Matvei Michkov not pressing despite pointless start: ‘I’m going to continue working, it will come’

Matvei Michkov isn’t too worried about his slow start.

“Want to score, of course,” he said through a Flyers translator. “I’m sure if I’m going to continue working, it will come. Most important, the team’s winning, and it’s important for me.”

Through the first three games of the season, Michkov has been held scoreless across 43 minutes, 20 seconds of ice time. He has three shots on goal, with two coming in the season opener against the Florida Panthers, and one shot on goal and a missed shot in Monday’s home opener against those same Cats.

Michkov has also taken three penalties, one in each game, and has three giveaways and two takeaways. The 20-year-old did not play the final 7:43 of the game on Monday, a 5-2 Flyers win against the two-time defending champions, or during the overtime period of Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

» READ MORE: The Flyers’ gifted Matvei Michkov overcame pressure as a rookie. Now he’s out to avoid the sophomore slump.

Coach Rick Tocchet isn’t too worried. Part of Michkov’s lack of ice time — he’s averaging just 14:26 per game — has been caused by the high number of penalties the Flyers have taken (15). Part of it is that Tocchet wants the winger to focus on playing team concepts, specifically knowing when to cherry-pick, or when to leave the defensive zone early in anticipation of the Flyers getting the puck so he can get a breakaway, and when not to.

“That’s the one thing he’s got to figure out,” Tocchet said. “Yeah, I get it, he wants to be an offensive player, but you can’t take off when we don’t have the puck. ... We can’t give up two-on-ones. These are the things that you’ve got to go through, this learning process.

“We’re trying to create a culture, it’s not about one player, but he is obviously a player that is a special guy that we’ve got to hone his talents.”

Michkov is incredibly talented. As a rookie, he had 63 points in 80 games, including 26 goals, which led the Flyers and all NHL freshmen. Although he’s been held scoreless so far, Tocchet has seen improvement since Game 1.

“It’s got to be somewhat of a team game and he’s willing to do it, because I think his last two practices were great,” he said. “He did video again today. He came up for us. He was, ‘Coach I need video,’ and he talked about some other stuff where he felt his legs felt better last couple days, which is good.”

Questions have been raised recently about Michkov’s conditioning. On Monday, the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast reported that sources said the rising star was “out of shape.” Asked the same day, Tocchet revealed that Michkov suffered an ankle injury this offseason — which the coach said he “didn’t even know about” — which impacted the winger’s training and put him ”a little bit behind the eight ball.“

On Wednesday, Michkov said he “was training in the summer, got a little injury, minor injury in the ankle,” and now is getting back into playing form. “That I’m not scoring and not making any assists in the last three games, it does not connect with the injury.”

» READ MORE: Flyers takeaways: Sean Couturier turns back the clock; Trevor Zegras dazzles in win over Panthers

All signs are pointing to Cam York’s return on Thursday when the Flyers host the Winnipeg Jets (7 p.m., NBCSP). The defenseman is on injured reserve with a lower-body injury but has practiced this week.

To make room, a source confirmed to The Inquirer that Emil Andrae has been returned to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. Tocchet stressed earlier in the day, before it was known that the Swede was being sent down, that he “thought Andrae did a really nice job” and whether he contributes or not, “it’s not because of his play, it’s more of personnel decisions,” stressing the need for penalty killers.

Andrae was called up on Sunday and slotted in for the home opener. A puck-moving defenseman, Andrae played a steady game across 10:22 on Monday.

With this week marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Navy, 30 service members of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps watched the Flyers practice Wednesday in Voorhees and visited with the team in the locker room afterward. The Flyers posed for pictures, signed hats, and handed out a few sticks, with one service member spotted snagging a Sean Couturier stick. More than 100 service members will be at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Thursday when the Flyers host the Winnipeg Jets. … Submit entries for Around the Rinks, which highlights the local ice, ball, and inline hockey scenes, Thursdays online and Fridays in the paper, by noon every Thursday with Around the Rinks in the subject line to jspiegel@inquirer.com. Entries can include info about your league, big moments on the ice, upcoming rivalry games, favorite players, and more.