Matvei Michkov reveals what he really thinks of John Tortorella.

Philadelphia Flyers rookie sensation Matvei Michkov had an excellent debut season in the National Hockey League, putting up 26 goals and 37 assists for a total of 63 points over 80 games on what was at the end of the day a team that wasn't good enough to make it into the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Michkov's performance is all that much more impressive when you consider the fact that he had several public clashes with Flyers head coach John Tortorella throughout the season, a coach that has since been relieved of his duties. Michkov was scratched by Tortorella despite unquestionably being one of the team's best players on the ice on a night to night basis, and even had several public blowups with Tortorella behind the bench.

On Saturday however Michkov was given the chance to speak publicly about his former coach during an end of season media availability and the response from the young Russian forward may come as a surprise to you. Michkov made no effort to be critical of Tortorella and instead praised the Flyers head coach for helping him improve as a player during his first season with the Flyers. Michkov even went as far as to suggest that Tortorella was among the very best coaches he's ever had in his young hockey career.

"John teached me a lot. … I think he was one of my best coaches," admitted Michkov on Saturday.

Not only is this an indication that Michkov found value in the hard lessons imparted to him by Tortorella over the course of the season, but it also speaks to Michkov's maturity as a 20 year old. Despite the fact that things clearly got heated between him and Tortorella at times, it seems Michkov was able to understand that it was all in the service of making him a better player and that is exactly the kind of attitude that every organization in professional sports wishes they could have from their young stars.