97.5 The Fanatic Flyers Roundup: Matvei Michkov’s Calder Trophy Chances

An irregular lull in the schedule cooled the Philadelphia Flyers off from their short hot streak after moving on from John Tortorella.

Fans, however, have turned their attention to yet another storyline involving Matvei Michkov. Can the Russian sensation become the first Flyer ever to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year?

Most sportsbooks had shrunk Michkov’s Calder Trophy odds after the midway point of the 2024-25 season. The right winger suddenly resurrected his chances with another scoring surge.

His 11 points over seven games have brought his season total to 58, five behind Calder favorite Lane Hutson of the Montreal Canadiens for the most among NHL rookies.

Michkov has four goals and three assists in the four games since the Flyers fired Tortorella. Brad Shaw has bumped his star right winger’s ice time since stepping in as the interim head coach.

When Michkov hit the ground running in the opening weeks of the season, he logged 20 or more minutes in three October games. He went the next four months without reaching the plateau, including two games in the press box as a healthy scratch and long stretches of certain games seated on the Wells Fargo Center bench.

The hot streak by Michkov probably won’t propel him to the top spot. Hutson has played a role at the top of the lineup for a playoff bubble team. He showed his ability as an offensive catalyst in Montreal's win over the Flyers with an impressive snipe that turned out to be the game-winning goal.

First-overall pick Macklin Celebrini also has better odds than Michkov after an impressive season for the San Jose Sharks at age 18.

Michkov has room for improvement in certain areas of his game. The Flyers have consistently emphasized his development of better tendencies away from the puck. The 20-year-old also needs to avoid high-risk passes that result in opponent scoring chances.

Michkov probably won’t win the Calder Trophy, as much as it might crush Flyers fans. Leave it to the most passionate sports city in the world to engage in social media venom in a so-called rookie rivalry against Celebrini, who plays for a franchise with as little impact on Philadelphia sports as any in the four major leagues.

However, the Calder Trophy race doesn’t define Michkov’s rookie campaign. Fans have already seen the ability of a future NHL superstar.

They’ve heard Tim Saunders shout for “The Magic Man” after three overtime game-winning goals. They’ve seen skilled creativity and vision with the puck that substantiate the draft profile comparisons to countryman Nikita Kucherov.

Consider his rookie season a success regardless of how the Calder Trophy voting goes.

When the Flyers fired Tortorella with nine games left in the 2024-25 season, they turned it over to his long-time assistant and friend Brad Shaw as the interim head coach.

Was their immediate three-game winning streak after an ugly stretch of 11 losses in 12 games because Shaw lightened up the mood as the follow-up act to an intense disciplinarian?

Shaw coached for eight seasons under Tortorella with the Flyers and the Columbus Blue Jackets. He also coached the New York Islanders as an interim for 40 games in 2006. He’s managed the defensemen and the penalty kill for the past three seasons in Philadelphia.

The Flyers led the NHL in shorthanded goals in 2023-24 with Shaw’s “power kill” pressure style. They finished fourth in overall percentage and second in net penalty kill, which measures goal differential instead of raw percentage.

While the penalty kill has dipped significantly this season, Shaw’s work with the unit should ultimately factor positively into the evaluation of his potential future as a full-time NHL head coach.

His role in developing defensemen is his most valuable calling card. Since Shaw started on Tortorella’s staff in Philadelphia, veterans Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen have grown capably into larger roles farther toward the top of the lineup.

Nick Seeler has improved exponentially into a full-time NHL defenseman after a journeyman career before Shaw began coaching him at age 28.

Danny Briere’s biggest trade to date probably wouldn’t have materialized without bold confidence in Shaw. The young general manager sent Cutter Gauthier to the Anaheim Ducks for a slow-developing Jamie Drysdale with the hope that Shaw could work with the raw tools of a former sixth-overall pick.

Will the Flyers rip the interim tag off Brad Shaw after the 2024-25 season? It might seem logical to fans who follow all four major sports, but the footballization of every other sport creates an imperfect parallel to an NFL offensive coordinator accepting a promotion to head coach.

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The idea isn’t as common in hockey because of an awkward dynamic. NHL head coaches tend to be more forceful with players while assistant coaches work more tactically without cracking the whip.

It’s more common for assistants to step into a full-time head coaching role for another team where flipping the switch away from a nice guy attitude isn’t a factor.

Eagles fans who want to see the same success from the Flyers can find a more appropriate parallel. Is Jeff Stoutland better suited staying in charge of the offensive line and the running game, or should the Eagles mess with success and give him a promotion to an unfamiliar role?

The NCAA Frozen Four will take place at the Enterprise Center, home of the St. Louis Blues, on April 10 and 12.

Penn State clinched their first appearance in program history with a thrilling overtime win at PPL Center in Allentown, home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. They’ll face historic powerhouse Boston University in the semifinals.

Michigan State lost in the first round of the tournament. The early exit allowed the Flyers to sign college free agent Karsen Dorwart for a short tryout to finish the season.

However, the tournament has more consequential interests for the Philadelphia area.

The other semifinal matchup between Western Michigan University and the University of Denver features two head coaches who could realistically man the bench for the Flyers next season.

David Carle has led the Denver Pioneers to two National Championships, including one with Bobby Brink as his standout star in 2022. He’s become arguably the most coveted head coaching candidate entering the 2025 NHL offseason.

His brother Matt Carle played a key role for the Flyers during the run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010 as Chris Pronger’s defensive partner. He spent four of his 12 NHL seasons in orange and black.

It seems only logical that the 35-year-old David Carle would excitedly jump into the opportunity to coach at the highest level. However, it’s not so simple.

The average tenure of an NHL head coach is only 2.35 years. Carle has established himself as a historically successful NCAA coach with the type of clout that could potentially earn him job security for decades.

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If he chose to stay at Denver, his tenure would likely outlast every current NHL head coach. It’ll take a premium situation to wrestle him away, and the rebuilding Flyers might not offer him too much appeal.

Pat Ferschweiler, on the other bench, played for Western Michigan in the early 1990s alongside a linemate with a familiar face: Keith Jones.

The Flyers hired their President of Hockey Operations in 2023 partly because of his long list of contacts in all corners of the hockey world.

Ferschweiler also coaches Flyers prospect Alex Bump. Philadelphia’s fifth-round pick from 2022 exploded for 23 goals and 24 assists in 40 games this season for the Broncos. He’s surged up the ladder of the organization’s prospect rankings, and the Flyers are hopeful they’ve found a late-round diamond in the rough.