Chris Pronger weighs in on Matvei Michkov and a Flyers rebuild that’s been going on ‘for what seems like 12 years’

Flyers fans are “starving” for a superstar player. That’s what’s driving a lot of the angst around Matvei Michkov, former team captain Chris Pronger said.

On Monday’s episode of the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, Pronger, a hockey Hall of Famer who spent the last three years of his 18-year career with the Flyers, shared his thoughts on the team’s rebuild and Michkov’s development as a professional.

The current regime spearheading the Flyers’ rebuild, led by Keith Jones and Danny Brière, has been in place since March 2023, just under three years. But Flyer fans are still reeling from the failures of previous regimes.

“They’ve been in what’s called a rebuild for what seems like 12 years,” Pronger said. “I think they’re frustrated and they want the rebuild to be over, but they didn’t go about the rebuild properly in the early days.”

The Flyers haven’t made the playoffs since the COVID bubble in 2020, and have advanced past the first round just once since the 2012-13 season — during that bubble playoff run, which was played in an empty building in Toronto.

» READ MORE: No wonder Flyers fans are irrational about Matvei Michkov. Have you looked at this team’s draft history? | Mike Sielski

The most important keys to any successful rebuild are finding a star center and a No. 1 defenseman, two things that have eluded the Flyers so far. It takes lottery luck, which the Flyers haven’t had much of lately. But those who believe Michkov, a winger, becoming a star will be the difference between a Stanley Cup-contending Flyers team and the draft lottery aren’t being realistic, according to Pronger.

“I don’t know any team — any team — that rebuilds with a winger,” Pronger said. “I don’t know one good team who rebuilt with a winger. You don’t rebuild with a winger, you rebuild up the middle — center, defense, goalie. I know you [draft] the best player available, and clearly he was the best player, but as it relates to that, sometimes you have to luck out, too, in a rebuild and get the right pick when the right player is available.”

In January, Pronger posted on X that those centerpiece players are the hardest to find, and the Flyers need to be patient and deliberate about compiling assets to make those moves if they become available. But he also suggested that the best way to rebuild is to tear it all the way down, like San Jose and Chicago have done, for a chance at getting a player like Macklin Celebrini or Connor Bedard.

» READ MORE: Flyers hit the Olympic break at a crossroads. Will they sell for the future or try to push for the playoffs?

Michkov came into camp out of shape, something Pronger admitted he’d also done early in his career, in his second and third NHL seasons. Teams don’t get a lot of practice time, Pronger said, so it’s extremely difficult to play yourself into shape during the year. Pronger’s coach at the time, Mike Keenan, was extremely tough on him, to the point where Pronger joked that even his teammates started to feel bad.

He also pointed to the language barrier between the Russian Michkov and the coaching staff as a hurdle.

“The fact that he doesn’t speak the language very well, if at all, that’s part of the problem, because it might not be translating properly what he’s going through, what he’s dealing with,” Pronger said. “… You’ve got to be hard on young guys, but it’s not 1995, either. That’s not how this world works in today’s hockey world, in today’s NHL. You have to find a connection with the player. There’s ways to be hard.”

» READ MORE: Flyers GM Danny Brière addresses Rick Tocchet’s recent comments on Matvei Michkov: ‘They have a good relationship.’

The Flyers do not employ a full-time Russian translator for Michkov, instead relying on Slava Kuznetsov, a skating coach who also works with Olympian Isabeau Levito, to translate for him.

Now, the Flyers need to teach Michkov how to be a pro, Pronger said, and that includes setting the example of him coming into camp in shape, and learning to be more responsible with the puck.

“I saw a few of their games last year with [John Tortorella], and he played [Michkov] a bit differently,” Pronger said. “He got him on the power play, to me it looked like he was putting him in more positions for success. It looked like he let him do a little more, but wasn’t — I don’t know if teaching him is the right word, but showcasing his abilities and not digging into the other parts of the game where he needed to improve.”

The Flyers are off for the Olympic break and will return to the ice on Feb. 25 against the Washington Capitals.