Matvey Michkov arrived at Flyers training camp last season in very poor physical shape. He faced criticism not only from Philadelphia fans and the media, but also from his teammates.
His performance on the ice was disappointing and it was clear that something was wrong. Having lost confidence in one of their best young players, the Flyers decided to give Michkov intensive training.
In an interview in a YouTube video called “Michkov’s Vacation”“The young Russian player said the pressure caused him to lose nearly 30 pounds.
Matvey’s weight turned out to be one of the main topics of the interview. He talked about it himself – how much he weighed, how much he lost, the coach from Philadelphia flying to Russia, and this funny story with the InBody test for body fat.
It was hard. I’ve spent too much time on this pic.twitter.com/UhrXJ2PhTB
— Uggg (@Uggg_uggg) September 10, 2026
At the start of Flyers training camp ahead of the 2025-26 season, Michkov weighed 205 pounds. Those 205 pounds were clearly more than just muscle, because the Flyers quickly asked their strength and conditioning coach to focus on him.
This strength and conditioning coach followed him everywhere, even to Russia. The Philadelphia organization completely lost confidence in Michkov.
It paid off. In less than a year, he went from 205 pounds to 176 pounds—a total weight loss of 29 pounds!
Despite all this weight loss, Michkov has yet to prove that he can perform better on the ice. After an impressive 63-point rookie season, his production dropped off in the 2025-26 season when he scored 51 points.
He’s back in shape. Now he has to prove he has the right mindset to regain his balance on the ice.
The Flyers have several reasons to lose confidence in Michkov. During the first two years of his career, he traded jerseys with several other NHL players.
At first glance, there might not seem to be anything wrong with this practice, except that most of the jerseys Flyers players wear at games are sold to the public in advance by the Meigray Group.
So the Flyers prohibited him from continuing to give his jerseys to other players. However, in this situation, the young Russian disgraced himself in front of Alex Ovechkin.
Also during the same interview, in a video posted on YouTube, Michkov said that he had already agreed in advance with Ovechkin to exchange jerseys after their match.
At the end of the game, the Flyers refused to allow Michkov to give his jersey to Ovi, so he approached the legend without his jersey. Michkov says he looked stupid and that Ovechkin wasn’t very happy, but Ovechkin gave him a Capitals jersey anyway.
Michkov has really allowed himself to shine in several areas since his NHL debut. Let’s hope he learns from his mistakes to grow as a player and as a person.
Short
– Kevin Fiala underwent surgery.
Update on #22 Kevin Fiala: pic.twitter.com/1R5CevHixY
— LA Kings (@LAKings) September 10, 2026
“That’s a lot of money for a player who played only 54 games in the NHL.
Braden Bowman signed a six-year, $3.4 million extension with the Knights.
The 23-year-old scored 26 points in 54 NHL games and 26 points in 20 AHL games last season.
pic.twitter.com/VaYCRLTudc
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) September 10, 2026
– Mike Reilly remains in Carolina.
Mikey is back
The #Canes signed defenseman Mike Reilly to a one-year, two-way contract.
Details ” pic.twitter.com/i5jhQoWJgb
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) September 10, 2026
