Matvei Michkov lost a lot of weight due to intense pressure from the Flyers

DansLesCoulisses.com
Matvei Michkov lost a lot of weight due to intense pressure from the Flyers
Credit: Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

Matvei Michkov arrived at the Flyers' training camp last season in very poor physical condition. He faced criticism not only from Philadelphia fans and the media but also from his own teammates.

His performances on the ice were disappointing, and it was clear that something was wrong. After losing confidence in one of their best young players, the Flyers decided to provide Michkov with intensive coaching.

In an interview in a YouTube video titled “Michkov's Vacation,” the young Russian player revealed that all that pressure caused him to lose nearly 30 pounds.

At the start of the Flyers' training camp before the 2025–2026 season, Michkov weighed 205 pounds. Those 205 pounds clearly weren't all muscle, because the Flyers quickly asked their strength and conditioning coach to focus on him.

That strength and conditioning coach accompanied him everywhere, even to Russia. The Philadelphia organization had completely lost confidence in Michkov.

It paid off. He went from 205 to 176 pounds in less than a year—a total weight loss of 29 pounds!

Despite all that weight loss, Michkov still has to prove he can perform better on the ice. After an impressive rookie season with 63 points, his performance dipped in 2025–2026, when he tallied 51 points.

He's gotten back in shape. Now he has to prove he has the right attitude to find his footing on the ice again.

The Flyers have several reasons to lose confidence in Michkov. During the first two years of his career, he swapped jerseys with several other NHL players.

At first glance, it might seem like there's nothing wrong with this practice—except that most of the jerseys worn in games by Flyers players are sold in advance to the public by the Meigray Group.

The Flyers therefore banned him from continuing to give his jerseys to other players. However, the young Russian ended up embarrassing himself in front of Alex Ovechkin in this situation.

Also during that same interview in the video posted on YouTube, Michkov revealed that he had already arranged with Ovechkin in advance to trade jerseys after their matchup.

At the end of the game, the Flyers refused to let Michkov give his jersey to Ovi, so he approached the legend without his jersey. Michkov says he looked silly and that Ovechkin wasn't very happy, but that Ovechkin still gave him his Capitals jersey.

Michkov has really let himself go in several areas since his NHL debut. Let's hope he learns from his mistakes to grow as a player and as a person.


In Brief

– Kevin Fiala underwent surgery.

– That's a lot of money for a player who has only played 54 games in the NHL.

– Mike Reilly is staying in Carolina.

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