The Philadelphia Flyers have found a new surge of energy since the firing of former Flyers head coach John Tortorella. The team went on to win their last three games.
With how the Flyers struggled mainly in this previous chunk of hockey, the turnaround has benefited the younger players on the team. With playoff hopes now behind them and a fresh era approaching, all eyes turn to the future.
A Flyers star is born in Matvei Michkov
One player who has made his talent known after the Tortorella firing is Matvei Michkov. With multipoint and even multi-goal games, the young star has shone and now leads the rookies in scoring goals in a single season with 24 goals. The big question amongst many is if he has done enough on a bad team to be considered for the Calder.
Michkov will get votes. The only problem he has to face is Canadian defenseman Lane Hutson, who is up to 59 assists. While Hutson only has five goals, what the play-making 21-year-old displays offensively as a defenseman is unheard of and would give him the one-up on a player such as Michkov.
Another player who could win the Calder or at least get some votes is San Jose’s 18-year-old Macklin Celebrini. The first overall draft pick has 21 goals and 32 assists on the season. While his statistics are great for a rookie, it’s hard to justify Celebrini’s case over Hutson.
Finally, while it’s uncommon for goalies to win the Calder, the last goalie to win was Steve Mason with the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 08-09 season. Dustin Wolf of the Calgary Flames is a player who leads goalies in wins after 55 games played with a 42-10-2 record.
Overall, a player such as Michkov is doing something for the Flyers organization that hasn’t been done for a while, which is bringing in hope after a string of seasons that don’t extend to the late spring. This is rock bottom of the rebuild, as Flyers general manager Danny Briere stated following the Tortorella firing, but it will only go up for the young Flyers team.
Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
