Matvei Michkov's ice time isn't reflecting the narrative

Michkov's deployment has focused on putting him in more offensive situations. And there are reasons for that. Michkov is an aggressive, creative player offensively. That can come with some risk when trying to pull off difficult passes and plays. The Flyers as a whole have struggled to drive play, but Michkov finds himself at the bottom of the list in more than a few of those categories.

Despite being on the ice for 17 total goals, many of which he's had a hand in creating, the Flyers are still giving up equal to or more on the other side. It's not all on Michkov, but he hasn't helped in some situations. He is second in giveaways (23), just two behind Zegras. Translate that to per 60, and he is third on the team, though Travis Konecny's numbers are inflated since he's played 10 fewer games. And some have come in costly moments recently, most notably in the Flyers' overtime loss to Columbus.

This isn't to say that fans cannot be mad about the situation. But the focus is on the wrong thing. Michkov is still one of the Flyers' most offensively used players. And he's making the opportunities he has matter. Looking at the numbers on a game-by-game basis ignores the bigger picture. It puts things in a vacuum and appears to make the situation more drastic than it is.

If people want to talk about Michkov, there are far more important things to discuss than his ice time. He's in his third season and coming off a year to mostly forget, at least with the outside noise. He took the lessons from that season and looks better because of it. He's producing offensively, and that's what truly matters.