The Need to Knows
- The Time: 7:00 pm PT / 10:00 pm ET
- The Place: Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA
- Where to Watch: KHN, KING 5, NBC Sports Philadelphia (PHI market), ESPN+ (all other U.S. markets)
- Where to Listen: Kraken Radio Network on KJR 93.3 FM
Know Your Enemy
Buckle up, folks, because as your resident Philadelphian of the blog, there is no enemy I’m more familiar with than the hometown Flyers squad. Because nothing can ever be normal with Philadelphia sports, there’s a lot to catch up on and explain since the last time the Kraken faced “the Orange and the Black.”
Tonight’s contest marks the end of a four-game Pacific Division road trip to kick off the Flyers’ season. It seems bizarre to say, but the Flyers have played more games in the Pacific time zone so far (three) than the Kraken have (one) to start this season off. Even stranger to think is that the Kraken had their home opener on October 8, but Flyers fans are still waiting until October 19 to see their team’s home opener. Sorry Flyers faithful, but fitting in Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Timberlake, and Maggie Rogers concerts (just to name a few) at the Wells Fargo Center took priority this October.
The largest storyline for the Flyers going into this season is the arrival of Matvei Michkov. The Flyers selected Michkov in the 2023 NHL Draft at 7th overall, and a primary reason that he fell low enough to still be available for the Flyers was due to his status in the KHL. His contract with SKA St. Petersburg wouldn’t expire until 2026, and for many teams that had higher draft picks, there was a sense those on the draft day floor didn’t want to wait that long for a player of his caliber to start playing for their team. For the Flyers, however, newly-minted GM Danny Brière was finally committing to what the previous regime couldn’t admit to: the team needed to rebuild. The thought process was that the team could afford to wait for Michkov because there was still so much work to be done in setting a new culture for the team through Coach John Tortorella, shaping the other young prospects that were just now breaking into the NHL, and acquiring other high-level talent to play alongside Michkov.
What wasn’t considered was that for Michkov, the feeling was mutual. He wanted to be a Flyer as much as the Flyers wanted him to play for them. After another season playing in the KHL, Michkov was able to terminate the remainder of his contract this past summer. It was ahead of schedule, but no one in the Flyers organization was going to complain about getting to add a player whose skill set has been compared to those of fellow Russians Nikita Kucherov and Alex Ovechkin.
Throughout only a handful of preseason games and three regular season games, it’s clear that even at only 19 years old, Michkov adds a level of skill and creativity that the Philadelphia Flyers have lacked for a very long time. Even when the Flyers seemed poised to take a shot at the playoffs last season (before fully sliding out of contention in part to an 8-game losing streak), it was the result of a team that was motivated to take the next step needed in creating a winning culture. Now, Michkov gets to help elevate the play of those around him. It’s already paying dividends for one of his first consistent linemates: Morgan Frost, a polarizing player whom Tortorella once compared to a toilet seat going up and down. All of Frost’s points so far have come courtesy of assisting on plays with Michkov. His presence has also been showing early results for the Flyers’ power play, and Philly fans everywhere are hoping this trend stays steady. After all, the Flyers ended last season dead last on the power play. So far, the Flyers have gone 4-for-11 with the man advantage. Two of those power play goals came on Tuesday night against the Oilers courtesy of Michkov himself—his first two NHL goals. From the reaction on the bench after the referees determined the first one was indeed a good goal, it shows exactly how much this Flyers team is ready for someone like Michkov to help them win. (Though I say that knowing the Flyers lost that contest against the Oilers. Go figure.)
Other things to look for with the Flyers this season is their other rookie in Jett Luchanko, who made the opening day roster after being picked 13th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft. With his debut, he is officially the youngest player to ever suit up for the Flyers. Jumping into the NHL as quickly as he has while not being one of the very first draft picks is a rarity, but Tortorella seems to believe he already has value to give in the NHL. There’s also Sam Ersson having the starting goaltending role in earnest instead of being thrust into it mid-season after Carter Hart was charged as one of the five players in the 2018 Team Canada World Juniors case. One of the biggest contributing factors to how the Flyers missed the playoffs was goaltending. Ersson was being overworked as a starter because there were no satisfactory answers for who they could trust as a backup. Now, they finally have Ivan Fedotov (who is another roller coaster of a story in acquiring a player from Russia) ready to prove that he can be the solid backup goaltender that this Flyers team needs.
Game Preview
While the Flyers are closing out their road trip, the Kraken have just tied a bow on their Central Division excursion. They took home 4 out of a possible 6 points, and when considering that the one team the Kraken lost to has historically been a challenge for them (the Dallas Stars), it’s hard not to fault them for dropping a contest. I also once heard an adage that if a team comes back from a road trip with over 50% of the possible standings points they could earn, it was a successful road trip.
Now the Kraken are back home, and they need to keep the momentum from Tuesday night’s game going. Not every game is going to be a 7-goal performance, but the Kraken should be able to hang their hat on it and know that they can jump out and be a strong scoring force. That was one of the biggest issues plaguing them last year, and so it’s up to the Kraken to continue evaluating what has worked in the scoring department and how to create habits that continue to drive those results. The solution on how to sustain an effective offense isn’t going to appear overnight (though that would be great), but seeing these early flashes of what it can be has me feeling hopeful that the Kraken will find their way sooner rather than later.
The other piece to continue to improve upon is the defensive effort, but that comes down to allowing the pairings to gain chemistry with each other. Not that forward lines also shouldn’t know how to play off of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, but defensive pairings almost seem to require more tight communication on both directions of the puck.
The Kraken need to capitalize on not only being back at home but on facing a team that has only been on the road to start the season. It’s doable, but the team can’t lose sight of making needed adjustments either.