Is Safe. Now Build the Lines Around Michkov.

If Rick Tocchet is staying, and Anthony Di Marco reported Monday that his job isn’t in trouble, then the lineup has to change. Start with Matvei Michkov. He’s one of the best playmakers in the league per shift, and he’s being used like a middle-six winger.

The Flyers are 0-5-2, the worst start in franchise history. They’re last in the NHL in goals per game (1.14), shots for per game (20.0) and shots against per game (35.1). Michkov leads the team with two goals. On Sunday he played 12:54. Noel Acciari played 15:06.

Here’s what’s going on, here’s what I’m seeing, and here’s how I’d line it up for Seattle.

Where things stand

Travis Konecny is on IR with a lower-body injury. So are Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Grebenkin, who had back surgery and is out at least four months. Cam York is day-to-day. Oliver Bonk was recalled for Sunday, Jack Studnicka came up Monday, Carl Grundstrom went down and Helge Grans was put on waivers.

Here’s how the lineup is projected for Tuesday against Seattle, per Philly Hockey Now:

Dan Vladar is the projected starter. Michkov is still on the third line.

What Michkov is doing, and what he isn’t

When Michkov has the puck in the offensive zone, he’s one of the most dangerous forwards in the league. Everything that happens before he gets it is where his line falls apart. Here’s how he compares to every NHL forward with at least four games played, per InStat, on a per-game basis:

He’s averaging 15:00 a night, which is 195th of 360 forwards. That’s dead average for a player who’s top 15% in the league at the two things that actually create goals: getting the puck to the slot and taking good shots.

The bottom half of that table isn’t a Michkov problem. It’s a line problem. He isn’t winning pucks back and he isn’t carrying it in, so he spends his shifts waiting for the puck in his own end. I’ll own this next part, because I had it wrong.

We had it backwards

Last week I said Michkov was joining the rush sooner and leading it more often. A reader asked if InStat backed that up, so I pulled all three of his seasons. It doesn’t. His zone entries have gone down every year.

What hasn’t changed is how he gets in. Every season, 94 to 100% of his entries are controlled. He carries it or takes a pass at the line. He almost never dumps it.

The transition work went to Trevor Zegras. Zegras is third among NHL forwards in entries this year, and nobody else on the Flyers is above 4.7 a game. On the third line, Zegras brings it up and Michkov plays off him. That works for one line. The problem is it’s the only way the Flyers are getting Michkov the puck.

How I’d line it up for Seattle

The idea is simple. Build two lines that can each get the puck up the ice on their own, and put Michkov on one of them with players who win it back for him.

Line 1: Michkov, Barkey, Martone. Martone leads Flyers forwards in takeaways at 4.33 a game and has the best net xG of any of them. Barkey has the best shot share on the team (48.7%) and the fewest opponent xG against with him on the ice (0.49) of any Flyers forward. Barkey played center in London before the Flyers moved him to wing. His faceoffs are the risk (41.7% in a small sample), so when this line starts in its own end, let Dvorak or Couturier take the draw and change off.

Line 2: Tippett, Zegras, Foerster. Zegras is the best puck carrier on the team. Give him the two wingers who shoot the most. Tippett (4.43 attempts a game) and Foerster (3.86) are first and second on the Flyers.

Line 3: Bunting, Dvorak, Couturier. Dvorak and Couturier are already the top penalty-kill pair. Put them together at 5 on 5 as a checking line with two centers. Dvorak also has the best xG per shot of any Flyers forward (0.56).

Line 4: Studnicka, Cates, Acciari. No change. Studnicka gets his look after three points in three AHL games with the Phantoms.

On defense I’d keep the projected pairs, since the handedness works. What I’d change is the minutes. David Jiricek has the best shot share (44.5%) and net xG (minus 0.17) of any Flyers defenseman, plus a 93.1% pass completion rate, and he’s playing 15:55 a night. Travis Sanheim is at 24:10 with 2.09 opponent xG a game when he’s on the ice, the worst on the team. Move some of those minutes over to Jiricek.

I’d leave the power play alone. Dvorak, Zegras, Michkov, Tippett and Drysdale stays together, and Michkov still gets his 3:00-plus a night there.

In net, I’d start Joseph Woll. He’s at .914 to Vladar’s .857, and he’s the reason a couple of these games were close.

What I’ll be watching Tuesday

• Michkov’s ice time. If it’s under 16 minutes again, nothing has changed.
• Who touches the puck before Michkov. Watch the breakout. Is he getting it in stride through the neutral zone, or is he waiting along the wall in his own end?
• Scoring chances. The Flyers had 18 at Ottawa, 8 at Boston and 7 against Carolina, with zero shots from the inner slot Sunday. Double digits would be a start.
• The power play. Seattle is 4-2 and leads the league with 14.7 penalty minutes a game. The Flyers’ power play is at 9.5%. They’ll get chances to put the game away there.

Tocchet keeping his job doesn’t mean the plan stays the same. The Flyers have a 21-year-old who ranks with the league’s best at creating chances, and he’s getting average minutes on a line built around somebody else. Give him a line that gets him the puck, and then let’s see what he does with it.

Sources and data notes

• Player stats: InStat league exports for 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27 through Oct. 11, per game. This season’s ranks use forwards with at least 4 games played. Past seasons use at least 20 games, and 2025-26 includes the playoffs.
• InStat doesn’t track possession (entries, takeaways, slot passes) for Anaheim, Calgary, Colorado, Vancouver or Winnipeg this season, so those ranks are out of 303 instead of 360. Possession for the Flyers covers only a few games so far.
• Team ranks: NHL.com team stats. Sunday’s ice time: NHL.com box score.
• Di Marco’s report: X, Oct. 12.
• Projected lines and roster moves: Philly Hockey Now, Daily Faceoff, Flyers injury update. Studnicka recall: Charlie O’Connor. Grans waivers: Broad Street Hockey.
• Barkey at center in junior: Philly Hockey Now. Seattle record and penalty minutes: AP preview.