‘It’s not true’: Rick Tocchet, Flyers players downplay the Matvei Michkov trade drama

EDMONTON, Alberta ― After a day off Tuesday following a back-to-back in Calgary and Vancouver that was capped off by their first win in four tries, the Flyers hit the ice for a full morning skate at Rogers Place.

You wouldn’t know from the stick raises after goals and looseness on the ice that the last 92 hours had been filled with controversy — notably surrounding Matvei Michkov.

» READ MORE: Report: Flyers’ Matvei Michkov interested in a fresh start, open to trade due to ‘internal turmoil’

The biggest bombshell came from ESPN hockey insider Kevin Weekes, who reported late Tuesday afternoon that, according to multiple league sources, “Michkov would likely want a new start elsewhere.” He cited “the Flyers [sic] unimpressive start and internal turmoil” as the cause.

Surrounded by cameras and reporters, Michkov sat in his stall after morning skate Wednesday in preparation to face the Edmonton Oilers (9 p.m., NBCSP) and addressed the report. “I’m no read all news. I no talk in interview,” he said without a translator. “I need concentration just on tonight’s game, and that’s all.”

The 21-year-old forward spoke earlier in the day with Flyers general manager Danny Brière, who reiterated to him and, when he said when addressing the team, the need to concentrate “just on hockey.”

Brière, who was in Calgary for the Flames game on Sunday, traveled back to Alberta after attending the GM meetings in Toronto. President Keith Jones was already on the road trip, and Flyers governor Dan Hilferty is now in Alberta as well. Brière is slated to hold a news conference over Zoom on Wednesday evening (around 6:15 p.m. ET) with media members to address the trade report.

Michkov, who will be a restricted free agent come July 1, is tied for 13th in the NHL with 10 goals and tied with Trevor Zegras for the team lead in points (14).

When asked if he is happy in Philly, he responded: “Yeah, of course.”

Asked for his reaction to the report and if he has spoken to Michkov, coach Rick Tocchet replied: “I mean, there’s nothing to talk about. It’s not true. So there’s nothing to report. You can’t comment on somebody blogging something that’s not true.”

But is there “internal turmoil” or issues in the room as the tweet implied?

“No, because we had a little bit of that stuff last year, and we dealt with it,” Tocchet said, citing in an earlier response that the young team grew last year going through similar things. “So no, not at all. It’s a very close group.”

Added captain Sean Couturier: “We’re still tight. We’re still playing for one another. It’s outside noise. We control what’s in this locker room. We know we have a lot better hockey in us, and we’re going to try to come back to the way we played last year … and we’ll figure things out.”

The report by Weekes comes a day after an NBC Sports Philadelphia camera caught Michkov and defenseman Nick Seeler arguing on the bench. Michkov got animated, with teammates Noel Acciari and Porter Martone trying to calm him down, and at one point he threw a water bottle down.

“He’s a competitive guy. He brings a lot of passion, and we have no issue with it,” Seeler said on Wednesday. “It’s good to show that you care, and he’s one of the guys that obviously is having a really good year, and he cares.

“And it really wasn’t a big deal at all until the media got a hold of it. 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.”

Tocchet and Michkov each agreed the interaction was not as big as it was made out to be. Speaking to several Flyers, they all agreed that these kinds of interactions happen more often than not.

Couturier said he often got into it with Jakub Voráček and Claude Giroux — “We would have been shipped out, probably 10, 20 times” — and alternate captain Travis Sanheim told The Inquirer, “I know me and [Travis Konecny] get into it quite a bit, and nobody makes a fuss about it.”

» READ MORE: Can Flyers’ brass led by Danny Brière and Keith Jones salvage the Matvei Michkov crisis?

The difference here is that, while during a TV timeout, it was caught on camera.

“This emotional game. Everybody want to win, and Seels emotional guy. Me too,” Michkov said. “All guys hungry for wins and on the bench too. … But for me, this is good. When all guys [are] emotional. … But this is good for me. And we, before this game, we sit together [for] dinner and eat.”

The bench argument does come after Seeler said on Oct. 28, following the Flyers’ 12th loss in their first 15 games, and without naming names: “It’s not about getting points. It’s not about ‘me, me, me.’ It’s about the team and playing for each other and sacrificing for each other. And it’s really not that difficult to understand. You play for the guy next to you; that’s what Flyers hockey is all about, and when we can start figuring that out at the start … we will be a better hockey team.”

He did not name Michkov, but external speculation suggested it was about the Russian forward. Did that amplify the reaction?

“I don’t know. Maybe? I think people just make stories out of nothing in today’s world,” Couturier said. “Seels is the ultimate team guy. He’ll do whatever he can to defend his teammates. Plays the right way. Plays hard every night. You can’t ask for a better teammate. So, yeah, I think it’s just two competitors voicing their opinions.”

The Flyers received some good news Wednesday as Rasmus Ristolainen was activated from injured reserve and took regular line rushes at morning skate ahead of his potential return to the lineup against the Edmonton Oilers. The Finnish defenseman had missed 16 of the last 17 games with a hand injury that he initially suffered on Oct. 3 and reaggravated on Oct. 24.